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Joyce Ahn
Mrs. Humphreys
LA 7
29 October 2013
Agatha Christie
There are many themes in literature. Out of these, there are two that truly creeps people
out or makes them fear for their lives. These themes are Tales of the Macabre and Expect the
Unexpected. In Tales of the Macabre, the topic of death is very heavily empathized and the
mood tends to be grim. However, the theme, Expect the Unexpected refers mostly to works of
literature such as mysteries. In these mysteries, there are huge plot twists that nobody could have
ever imagined. There are many writers who tie their novels into one of these two themes.
However, there is one author who used both of these themes in her pieces of writing and her
name is Agatha Christie.
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, United Kingdom in September 15, 1890 to an
American father and a British mother. Her family wasnt necessarily wealthy, but they were
financially comfortable. Christie was educated at home with later study in Paris. In 1914, she
married Col. Archibald Christie and they had a daughter. However, this marriage did not last. In
1926, the year of Christies mothers death, another bombshell dropped on her; her husband
requested a divorce. After hearing of this news, she suffered a nervous breakdown and the same
year, she disappeared from her house. A couple days later, she was found in a hotel registered
under her husbands mistresss name. Several years after, she got remarried to an architect. Such
tragedies in her life heavily impacted her style of writing.
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As mentioned before, Agatha Christies writing ties into Tales of the Macabre, and
Expect the Unexpected. Of her novels, most have the theme of Expect the Unexpected. This
is because Christie is mostly a mystery writer and her plots have huge twists and surprises.
However, one of her mystery books, And Then There Were None, also ties into Tales of the
Macabre because death is a huge theme and all the characters end up dying.
Although, there are millions of writers whose work has to do with both of these themes,
Agatha Christie has remained to be popular over the years and can be considered one of the most
successful mystery writers of all time.