How Does Hercules Poirot Show Identity

As a teen, the famous multimillionaire and owner of microsoft, Bill Gates, used to be judged by his character and physical appearance as a loser who would never be anyone important in life. Years later, he is now the richest and most successful human to be alive, proving that his character and appearances did not show his true identity and destiny. The novel Murder On The Orient Express is a novel written by Agatha Christie, known by her suspense novels as the queen of mystery, which conveys a similar message as Bill Gate’s story. The novel takes place in the Orient Express, a train heading to London, where Samuel Edward Ratchett, a millionaire, is assassinated by an unknown individual. Hercules Poirot, the protagonist and detective of the

Poirot is known as a world famous detective for the vast amount of crimes he has successfully solved, but not nearly as much for his character and appearances. In the beginning of the novel, Hercules Poirot is introduced by the author as a “small lean man, muffled up to the ears of whom nothing was visible but a pink tipped nose and the two points of an upward curled moustache”(Christie 3). Agatha Christie gives detailed imagery of Hercules appearances which portrays the detective as a small and reserved person, not capable of doing anything impressive due to lack of confidence and his physical character. The author also gives a vivid description of a specific part of his body, like Poirot’s mustache, which implies that the detective is more conscious about himself and his body than caring for others. Further into the story, the author gives an insight of Poirot’s character by revealing his emotions and expressions. When talking to Ratchet, Poirot’s “face was completely expressionless. The others could have no clue as thoughts were passing in that mind” as he answered that he “regrets. I cannot oblige you”(Christie 35). Poirot’s facial expression portrays a sensation of uninterest, which, paired with his response to Mr Ratchet’s request, exposes his character as a selfish man that does not help other like every detective

As Poirot is finishing his last conversations with the remaining passengers and gathering background information, he announces to his assistant, M. Bouc, that he can “now open our court of inquiry without more ado”(Christie 89). Even though Poirot is initially described and portrayed as a man with inexperience and lack of initiative, he breaks the first appearance given by his physic by his use of language commonly applied in court, or at a jury. The detective’s language conveys the idea that in the inside, Poirot is a man of great passion and initiative in the search for justice, which is opposite to what his appearance and characterization portrayed about him. Furthermore, during the process of solving the murder mystery, Poirot reveals one of his true morals about life as he tells M. Bouc that he believes that “the impossible cannot have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearance”(Christie 189). Poirot’s statement exposes one of his key beliefs that has helped him to solve many crimes, that despite of the appearance, everything has a second meaning and is possible even if it is viewed as impossible at first. This same idea is applied to poirot’s character, even though he is firstly introduced and presented to people as a small lean man that portraits lack of confidence and determination, he