Aaron Jevon Dy

Structuralism is a critical theory that language is used to

construct the world. Therefore its a focus how the text is constructed.
This means that a structuralist would be interested on the form, the
overall structure, and the patterns of language in it, especially the
pairs of opposites. Its developer, Ferdinand de Sausseure, says,
Language is a complete, self-contained system and should be studied
as such. This essay is a structuralist reading of The Mousetrap. The
Mousetraps story works through its play with a different version of the
common structure as seen through the recurring patterns, the number
three, and the whodunnit formula.
There are different patterns that could be seen in Agatha
Christies The Mousetrap. This study would analyze it based on the
order of the play. At the first part of the play, there are people
introduced. It could be seen that the people are introduced one by one,
all with a chat with an interview with Giles, and/or Mollie. This is
constantly done for each of the characters that are introduced.
However, it could be seen that the Detective was not interviewed when
he arrived. Also another pattern shown was the interview of the killer.
It was shown the police officer interviewed each person in the room,
one by one. This then adds possible clues and red herrings to the story.
Each character is then given traits that would make him be considered
by the detective. This can be seen through the descriptions that fit
Christopher Wren, or the fact that the Ralstons knew Mrs. Lyon. It can
be seen that almost all characters except the detective could have
possibly killed Mr.s Lyon, and eventually Mrs. Boyle. Another repeated
motif was the three blind mice. It can be seen that it was repeated
three times. The first was during the start when the police officer was
describing the murderer. The second time it was played was during the
murder of Mrs. Boyle. The third time would be during the attempted
murder on Mollie. It can be seen that the number three was used a lot
of times in the play like the three children, the three blind mice and the
three times it was played. Lastly, there is the basic whodunnit formula.
The formula is the clich for mysteries, where the detective solves the
crime, and exposes the remaining secrets. The play goes against this
formula, and reverses it. The killer is then revealed to be no other than
the police officer, and then the other characters are also revealed. This
is seen to follow a reverse formula, as the detective was the actual
killer. Also, contrary to the formula, the play has an element of
surprise. Usually, texts that follow the formula would have clues laid
out, and the reader would have figured out the mystery before the end
of the book. The clues here all lead to red herrings, and werent really
used for the readers to figure out who the killer was. The play creates a
played around structure that is the inverse of the formula, which
makes it new and interesting.

It can be seen that the play, The Mousetrap, is a meaningful play

through the structure. The inversion of certain parts of the common
structure makes the play meaningful. It gives a defamiliarized version
of the common whodunnit structure. This inversion leads to an
interesting turn of events for the reader who is familiar with the
structure, and is able to appreciate the whodunnit structure and the
defamiliarized structure.