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McCormick
Mari McCormick
Dawn Starry
English 9 H
15 September, 2015

Summer Reading Essay

In the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, each
character has a secret that he or she keeps hidden from everyone else.
Many of them only tell part of their story to make themselves look less
guilty. Vera Claythorne is a perfect example of this. She manages to tell
the story of hoe Cyril died without revealing that it was her fault.
One night after dinner, a mysterious tape played in the house for
all to hear, it says, Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, that on the 11th day of
August, 1935, you killed Cyril Ogilive Claythorne,(47). This quote is
from when Vera was first accused of murdering Cyril. Everyone was in
utter shock after the tape was finished, as they had all just been
accused of brutal murders. Later on, Vera goes more into detail about
the alleged murder, she says, He was forbidden to swim out far. One
day, when my attention was distracted, he started off. I swam afterI
couldnt get there in timeit was awfulbut it wasnt my fault,(66). In
this quote Vera lies and says she tried to save Cyril when in reality, she
didnt try to save him at all. She wanted Cyril dead so she could marry

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his uncle, Hugo, and they could get the inheritance that would have
been Cyrils. Vera let him drown because she was greedy and selfish.
The lesson that we can learn from Veras mistake is to never let
jealousy and anger get the best of us. Vera let her emotions get the
best of her and thats why she let Cyril die. If Vera had been confident
with herself and content with what she had, Cyril would still be alive,
and so would Vera. This is why we should always be grateful and
content with what we have.

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Work Cited
Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. New York. Harper Collins
Publisher,
1940.Print.