Murder on the Orient Express Analysis

1. Murder on the Orient Express Analysis By: Karl Wilson and Will Greene

2. Vocabulary • Culpability- (N) Guilt or blame that is deserved • Pother- (N) A heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do; uncertain origin • Credo- (N) Any creed or formula of belief • Avail- (V) To be use or value to; profit; advantage • Lovelorn- (Adj.) Being without love; forsaken by one's lover

3. Vocabulary (continued) • Verisimilitude- (N) The appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability • Hymeneal- (Adj.) Of or pertaining to marriage • Indignation-(N) Offensive, insulting • Cavorting- (V) To prance or caper about • Onus- (N) A blame or responsibility

4. “Van Dine’s Twenty Rules for writing detective stories” shortened Part 1 • 1) The detective must be at the same pace solving the mystery along with the reader and all clues are notated. • 2) The only tricks displayed throughout the novel are those by the criminal on the detective. • 3) The detective must have no love interest at all, whatsoever. • 4) The investigating officials as well as the detective CANNOT be the culprit • 5) The detective must demonstrate logic through reasoning to solve the case. • 6) The novel must possess a detective in order for it to be a mystery genre. The detective is obligated to be in the novel in order to gather clues that will later reveal the culprit. • 7) A dead body is required for a detective novel which should not be stated any more than 300 pages in a murder mystery.

5. “Van Dine’s Twenty Rules for writing detective stories” shortened Part 2 • 8) The crime must be resolved only using naturalistic methods. • 9) The novel must contain ONLY one detective to solve the crime. • 10) The culprit must capture an interest in the reader and play a strong or weak part throughout the novel. • 11) A servant CANNOT be the culprit, but the culprit has to be the least suspected person in the novel. • 12) There must be no more than one murderer; however they can receive minor additional help throughout the novel. • 13) No secret societies can be involved in the murder. • 14) The murder case must be solved by using a concept of logical and scientific deductions.

6. “Van Dine’s Twenty Rules for writing detective stories” shortened Part 3 • 15) The clues throughout the novel must be stated, but in a fashion so that the reader cannot catch onto too easily. • 16) The story cannot get sidetracked too easily. • 17) The criminal must not feel guilty or confess, nor can they be a minor criminal (e.g. burglar) • 18) The victim’s death must not be self-committed or accidental • 19) No politics in the story, the motive of murder should be personal • 20) You cannot use obvious clues to reveal the culprit, however, the culprit must be revealed through evidence and logic.

7. Rule #2 “The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story” “2. No willful tricks or deceptions may be placed on the reader other than those played legitimately by the criminal on the detective himself” (Van Dine). Explanation: Rule number two fits in with the novel, due to the finding of the scarlet kimono in Poirot’s luggage. Before Poirot had found the kimono in his luggage, he was searching through other people’s luggage and belongings. He thought that the kimono that people had seen was in a man’s luggage. When Poirot came back and found the kimono, he realized someone was playing a trick on him. MurderontheOrientExpress: “He got down and snapped back the lock. Then he sat back on his heels and stared. Neatly folded on the top of the case was a thin scarlet silk kimono embroidered with dragons” (Christie 177).

8. Rule #11 “The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story” “11. A servant must not be chosen by the author as the culprit. This is begging a noble question. It is a too easy solution. The culprit must be a decidedly worth-while person — one that wouldn't ordinarily come under suspicion” (Van Dine). Explanation: Christie’s novel Murder on the Orient Express does not fit in with Van Dine’s rules for writing a detective stories. In the story, both Masterman and Schmidt were suspected for Ratchett / Cassetti’s murder. Masterman was the valet of Ratchett and Schmidt was a maid for Princess Dragomiroff. In the end they were both found guilty for the murder. Murder on the Orient Express: (The motive of murder for Edward Henry Masterman) “Motive-Possibly arising out of connection with deceased, whose valet he was” (Christie 185). “’I couldn’t say, I’m sure, sir. There was no name on the bottle--- just ‘The Sleeping Draught to be taken at bedtime.’’” (Christie 82).

