And Then There Were None And Wolf Rider: Pursuing Justice

Maddie Paule
Mrs. Reasons
ELA 8-5
23 Oct. 2017
And Then There Were None and Wolf Rider: Pursuing Justice
In March of 1984, Jeff Doucet exited his plane and was shot in the head by Gary Plauce because Doucet had been accused of kidnapping Plauce’s son. This is just one real-life incidence of someone taking something into their own hands. In the mystery novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Cristie, a retired judge named Justice Wargrave feels the system has failed to punish people who have committed or been linked to the murder of an individual. Justice had already received a terminal diagnosis and decided to invite those guilty individuals to an island and commit a mass murder. In Wolf Rider by Avi, a teenager, Andy, receives a phone call

from a man calling himself Zeke claiming to have killed a girl named Nina. Andy becomes far too obsessed with finding out who Zeke really is; this puts him in danger and results in Andy being sent by his father to live with his aunt. A theme that develops throughout the two novels is taking things into one’s own hands seldom yields positive results.
Said theme is present all throughout the first half of And Then There Were None.

Macarthur had been reflecting on the gramophone’s accusation that he’d committed murder: “Yes, he’d sent Richmond to his death and he wasn’t sorry.” (Christie 83). He had deliberately sent a family friend to his death for having an affair with his wife. Macarthur was shown as being in the wrong for this all throughout the novel, even though he showed no remorse. However, Macarthur was one of the individuals Wargrave chose to kill because he felt that Macarthur had done wrong, this obviously isn’t a positive result and definitely was not what Macarthur had hoped would happen.
Likewise, In the latter half of Cristie’s novel, the theme continues to present itself. In Wargrave’s manuscript, he leaves a detailed explanation for his crimes: “I considered a type dangerous and unfit to live.” (Christie 289). He took it upon himself to gather and murder people he had deemed unworthy of life. He collected a bunch of names of those who he believed hadn’t been adequately punished, and invited them to an island under a pseudonym in order to kill them. There aren’t any positive outcomes from his mass murder. Several lives are lost, including Wargrave’s, because he eventually kills himself after his final victim has

died.
In Avi’s Wolf Rider, this theme is shown in the first portion of the novel.

Andy and his father were arguing about Andy’s obsession with Nina and the true identity Zeke. His father was begging him to stop pursuing the case: “It’s all in your head!” (Avi 83). He is trying to convince Andy that he’s making far too big of a deal out of the entire incident that could actually still just be a practical joke at this point. Andy doesn’t listen to his father’s pleas, and continues to pursue the phone call. His desired result is finding out who Zeke is and protecting Nina. However, he gets unhealthily obsessed and constantly feels responsible for Nina and her

safety.
In the final half of Avi’s novel, the theme remains there. Andy, his father, and his father’s girlfriend go to the park. Andy breaks from the group to call Zeke. He feels guilty and almost as if he’d betrayed his father: “He was worried if he stopped something would happen to Nina.” (Avi 151). Andy is recognizing his obsession. He acknowledges that he needs to stop before he gets even more involved than he already is but he just cannot stop himself. Andy had gotten too involved with the case, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
In conclusion, it rarely turns out well when one takes things into their own hands is a theme that resonates throughout the two novels. The books both have characters that take things into their own hands, and receive consequences from that choice. Andy chooses to pursue Zeke, and is sent away from his father. Wargrave kills people he’s decided don’t deserve live, but it results in his own suicide. This can be connected to the real-life case involving Jeff Doucet and Gary Plauce from the earlier statements. Plauce was seeking justice for his son, and while he may have gotten it, he was sent to prison for his actions.