ATTWN Literary Analysis Homosapiens are the most psychologically complex organisms on Earth. We have governments, languages, arts, music and technology. Every person on the planet is so incredibly unique that it would be easier to find two identical snowflakes than to find two identical people. However, we have some things in common, despite what many think. The 10 murderous characters conjured up by the famous author sorceress, Agatha Christie, are invited to the island of a seemingly innocent millionaire by the mysterious UN Owen in the award-winning novel And Then There Were None. Each person is invited by different people for different reasons: a reunion of old army buddies, an undercover investigation, and a secretary position. Then, they are all accused of heinous crimes by a recording and are murdered one after another until there are none left alive. The characters in And Then There Were None represent humanity's self-preservation, fear, and predictability. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Human beings have a knack for blaming others to redirect blame onto themselves. If a student, for example, decided to cheat on a test, he would probably get a good grade, but he would be breaking a rule. So, they wouldn't admit it because it benefits them. This is similar to how the 10 characters in And Then There Were None committed murders and got away with it. They wanted to protect their well-being and avoid going to prison. For example, on page 191, Detective William Blore and Philip Lombard are having a heated argument about Blore's crime. Blore continues to defend himself against Lombard's accusatory criticism until he begins to question Lombard's motivation for carrying a gun. They continue to do it to preserve themselves. Previously, Lombard bluntly admits to having killed twenty-one men who were part of an East African tribe. He says: “The story is absolutely true! I left them! Question of self-preservation. We were lost in the bush. Me and a couple of other companions took all the food there and cleaned up. Not quite the gesture of a pukka sahib, I'm afraid. But self-preservation is a man's first duty. (pg. 67)” Similar to Lombard’s arrogant actions, the other characters eventually stop caring about the fate of others; they only cared about their own future on the evil island they were trapped on. All the victims stubbornly maintain that they have never committed or would never have committed any type of illegal activity, much less murder. Fear is another driver for the things we do. On page 265, Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard are in a difficult situation. After the discovery of Detective Blore's death, the list of suspects was reduced to one: the other! Vera perfected Lombard's gun, while he was distracted with his back to her, and shot him to death out of fear that he would kill her. Overall, humans don't want to die. Believe it or not, some people are even terrified of the prospect of dying! Who would have thought? So, to protect themselves from premature death, they do everything in their power, at times, to do so. This shows how similar fear and self-preservation really are. Our species is so intellectual that we can even predict the actions of others. Sometimes they don't even have to be very close people. At the end of the harrowing tale, the killer, Judge Lawrence Wargrave, explains why he imprisoned 9 other people on an island, executed them one by one, and ended his own life (pp. 285-300). It was incredibly, 54(2), 167-184.