To be invited to an island for a luxury weekend vacation with all expenses paid would seem like the best type of invitation anyone could ever receive. Most of the guests in the novel And Then There Were None thought so too, at first. Justice Wargrave, the main character, assembles a group of people he feels are guilty of the crime of murder. He invites nine people to an island and uses a nursery rhyme as an outline on how to kill the guests he invited. Justice Wargrave is unfair in thinking that all of them deserve the verdict of first degree murder. But some guests deserve his judgment more than others.

Even though Justice Wargrave does not have the authority to carry out the death sentences, there are some guests who deserve his judgment of first degree murder. To begin with, Captain Philip Lombard was responsible for the death of twenty-one tribesmen and stated that it was reasonable because, “They don’t feel about it as Europeans do.” He even admitted that he took the food and left the men behind. In addition, Vera Claythorne planned the death of ten year old Cyril Hamilton. She wanted Cyril to die so that his inheritance money would be given up to Hugo, her lover, and they could marry. Another person who should be guilty is General Macarthur. General Macarthur was the cause of the death of his wife’s lover. He deliberately sent Arthur Richmond on a suicide mission so he would not return. The last person is Mr. Rogers. He planned to “not get the doctor in time” so that the old woman he and his wife were watching would die. They would get her fortune from her will in return for “helping and watching over her.” These four deserve the judgment that Wargrave gave them.

However, there were several guests who did not deserve the verdict of first degree murder. An excellent example is Emily Brent. The girl she hired, Beatrice, became pregnant before marriage. Emily cast her out of her home and that is not criminal in any way. There is no way she could have guessed that Beatrice would have committed suicide. Another person is Mr. Blore. Mr. Blore sent an innocent man to jail so he would receive a promotion. The man he sent to jail, though, had frail health and died soon after getting put in jail. Mr. Blore did not know that that man was going to die and should get time in jail for his false testimony, not the death sentence for first degree murder. In addition, Mrs. Rogers should not be punished because she acted largely under the influence of her husband. She is such a timid, scared woman that she would never have thought to do any type of murder, let alone pull through with the end. Likewise is Doctor Armstrong. He undertook surgery while he was drunk and accidentally killed the patient. He should receive time in jail for a lack of safety or concern. Though Doctor Armstrong cuts corners in his career, he did not mean to kill anyone in the process. Last is Anthony Marston. He was speeding and accidentally ran over two children, but he showed a lack of concern by not stopping to see if they were alive. His actions should not be considered first degree murder because car accidents happen all the time and he didn’t mean to run over the children. Out of all the guests, these are the ones who are judged to harshly by Wargrave.

Justice Wargrave is not reasonable in thinking that all of the guests deserve the verdict of first degree murder. Each guest thought they could all get away with murder, even if the murder was unintentional, but Wargrave proves them wrong. This novel shows that every action has a consequence, whether it is fair or not.

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