Chapter 14 /XIV

Journal Questions

1. THE ORDER OF THE DEATHS. Examine the order of who died. There is a definite pattern.

Part of Agatha Christie’s genius is how the order of the deaths seems to be based upon the severity of the crimes they committed. The victims who were deemed by the killer to be “less severe” were murdered first, and the victims who were deemed “more severe” were killed most recently.

Predict the future death order based upon the severity of the crimes of those four who are remaining alive, explaining in detail your reasoning. In other words, if the pattern holds, who should die next? Who should die last? Provide a justification for your order based upon how the crimes are growing increasingly severe. (four paragraphs, one for each character)


2. BLORE STARTS TO FEEL GUILT. In the beginning Blore barely remembered his alleged murder victim, Landor. Now he can recall every feature of his face and thinks about the man’s wife and daughter. What brought about this change? Would this change have happened if he hadn’t been in the situation he now finds himself? (one paragraph)


3. CASTING CALL. Sometimes it helps to imagine modern, popular actors playing the roles of characters in a book you are reading in order to get beyond just names on a page and to be able see the characters as people.

What actors would you cast for each of the ten, primary characters? Think about the character’s age, gender, personality, and previous roles, as well as the professions of each character.

For example, one student in class today suggested that Lombard could be George Clooney and some else saw him as Jonny Depp. (ten bullets)