Historical Context
What was the month and year the novel was published
What is September, 1939
This person is accused of sending his wife’s lover into battle to die.
Who is General Macarthur?
“It was a tall soldierly old man who appeared at the exit from the platform. His grey hair was clipped close and he had a neatly trimmed white mustache” (23).
Who is General Macarthur?
This person died first (to poison)
Who is Anthony Marston
Soldier Island is based off this real life island off the coast of Devon, England
What is Burgh Island
How police solved crimes during this era.
What is Logic?
This person is accused of performing a surgery intoxicated, killing a patient.
Who is Dr. Armstrong?
“…he said, ‘I’ve got my credentials and you can see them. I’m an ex-CID man. I run a detective agency in Plymoth. I was put on this job’” (60).
Who is William Blore?
This person died 6th (shot in the head)
Who is Justice Wargrave
This literary term is used in Mysteries to trick the characters and readers while they are trying to solve the case.
What is a red herring?
Social class was divided between these two classes.
What are the Upper and Working class?
This person was accused of killing two young children while speeding in a car.
Who is Anthony Marston?
“Enveloped in an aura of righteousness and unyielding principles, [she] sat in her crowded third-class carriage and triumphed over its discomfort and heat.” (8).
Who is Emily Brent
This person died last (hanged)
Who is Vera Claythorne
These figurines went missing after each character's death
What are Solider Boys?
The name of the generation impacted by WWI.
What is the Haunted Generation.
This person is accused of kicking out a pregnant woman, leading to her death.
He moved like a panther, smoothly and noiselessly. There was something of the panther about him altogether. A beast of prey – pleasant to the eye” (40).
Who is Philip Lombard?
This person died 8th (crushed by a bear clock)
Justice Wargrave's motivation for inviting and murdering everyone on the island represents this theme in the novel.
What is Justice
The "Golden Age" of mystery, where all clues had to be given to the reader, was coined in these two decades.
What are the 1920's and 1930's?
This person is accused of letting a little boy drown.
Who is Vera Claythorne?
“At the wheel sat a young man, his hair blown back by the wind. In the blaze of the evening light he looked, not a man, but a young God…” (27).
Who is Anthony Marston?
This person died 5th (Cyanide- Bee Sting)
Who is Emily Brent
Vera's motivation to hang herself at the end of the novel is an example of this theme in the novel
What is a guilty conscience?