Vera Claythorne from And Then There Were None

The little things in life shape our identity and how we act in certain situations. Vera Claythorne, a vital character in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, had the most unique identity and uses it to her advantage in tight situations. An event from her past had surely affected her with the most force, and had the largest impact on how she acted on the island. I believe that out of all the main characters Vera displayed the most unique way of mentally playing it safe on the island.

Vera’s all around identity was the reason she thrived on Soldier Island. Being a young woman in a group of mainly men took her off the top of the murderer list. She was thought of as too weak to kill someone or too kind to complete a task so gruesome. Vera was generally a nervous and guilty person. Her attitude of fear lead all the others to believe she wasn’t the person behind all the murderous mischievousness. Vera’s obsession to be the last alive and to figure out who the killer was also benefitted her greatly. Thinking this way lead others to believe she was like the rest of them and just trying to make it off the island alive. In all, Vera’s identity greatly benefited her in the long run even if it may have not been obvious.

Each person on the island subconsciously made decisions on what details to share and what details to conceal regarding the U.N or the “murders” they’d all committed in the past. Even though most of her choices regarding details were not thought about long and hard, Vera made smart decisions that kept her alive longer on the island. A boy Vera was watching-named Cyril-had swam out too far and she failed to save him. This event shaped her into the person she was. A detail about Cyril’s death, that she decided to conceal from the other ten, was that there was someone else motivating her. Hugo was her dreamy-eyed friend that she had fallen in love with. Cyril had always interrupted her time with Hugo, and while swimming out to save Cyril, Hugo was on her mind. She mentally accepted Cyril’s death because it meant a better future for her and Hugo. “… But knowing, only too surely, that she wouldn’t be in time… she must not think of Hugo” (Christie 5). By concealing this small detail, Vera avoided accusations from the others. By not admitting this, she wasn’t more of a murderer than any of the others on the island. From this concealed decision, we learn that sometimes it pays off to tell a half-truth over the whole truth.

Vera made intelligent decisions about what information she chose to expose, too. She made it very clear that she was associated with Cyril’s death in one way or another. By admitting to this, she lets everyone else know that she isn’t going to stubbornly plead innocent. Conversely, she is just like everyone else for providing insight to the situation. Vera exposes fear as a very natural reaction. When she displays this emotion, she is perceived to be experiencing the same fear as the others. As a result, Vera was rarely thought of as the killer. The information she openly exposed to the ten guests provided a more positive outlook for her survival.

Vera’s overall persona is the main reason she was always looked at as one who was along for the ride, like everyone else, rather than being considered one capable of murder. Her personal identity and decisions about her level of transparency demonstrated how all in all, Versa mentally was the most intelligent character on Soldier Island. “She thought to herself: why had Anthony Marston wanted to die?” Bringing up this question in the publicity of the others may have made them suspicious. Being a young woman, who made very down to earth decisions, greatly benefitted Vera’s ability sustain herself on Soldier Island. The smart and mostly subconscious decisions Vera made her stand out as a resilient individual. Keeping minimal details to herself, but sharing almost the whole truth, was Vera’s game plan. In conclusion, Vera was the most successful and mentally powerful in the Solider Island situation.

Works Cited

Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. HarperCollins Publisher, 1940.

Reflection:

This piece was directly about identity. I think going into depth of a characters identity has taught me just how individual everyone is. Identity is a very broad thing about a person that contains several other broad aspects like religion and belies and personality.

It was pretty amazing that I was able to use this author’s character and expand on her identity to this depth. The author had done a marvelous job creating each and every one of the 10 main characters. It was quite astonishing thinking the author had given us a few concrete details and that I build a character in my head based on that and her actions.

I found myself digging deeper into who I am with this work. If I had written about my identity would I be proud of who I am? And if someone was told to expand on my identity in a work, what would be the first things to pop into their head?

#report #book