9. Rule #12 “The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story” “12. There must be but one culprit, no matter how many murders are committed. The culprit may, of course, have a minor helper or co-plotter; but the entire onus must rest on one pair of shoulders: the entire indignation of the reader must be permitted to concentrate on a single black nature” (Van Dine). Explanation: Rule number twelve does not fit in with the novel due to the fact that there is more than one culprit. There are 11 total murderers aboard the Orient Express, that all have there personal reasons for killing Cassetti. For example, Miss Debenham is the governess of Daisy Armstrong and she had a strong bond with little Daisy. Another great example is Linda Arden (Mrs. Hubbard), who is Daisy Armstrong’s grandmother and Mrs. Armstrong’s mother. She possesses a very strong bond between Daisy Armstrong and herself, which creates a very powerful animosity towards Cassetti. Murder on the Orient Express: “We decided then and there (perhaps we were mad --- I don’t know) that the sentence of death that Cassetti had escaped had got to be carried out. There were twelve of us --- or rather eleven” (Christie 243).

10. Rule #14 “The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story” “14. The method of murder, and the means of detecting it, must be rational and scientific. That is to say, pseudo-science and purely imaginative and speculative devices are not to be tolerated in the roman policier. Once an author soars into the realm of fantasy, in the Jules Verne manner, he is outside the bounds of detective fiction, cavorting in the uncharted reaches of adventure” (Van Dine). Explanation: Rule number 14 fits in with this novel due to the fact that Poirot gathers information, through scientific reasoning. He uses scientific reasoning when he finds the burned letter in Cassetti’s cabin. Eventually, it leads to the discovery of the connection to the Armstrong Case. The way he found out what the letter said was by using the hat box method of investigation. Through scientific reasoning Poirot was able to find out how the Armstrong Case was affiliated with the actual murder of Cassetti. Murder on the Orient Express: “It was a very tiny scrap only three words and part of another showed: ---member Daisy Armstrong” (Christie 61)

11. Rule #16 “The Classic List of Rules for the Detective Story” “16. A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no "atmospheric" preoccupations. such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action and introduce issues irrelevant to the main purpose, which is to state a problem, analyze it, and bring it to a successful conclusion. To be sure, there must be a sufficient descriptiveness and character delineation to give the novel verisimilitude” (Van Dine). Explanation: Rule number 12 does not fit in with this novel based on the fact that Dr. Constantine is side-tracking the reader with his own relationship. The passage in the novel suggests that he is cheating on his wife with someone named Zia. This thought occurs when Poirot, M. Bouc, and Dr. Constantine are all thinking about the crime’s culprit. Murder on the Orient Express: “…I wonder what Zia is doing at this moment. If my wife ever finds out---… his thoughts went on to entirely private matters” (Christie 196).

12. Reflection of the analysis Murder on the Orient Express does not follow all of the rules stated by Van Dine. First of all it does not follow rule number 11. Rule 11 says “Servants can NOT be the culprit.” In the book, two servants (Edward Henry Masterman and Hildegarde Schmidt) were both guilty of the murder of Ratchett. Second of all it does not follow rule number 12. Rule number 12 says “There must be ONE culprit.” In the book, there were eleven culprits in the death of Ratchett which consisted of the passengers and Pierre Michel, the conductor. Finally it does not follow rule number 16. Rule number 16 states, “There should be no side-tracking throughout the novel.” In the book on page 196 Dr. Constantine goes into his personal relationship matters, talking about an affair with another woman and asking his friend about America. Therefore, at least three rules prove that Murder on the Orient Express does not correspond with Van Dine’s article “Twenty rules for writing detective stories.”

13. Works Cited • Christie, Agatha. Murder on the Orient Express. Toronto: Bantam, 1983. Print • Dictionary." Dictionary.com. Ed. Lexico Publishing LLC. Dictionary.com, 1995. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/>. • Van Dine, S. S. "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories." American Magazine Sept. 1928: n. pag. Web.