Literary Devices in Murder on the Orient Express
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Believe it or not, the Simplon Orient Express was – and still is – an actual train line that Agatha Christie herself rode. Why does Christie use this train as the setting of her story? Well, we...
Narrator Point of View
Rather than being a character in the story, the narrator is an omniscient third-person voice. The narrator is fairly unobtrusive and sticks to giving us the facts. The narrator also gives us multip...
Genre
One of the granddaddies of the genre, Murder on the Orient Express helped to define the murder mystery whodunit genre. Agatha Christie was a pro at the formulas and conventions of writing this kind...
Tone
What happens next? We'd really like to know. The tone of Christie's writing is steady and even as the facts unfold and we are always given all of the particulars in a methodical and orderly manner...
Writing Style
Just the facts, ma'am. With such a confusing plot, Christie is always sure to give us all of the particulars in a straightforward manner. We are even provided with lists and maps when needed.
What's Up With the Title?
Most of Agatha Christie's titles are descriptive advertisements of the plot: Murder on the Links, for example, is about murder on a golf course. Seems pretty straightforward, right? That's because...
What's Up With the Ending?
"Justitia fiat, ruat coelum!" Or, "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall!" Some smart Latin-speaking person probably said that. But is justice done in the conclusion of Agatha Christie's Mur...
Tough-o-Meter
While you may not be able to figure out the whodunit, you'll have no problem reading Agatha Christie's classic Murder on the Orient Express. The prose is clean and simple, and the novel is broken u...
Plot Analysis
Poirot finishes a case in Syria and boards a train to Stanboul. Suspicious activity commences.Our setting (a train) is introduced, along with our most important character: famed Belgian detective...
Trivia
While Poirot is Belgian, Christie herself was born in England in 1890 to an American father and English mother (source).Murder on the Orient Express was loosely based on the real-life kidnapping an...
Allusions
Charles Dickens (1.2.91)Honoré de Balzac (1.3.4)William Shakespeare, As You Like It (3.3.57)World War I (mentioned throughout)