The concept of justice is a prominent theme throughout the book, “And Then There Were None” The author, Agatha Christie uses a wide variety of characters to help her explain and explore the concept of justice. There are 3 main characters that are used to best show this concept, these characters are. Justice Wargrave, General Macarthur and Vera Claythorne.

Justice is an obvious choice, the author introduces Justice as a man who believes in upholding the law to the fullest. “Carefully, Mr Justice Wargrave removed his false teeth and dropped them into a glass of water. The shrunken lips fell in. It was a cruel mouth now, cruel and predatory.” This quote is important because it gives the reader a little bit of extra context as to what type of person Mr Wargrave is, this quote also shows how the judge may not be the man we all thought he was at the beginning. The author uses the judge as a main character in terms of supporting the theme of justice and prejudice. Justice Wargrave shows the reader just how important the theme is, he does this by killing characters who have committed a severe crime and need to be punished, although the punishment is death each character that the judge kills feels a sense of dread and for some, a feeling of guilt. This is exactly what General Macarthur feels before his death.

General John Macarthur is an interesting character in the book, he is an old and tired man that is haunted and plagued by his guilt of the crime he committed. Macarthur’s guilt has isolated him from his friends and family, and especially after he loses his wife. “Funny, just this minute he didn’t want much to get away from the island… To go back to the mainland, back to his little house, back to all the troubles and worries.” This quote shows how guilt has turned Macarthur into a man waiting for death, he welcomes death as a reprieve to his guilt and suffering. This is one of the most iconic moments in the book, in my opinion, it fully shows how the concept of justice is so prominent and bold.

Vera Claythorne manages to last the longest out of all the guests at the mansion, but her secret is also the ugliest. Vera was accused of deliberately letting the boy in her care drown while she was meant to be looking after him, (youch). Vera’s past haunts her deeply and she is constantly reminded about Cyril’s death and the guilt she feels about it, unlike the other characters she doesn’t technically die from Wargrave like the other guests she dies from her own volition which could be said was due to all the other murders by Wargrave. Vera is another important character which explores two themes in further detail, justice and guilt. Vera’s guilt ends up consuming her and leads to her suicide. Overall I feel as though Vera was quite an intricate character and helped prove the concepts made known in the book

In conclusion, Christie uses the concepts of justice as a key theme for the book and helps the reader to understand that theme by using uniquely created characters and enticing backstories to help prove her theme