And Then There Were None Isolation Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

Rogers said:

“I beg your pardon sir, but there’s no boat on the island.” (4.119-120)

If you’ve ever watched any horror movie, this is about the point where you start seriously considering swimming back to the mainland. Tip #1: always have an escape plan. That’s right up there with “never go off alone.”

Quote #2

It made life lonely, though. He’d taken to shunning his old Army friends. (5.118)

Macarthur’s crime might not have put him in jail, but it’s definitely ruined his life and imposed solitude on him. He can’t even hang out with his old friends anymore because he’s afraid that they know what he did. We get it. Sometimes we’re afraid that our friends will look into our eyes and know the truth: we didn’t put pants on until 5pm today.

Quote #3

He thought: Best of an island is once you get there—you can’t go any farther... you’ve come to the end of things…

He knew, suddenly, that he didn’t want to leave the island. (5.131)

Macarthur sees the island as a reprieve: he’s just tired of living a lie. For him, there’s nothing better than a (mostly) deserted island where he can spend all his time thinking about what a bad, bad man he is.