Murder: In the Name of Justice Anonymous 12th Grade

“He choked -- choked badly. His face contorted, turned purple. He gasped for breath -- then slid down off his chair, the glass falling from his hand” (Christie 74). So begins Justice Wargrave’s murderous machinations on Soldier Island. In the novel And Then There Were None, Justice Wargrave’s sociopathic tendencies allow him to have several personalities. His Id is active when he plans the murders of ten strangers, his Superego is strongest when he is fighting for justice and the sanctity of the law, and his Ego is in play while he is around other guests, putting on a “normal” facade. These identities shape him to be the perfect character to commit the murders flawlessly and without remorse.

The Id is characteristically “the psychic force that motivates the tendency to seek immediate gratification of any impulse” (Schacter 481). This is an adequate description of Justice Wargrave’s murderous tendencies, which were active even when he was a child. After his vile plot was complete, he put a message in a bottle to describe his background and to truly explain how clever he was. In the letter, he admits: “I was born with other traits besides my romantic fantasy. I have a definite sadistic delight in seeing or causing death. I...