And Then There Were None By Emily Bren Character Traits

Laura Pearce

Block 4b

True Evil

While all the people on the island had various faults and problems, there was one person in particular had the most evil crime of them all.In the book, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, there were ten people who were all on the island for their crimes that they didn’t get convicted for.. Emily Brent committed a horrible and heartless crime without feeling any remorse or guilt. Her personality doesn’t improve matters on the island either. She is a very hypocritical woman with a heart of stone. All these traits together make her the most evil on the island.

Emily Brent is a compassionless, hard hearted woman. Instead of looking at people weaker than her with sympathy, she ignores them. These traits

show in the crime she committed. “Emily Caroline Brent, that upon the 5th of November, 1931, you were responsible for the death of Beatrice Taylor”(47), Emily Brent is accused of killing Beatrice Taylor, a woman she once employed. When Brent discovered that unmarried Beatrice was pregnant, she fired her immediately kicking her out in her time of need. Suffering from public humiliation, Beatrice took her own life by jumping off a bridge and drowning herself. The absences of compassion and her lack of guilt or remorse makes her crime even worse.(quote)
Brents personality is one of haughtiness, superiority, and fanaticism.

When Brent first comes to the island, we can tell right away that she is a religious fanatic who obsesses in her own goodness. She is a person who lives by her own special standards. Although she says the Bible is her guide to life, she sets her own limits and rules, and uses the Bible only as a tool to condemn. By keeping herself in line and not falling into "worldly" things, she has brought herself to believe that she is higher than every other person on earth. The book says, "She was sixty-five and did not approve of lounging. She sat upright as was her custom" (7). This shows us that she is so uptight she will not even sit comfortably on a train. Emily Brent is perfect in her own eyes, and no one else can ever live up to her standards or even attempt to be a perfect as she is. When we look back to the time when the recording was played, “Only Miss Brent remained alone sitting erect in her chair”(50), showing that she didn’t feel like she had to hide how she felt about her crime. Brent sat erect and neutral showing how she felt no remorse or guilt. When they asked her about her crime Emily states “ There is no question of defense. I have always acted in accordance with the dictates of my consciences. I have nothing with which to reproach myself”(72). This displays that she has no interest in other’s opinions, nor does she feel they have the right to judge

her.
Besides letting you know what she thinks about everything, everyone around Emily Brent is under constant inspection. If she finds anything wrong with a person, and she always does, Miss Brent is quick to let you know your wrong doings. She turns her nose up to everyone and truly believes that she is the most moral person alive. Emily Brent judges all who come near her. She says that she gets all her judgments from the Bible, but she clearly only picks out the verses she feels can make her superior to others. She is quick to judge others for their faults when she is a murderer herself! ‘You regard it as impossible that a sinner should be struck by the wrath of God. I do not!”(99), almost anything and everything that anyone else does is a sin to Emily Brent, and if you are not as perfect as she is, you are eternally condemned.