Almenario 1

Nona Almenario
Starry
English 9 Honors
15 September 2015
Summer Reading Essay
One little soldier boy left alone; He went and hanged himself. And then there were
None (Christie Preface). This describes what happened to Vera Claythorne on the island. In the
novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Vera Claythorne shows that she did
nothing wrong, but keeps a dark secret that will haunt her forever.
Vera Claythorne exposed that she couldnt save a drowning boy. She thought she did
nothing wrong, and she wasnt guilty of murder. Vera told her guests about her accused crime I
[Vera] swam after him [Cyril] I couldnt get there in time It was awful But it wasnt my
fault (Christie 66). She explained that she couldnt reach Cyril in enough time to save him, and
she uses this to defend her crime. Many of the guests believe what she said. Although she
exposed that she couldnt prevent the drowning, she concealed why she did it. The reason she did
it was for love. When Vera sees the seaweed planted on the ceiling she thinks about Horrid
whiny little brat [Cyril]! If it werent for him, Hugo would be rich able to marry the girl he
loved (Christie 217). The seaweed reminded her of the time of her crime. Vera was in love
with Hugo, and she loved him so much that she let his nephew die just so he can have the money.
Because of her selfish crime, she resulted in losing her lover and someone important to her lover.
A lesson can be learned from Vera Claythornes actions. A lesson learned is even if a
person gets away with a crime, their moral punishment can be guilt that can haunt them for the
rest of their lifetime. Vera stays up at night thinking about her crime The black rocks, the

Almenario 3
smooth yellow sand. Mrs Hamilton, stout, hood-humored. Cyril, whining a little always, pulling
at her [Veras] hand (Christie 87). Even though the crime was said and done, it still haunted her
years later. Guilt is a powerful emotion, and it caused Vera to take her own life.
In the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Vera Claythornes actions
from her tormented past created the person she was. She exposed the physical scene of the crime,
but she concealed her motive for her drowning.

Almenario 3
Works Cited
Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1940.
Print.