43 pages 1 hour read

Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1934

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Justice Versus Retribution

The book’s most significant theme is that of justice versus retribution. By the end of the book, the reader will have to ask themselves whether the need for justice outweighs the need for retribution. Poirot will be forced to address the question more concretely when he must choose between the two theories of the murder he’s developed—a correct theory that prioritizes justice (by imprisoning 12 murderers) versus an incorrect theory that prioritizes retribution (by letting those same 12 murderers walk free, all in the name of justice).

Colonel Arbuthnot first broaches the concept of retribution. When he “learns” Mr. Ratchett’s true identity is Cassetti, he says, “The swine deserved what he got. Though I would have preferred to have seen him properly hanged—or electrocuted, I suppose, over there” (133). Poirot makes note of the Colonel’s preference for retribution, in that the man’s response illustrates his own ideas of how justice could have been delivered.

As the narrative continues, it becomes clear that “justice” failed Daisy Armstrong, a little girl who Mr. Ratchett (Cassetti) kidnapped and murdered. The man who was slain in the train’s compartment becomes less a victim as his crimes are revealed and the continued losses included the girl’s mother, unborn sibling, father, and nursemaid.

Related Titles

By Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

A Murder Is Announced

Agatha Christie

A Murder Is Announced

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

A Pocket Full of Rye

Agatha Christie

A Pocket Full of Rye

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie

Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie

Plot Summary

logo

Poirot Investigates

Agatha Christie

Poirot Investigates

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

The Pale Horse

Agatha Christie

The Pale Horse

Agatha Christie