Murder on the Orient Express Analysis Project

Unfamiliar Vocab Concocter – to devise, make up, or prepare Credo – any creed or formula of belief Pother – commotion Expenditure – the act of expending something Metaphysics – the branch of philosophy that treats the

first principles Onus – burden Indignation – strong displeasure at something unjust Irremediably – not admitting a remedy, cure, or repair Delineation – a description Verisimilitude – appearance of truth

Van Dine’s Rules1. All clues must be comprehendible by the reader so that

they have the same chance to solve the case as the detective

2. No tricks on reader; only on the detective by the criminal3. There shan’t be a love interest4. The detective can’t be the criminal5. The case must be solved with logic – no accidents or

confessions6. The detective must analyze the clues7. The crime shall be murder8. No supernatural ways of solving the case9. There shall be only one detective10. The criminal shall be a major character

Van Dine’s Rules continued11. A servant shan’t be the criminal12. There shall be only one criminal13. The criminal cannot have a secret gang as a

safety net14. No fantasy ways of detecting15. The truth is obvious throughout the book, if the

reader was clever enough16. No side tracking with imagery or such17. Criminal must be an unexpected character18. Crime shan’t be an accident or a suicide19. The motives are personal

Van Dine’s Rules continued20. No using:

a. Ciggarette butt left at the crime compared to what the suspect smokes

b. Fake séances to scare the truth out of the criminalc. Forged fingerprintsd. Dummy – figure alibie. A dog that recognizes the criminal so it doesn’t barkf. Framed twing. Knock – out drugsh. Murder cannot be committed in front of policei. Using word psychology to get the criminal to confessj. The detective figures out the criminal’s secret code, thus

revealing the culprit

Point #1“The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story”“12. There must be but one culprit, no matter how many murders are committed. The culprit may of course have a minor helper or co – plotter, but the entire onus must rest on one pair of shoulders. The entire indignation of the reader must be permitted to concentrate on a single black nature” (Van Dine).Explanation: This rule does not fit Murder on the Orient Express. In the novel, there are twelve different criminals that each stabbed the victim once. This rule is stating that there cannot be more than one, so it is obvious that Agatha Christie did not care for this rule.Murder on the Orient Express:“We decided then and there (perhaps we were mad – I don’t know) that the sentence of death that Cassetti had escaped had got to be carried out. There were twelve of us – or rather eleven; Susanne’s father was over in France, of course.” (Christie 248).

Point #2“The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story”“7. There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better. No lesser crime than murder will suffice. Three hundred pages is far too much pother for a crime other than murder. After all, the readers trouble and expenditure of energy must be rewarded.” (Van Dine). Explanation: This rule follows the novel because in the book Cassetti was murdered. The rule is plainly saying that there must be a dead body and that the crime committed must be murder because it is silly to write a novel of any lesser crime. In Murder on the Orient Express, there are multiple murders, both direct and indirect, indicating that the novel follows this rule.Murder on the Orient Express:“Followed by Dr. Constantine, Poirot made his way to the next coach and to the compartment occupied by the murdered man.” (Christie 53).

Point #3“The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story”“16. A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no “atmospheric” preoccupations, such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action and introduce issues irrelevant to the main purpose, which is to state a problem, analyze it, and bring it to a successful conclusion. To be sure, there must be a sufficient descriptiveness and character delineation to give the novel verisimilitude” (Van Dine). Explanation:This novel does break this rule because when Poirot asked M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine to stop and think about the clues Dr. Constantine gets way off track of the case and starts thinking about the mistress that he is seeing behind his wife’s back. Murder on the Orient Express:“Dr. Constantine's thoughts ran thus: ‘He is queer, this little man. A genius? Or a crank? Will he solve this mystery? Impossible—I can see no way out of it. It is all too confusing. ... Everyone is lying, perhaps. ... But even then, that does not help one. If they are all lying, it is just as confusing as if they were speaking the truth. Odd about those wounds. I cannot understand it. ... It would be easier to understand if he had been shot—

after all, the term 'gunman' must mean that they shoot with a gun. A curious country, America. I should like to go there. It is so progressive. When I get home I must get hold of Demetrius Zagone—he has been to America, he has all the modern ideas. ... I wonder what Zia is doing at this moment. If my wife ever finds out—’His thoughts went on to entirely private matters. ... “ (Christie 162).

Point #4“The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story”“9. There must be but one detective – that Is, but one protagonist o deductions – one deus ex machina. To bring the minds of three or four, or sometimes a gang of detectives to bear on a problem, is not only to disperse the interest and break the direst thread of logic, but to take n unfair advantage of the reader. If there is more than one detective the reader doesn’t know who his codeductor is. It’s like making the reader run a race with a relay team” (Van Dine).Explanation: Christie breaks this rule in Murder on the Orient Express as Poirot has the assistance of M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine to deduct and solve the case. From the very beginning, they were there. They attempted to help Poirot in the case, but they didn’t do too much. Poirot could have probably figured it out all on his own, but I personally think that Christie does it to rebel against these rules.Murder on the Orient Express:“M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine had started by trying to obey Poirot's instructions. They had endeavoured to see through a maze of conflicting particulars to a clear and outstanding solution” (Christie 162).

Point #5“The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story”“19. The motives for all crimes in detective stories should be personal. International plotting and war politics belong in a different category of fiction – in secret-service tales, for instance. But a murder story must be kept gemiitlich, so to speak. It must reflect the reader’s everyday experiences, and give him a certain outlet for his own repressed desires and emotions” (Van Dine).Explanation: Murder on the Orient Express most certainly carries out this rule. The motive was the Armstrong case and that Cassetti did not get proper sentencing for what he did to little Daisy. They all planned it for revenge although they all had thought that it was justice. Their mindset was that they were simply carrying out what society had deemed, but the main motive was probable that he had killed so many people that were apart of the family or household.Murder on the Orient Express:“It wasn't only that he was responsible for my daughter's death and her child's and that of the other child who might have been alive and happy now” (Christie 205).

Work CitedChristie, Agatha. Murder on the Orient Express. Toronto:

Bantam, 1983. Print.

Van Dine, S.S,. "The Twenty Rules for Writing Detective

Stories." American Magazine Sept. 1928: n. pag. Print.