CONFLICT

Protagonist

Since the antagonist is not revealed until the end of the book, all ten main characters are the protagonists until that point. The reader gains an appreciation for each characterÂ’s evil past and potential to kill again, yet remains sympathetic to all as they fight to escape death. The authorÂ’s skill in keeping all the characters equally suspicious yet equally vulnerable to attack is superb, and is the hallmark of what makes this book a outstanding work of mystery fiction.

Antagonist

The antagonist, who is the unknown murderer, remains hidden until the conclusion of the book, yet is the most powerful force in the plot and the charactersÂ’ behavior. At first, the characters believe the antagonist to be their mysterious host, who must be hidden on the island with an insane scheme to murder them all. Gradually, they conclude that no one else is on Indian Island and the killer is one of them. This acknowledgement gives the antagonist power as a force of fear, since he is nearer and yet more veiled. In the final chapter of the book, the reader finally identifies the antagonist as Justice Wargrave.

Climax

The climax of the book is reached when only two characters remain alive, Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard. The mood is most tense in this scene, where both characters feel more afraid for their life than at any other point in the plot, since each sees the other as necessarily being the murderer. The reader feels he is very close to solving the mystery and discovering the killer, yet is anxious as to what the outcome of the scene will be.

Outcome

The climax is resolved when Vera shoots Lombard and then takes her own life by hanging herself. Yet this is not the final outcome since the reader still does not know who the murderer is. It is made clear that Vera was not the killer all along, but only defending herself against Lombard when she reasoned that he must obviously be the villain. After she shoots him she feels enormous relief, since she believes she has outsmarted the murderer (Lombard) and managed to survive. But when she sees a noose hanging in her bedroom, her hysterical and exhausted mind plays tricks on her, and she feels Hugo (the lover who abandoned her) would want her to hang herself.

Thus, the last chapter ends with all ten main characters dead on Indian Island and the mystery as unsolved as it was at the start. Only in the final "A Manuscript Document Sent to Scotland Yard" chapter do we learn the truth. Justice Wargrave pens his confession and drops it into the sea in a bottle. In this letter to Scotland Yard, he explains his motives to kill all nine other characters and exactly how he accomplished his foul play. The 3most significant revelation in the outcome of the book is that Wargrave faked his own death with the help of Dr. Armstrong, only to betray and kill Armstrong soon after. He then waited to finish off all the other guests before taking his own life in a way that would appear as if he were murdered.

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