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Analysis of the Elements of Plot in Agatha Christie's "The Mystery of the Blue Train".

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis sebuah novel karya Agatha Christie yang berjudul The Mystery of the Blue Train. Novel ini bercerita tentang pembunuhan seorang wanita yang bernama Ruth Kettering, anak seorang pengusaha kaya di Amerika, Rufus Van Aldin. Kasus pembunuhan ini ditangani oleh seorang detektif ternama bernama Hercule Poirot. Alur cerita dari novel ini sangat menarik, oleh karena itu dalam tugas akhir ini saya menganalisis suspense, bagian yang memunculkan ketegangan; surprise, bagian yang menampilkan kejadian-kejadian yang mengejutkan dan menjawab suspense; serta artistic unity, bagian yang membuat suspense dan surprise masuk akal dan berkaitan satu dengan yang lain.

Sebagai kesimpulan, saya berpendapat bahwa Christie membangun artistic unity yang sangat baik dalam novel ini. Ketegangan yang dibangun sejak awal

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . i

ABSTRACT . . . ii

CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION . . . 1

Background of Study . . . 1

Statement of the Problem . . . 3

Purpose of the Study . . . 3

Method of Research . . . 3

Organization of the Thesis . . . 4

CHAPTER TWO :ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN AGATHA CHRISTIE’S THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN . . . 5

CHAPTER THREE : CONCLUSION . . . 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . 22

APPENDICES . . . 23

Synopsis of The Mystery of the Blue Train . . . 23

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, known as Agatha Christie, is one of the greatest mystery writers. She was also known as a noted playwright. Most of her works have also been turned into movies and are viewed many times. She is considered as one of the world's top-selling authors who have sold billions of copies of her works. Agatha Christie was a prolific writer as she has written more than 70 detective novels as well as short fictions, which have been widely translated into 55 languages around the world. Christie's success as an author of detective stories has earned her titles as a "Queen of Crime" or a "Queen of Mystery" (“Agatha Christie Biography”). Christie was also famous as the creator of two well-known detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Both of them always make her readers fascinated because they have their own ways to solve every case unexpectedly. Miss Marple has been featured in novels like The Moving Finger (1942) and A Pocket Full of Rye (1953). However, Hercule Poirot

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Roger Ackroyd (1926), Death in the Clouds (1935), and The Mystery of the Blue

Train (1928).

From all of her works, I decide to analyze The Mystery of The Blue Train in my thesis. Published in 1928, the novel tells a story about Ruth Kettering, an American heiress who dies in a luxurious blue train on her way to Nice after she has received a set of valuable ruby necklace called “Heart of Fire”. It is a gift from

her father, Rufus Van Aldin, a millionaire. She is found dead in her compartment and the case containing the ruby has disappeared. Then, the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who happens to be on the train, starts to investigate the case and helps Ruth’s father to find the murderer.

As The Mystery of The Blue Train is a murder mystery novel, elements of plot is the most prominent element in the novel to be analyzed. The elements of plot consist of suspense, surprise, and artistic unity. Suspense is “a quality in a work of fiction that arouses excited expectation or uncertainty about what may happen; in more literary forms of fiction the suspense involves the question "Why?"” (“Introduction to Plot and Structure”). While, surprise is “whatever

happens in a story that the reader did not expect; is proportional to the unexpectedness of what happens.” (“Introduction to Plot and Structure”). The last

one, artistic unity means,

… the condition of a successful literary work where by all its elements

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omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the most effective order for the achievement of the purpose. (“Artistic Unity”) In analyzing the novel, I choose to use formalism. This approach … regards literature as a unique form of human knowledge that needs to

be examined on its own terms. All the elements necessary for

understanding the work are contained within the work itself. . . . a primary goal for formalist critics is to determine how such elements work together with the text’s content to shape its effects upon readers. (“Critical

Approaches to Literature”).

I believe the use of formalism is appropriate to help me in my analysis.

Statement of the Problem

The problems I am going to discuss are: 1. What is the suspense in the novel?

2. What is the surprise in the novel? 3. What is the artistic unity in the novel?

Purpose of the Study

Based on the statements of the problem, the purposes of the study are: 1. To show the suspenses in the novel.

2. To show the surprises in the novel.

3. To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel.

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I use library research in writing my thesis. First, I read The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie as a primary text. Then, I take some data from the

Internet sites and sources to support my analysis of the elements of plot in The Mystery of the Blue Train. Last, I draw some conclusions from my analysis.

Organization of Thesis

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Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After reading and analyzing Agatha Christie’s The Mystery of the Blue

Train, I conclude that this novel is one of suspenseful detective novels. The

elements of plot in the novel are well presented. The suspenses that arise in the novel really make the readers curious about what is going to happen next. Besides, the surprises give the readers unexpected turns in the events that happen in the story. All the suspenses and surprises are acceptable, plausible and connected to each other, thus, it builds a good artistic unity in the novel.

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Maranatha Christian University a murderer who disfigures the victim’s face, an imitation of the jewelry stolen, and two murderers who disguise themselves. These events make the readers more curious to keep on reading in order to find out who the real murderer from the story is.

The element of surprise in the novel is also well presented. After revealing the first three surprises, Christie still keeps the reader’s tension high by not giving the answers to all the suspenses that deal with the ultimate questions of the mystery. The most important surprise is the fourth until the eighth surprise which becomes the climax of the story and answers all the questions that have not been answered. The surprises come right after the last suspense and explain the whole chronology of the story and also reveal the murderer. Christie makes the readers feel surprised because the ending of the story is beyond expectation. Derek Kettering, who is suspected as the murderer from the very first place is not the murderer after all. Furthermore, when Poirot reveals his investigation of this murder case and mentions the real murderer, the readers will be surprised. First, Poirot reveals that the murderer is Knighton, a man who works as a secretary to

Ruth’s father, Rufus Van Aldin. Second, he reveals the true identity of Ada

Mason, a woman who works as a maid of Ruth as Knighton’s accomplice. Knighton’s real name is Marquis and Ada Mason’s real name is Kitty Kidd. They

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Maranatha Christian University Christie successfully gives the readers an intense suspense with unexpected surprise at the end of the story through Poirot’s smart observations

and investigations. However, Christie still manages to provide logical and sensible explanation that makes all the surprises answer the suspenses in an acceptable and believable way. It is the fact that Poirot is described as a very intelligent detective that leads the readers to believe in the solution to the mystery that he offers. Poirot’s revelation at the end of the novel provides a clear explanation about the

case and shows the plausibility in the way the surprises answer the suspenses. Thus, I am of the opinion that Christie has successfully delivered a story with a great artistic unity in an extraordinary way.

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ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF

PLOT IN

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S

THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN

a thesis

submitted to the English Department of the Faculty of Letters

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the ‘Sarjana’ degree

IRMA DWINANDA RAHMAWATI 1041013

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LETTERS

MARANATHA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY B A N D U N G

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Maranatha Christian University

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text:

Christie, Agatha. The Mystery of the Blue Train. London: Harper Collins. 2003. Print.

References:

“Agatha Christie Biography.” Bio. 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

“Artistic Unity.” HumanitiesWeb. 2012. Web. 28 Sep. 2016.

“Critical Approaches to Literature.” home.olemiss.edu. 1995. Web. 18 Oct.

2016.

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