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Language Arts
18 March 2016
ATTWN DBQ
The book, And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie contains one of the most
famous murder mystery stories of all time. Ten people arrive at a private island, Soldier Island,
after getting a letter from U.N. Owen, giving them different reasons to show up. One of them is
brought thinking it was a vacation, one of them is brought thinking they will get to meet up with
some old friends, and one of them is brought thinking she was a secretary. Then, when two
murders happen within the first 24 hours of their time on the island, and the next day, nobody is
there to drop off supplies from the mainland, they realize they are stranded alone on an island
with a murderer. It is a cautious race, to figure out who can find the murderer, and who can get
off the island. Nobody really knew the murderers motives. In the book we learn, from a
gramophone record played, that all of these people are murderers in one way or another. We
figure out the murderers motive is to kill these people who are untouched by the law, though
should not be able to get away with their crimes. So, the question is: Is this okay? It is not okay
to do something wrong and illegal, even when it is for the greater good.
It is not okay to do something wrong and/or illegal, even if it is for the better, for the
Bible says to love your enemies. Our enemies are people who do things wrong, and we hate them
for the things they may have done. Even if it doesnt affect our lives, we still pity the lives that
are affected. But if we love these people, it will probably benefit ourselves more than our enemy.
We should not even be judging our enemies, for that is what God is for, only he can be the judge.
He has forgiven that person already, so we need to make sure we have already forgiven them
also. Because if we forgive our enemies, then we will be forgiven. Luke 6:29 says, If someone

slaps you on the cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold
your shirt from them (Document A). What we call the golden rule come up in the next couple
verses, do to others as you would have done to them (Document A). We need to treat others
like we would ourselves, and things that are wrong, like murder, are probably not things we want
to happen to any of us. Even if this is how we want to be treated, the Bible still says that we need
to be merciful, just like God is. So instead of treating our enemies with wrong, illegal things, we
need to treat them with mercy and love.
It is not acceptable to do something wrong and/or illegal, even if it is for the better,
though punishment makes sense, something unethical does not. Something illegal should not be
treated with another something illegal. A common saying that we hear is, If a man put out the
eye of another man, his eye shall be put out [an eye for an eye] (Document B). This is a
punishment for something he did, and he is being punished so that he will never do it again.
Also, If one has maimed a limb and does not compromise with the injured person let there be a
retaliation (Document C). This means that if someone has hurt another person, there should be
some punishment for that person. Some people who do something wrong are very sorry about it
afterwards. They should not be treated any worse than with a punishment, because they are truly
sorry. Though some people are not truly sorry, or not sorry at all, that should be treated with a
longer punishment, but not an illegal one. People in the book, And Then There Were None, that
were not sorry were people like Lombard and Marston, who left people to die, or just said it was
bad luck. General MacArthur, who said, Its not much good denying it now-not when were all
going to die (Christie 130) was a truly sorry guy. He admitted his wrong doing, and was sorry
for it. Some people admitted their fault but werent sorry, and some didnt even admit it.

In conclusion, people do wrong things, but should not be treated with something illegal in
return. The Bible says to forgive, and we will be forgiven. We need to treat other how we want to
be treated, with mercy and love. We should give punishments to make sure it never happens
again, but just punishment, leave it at that. Some people are actually sorry for what they have
done. It is not acceptable to do something wrong and/or illegal, even if it is for the greater good.
The greater good may not turn out to really be the greater good, it may not turn out to be the way
we thought it would be. God does everything for a reason.