Analysis of the Elements of Plot of Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

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Maranatha Christian University ii

ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis salah satu novel karya Agatha

Christie yang berjudul The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Novel yang saya pilih

tersebut merupakan sebuah misteri pembunuhan Tuan Ackroyd yang melibatkan

detektif hebat, Hercule Poirot untuk menyelesaikan kasus tersebut. Berkaitan

dengan genre misteri, aspek yang menarik untuk dibahas adalah alur cerita, yang

terdiri atas 3 unsur: suspense, bagian yang menonjolkan ketegangan; surprise,

menampilkan hal-hal diluar dugaan pembaca; dan artistic unity, yang dibangun

oleh keterkaitan suspense dan surprise yang masuk akal.

Dalam novel tersebut, saya menyimpulkan terdapat 7 suspense dan 6

surprise yang saling berkaitan dan masuk akal sehingga terbangun sebuah artistic

unity. Ketegangan demi ketegangan dibangun, diselingi oleh kejutan dan diakhiri

dengan klimaks. Pembaca diajak untuk terus membaca sampai akhir cerita.

Karakter detektif yang Christie ciptakan, yaitu Hercule Poirot, sangat kuat dan

sangat pandai dalam menyelesaikan suatu kasus. Tentunya detektif tersebut

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

There are so many genres of fiction in literature. One of them is mystery, “a

genre of fiction in which a detective, either an amateur or a professional, solves a

crime or a series of crimes” (Wiehardt). Besides, there are a number of sub-genres

within the broad category of mystery. One of them is classic detective, it

sometimes called the old-fashioned detective story, “it generally features a

mysterious death, a closed circle of suspect who all have motives and reasonable

opportunity to commit the crime. The central character is the detective who, by

logical deduction from the facts in evidence, solves the mystery” (“Genres of

Mystery and Crime fiction”).

Among the great authors of detective fiction, I have decided to choose

Agatha Christie, who created detective characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss

Marple (Kennedy). She published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles

in 1920. Some of Christie’s novels are The Mystery of Blue Train (1928), Murder

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Thesis, I would like to discuss The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).

In her novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Christie shows the readers

some unexpected events. This novel is about a mysterious murder with an

unpredictable ending; the narrator of the story turns out to be the killer. Good

mysteries are also good novels if they have memorable character, exciting plot,

lively dialogue and writing that “shows” instead of “tells” (Victor). According to

M.J. Murphy in Understanding Unseen, “Novels of adventure, mystery, crime and

detection, espionage and often also science fiction, usually have well worked-out

plots” (134). Moreover, as the plot in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the most

important literary element, I would like to discuss it in my thesis. Plot is “a

carefully thought out plan in which the events, all the actions and reactions of the

characters, contribute towards the forward movement of the story” (134). Plot

consists of three elements; they are suspense, surprise and artistic unity. Suspense

is “the quality of a story that makes the reader ask ‘what is going to happen next?’

or ‘How will this turn out?’ and impels him to read on to find the answers to these

questions” (Perrine 45). While surprise is “proportional to the unexpectedness of

what happens; it becomes pronounced when the story departs radically from our

expectations” (47), and artistic unity means

… the condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements

work together for the achievement of its central purpose. In an artistically

unified work nothing is included that is irrelevant to the central, nothing is

omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the most

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Statement of the Problem

The problems discussed in this thesis are stated as follows:

1. What are the suspenses in the novel?

2. What are the surprises in the novel?

3. How is the artistic unity presented 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.

Method of Research

I use library research in writing my thesis. First, I read Agatha Christie’s

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as the primary text. Then, I take some data from

the Internet sites and sources to support my analysis of the elements of plot in the

novel. In the end, I draw some conclusion of what has been discussed.

Organization of the Thesis

The thesis is organized into three chapters, which are preceded by the Table

of Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which contains the

Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study,

the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two

contains the analysis of the elements of plot of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of

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Bibliography and the Appendixes, which consist of the Synopsis of the Novel and

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After reading and analyzing Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger

Ackroyd, I come to conclusion that the novel is a thrilling mystery novel because

the elements of plot in the novel are very well presented. The suspenses in the

novel make the readers tricked while they are reading the novel. The element of

the surprise also makes the readers feel surprised because the unexpectedness of

what happens in the story is beyond the readers’ expectation. All the suspenses

and surprises are well arranged; they are connected to each other, acceptable and

plausible, which builds the artistic unity of the novel.

Agatha Christie is skillful at presenting the suspenses in her novel. The

suspenses in this novel are closely connected. Besides, one interesting thing when

I read this novel is that Christie can make the readers misled about who the real

killer is. Christie piles up the suspenses first. There are seven suspenses in this

story and each suspsense is not directly answered by the surprise. From the first

suspense until the fifth suspense Christie builds the tension by creating many

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suspense that leads to the climax in the seventh suspense. It makes the readers

more curious to keep on reading in order to find out who the real murderer is. The

example can be seen from the third suspense when Parker, Ackroyd’s butler, is

suspected to be involved in the case whether as the murderer or the blackmailer.

Moreover, when Dr. Sheppard gets a phone call from Fernly Park that night,

Parker confesses that he never calls Dr. Sheppard. Besides, he shows suspicious

actions that lead the readers to suspect him. Those situations put Parker in a

difficult position. Christie makes the readers keep reading the story because of the

increasing tension in the story. The tension is so great that it makes the readers

feel thrilled.

The element of surprise is also well presented. There are six surprises in

this story but they appear intermittently from the suspense. The first two surprises

come up in the story after five suspenses appear and build the tension in the

readers’ mind by making the readers curious about the real murderer. The next

three come after another suspense is created. The last surprise comes right after

the last suspense to explain the whole chronology and also reveals the murderer.

Christie makes the readers feel surprised because of the unexpectedness in the

story. The most important surprise is the last surprise, which is the climax of the

story, which answers all the questions unanswered yet. There are many suspects

in the story like Parker, the stranger who is later known as Charles Kent, Ralph

Paton, and Flora Ackroyd and all their motives. However, when Poirot

investigates this murder case and reveals the real murderer, the readers will be

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partner when solving this case. This surprise is beyond the readers’ expectation.

Christie successfully gives the reader an unexpected surprise as the climax.

The elements of suspense and surprise are plausible if both elements are

well presented and well connected. The way Christie delivers the elements of

suspense and surprise is really amazing. Christie makes the readers curious and

keep reading the story from the beginning until the end, where she gives a surprise

that the readers would not expect. The tension that appears at the beginning of the

story is not answered until the last surprise comes up to reveal the truth. It is

plausible because the truth would not be revealed if Poirot is not smart enough to

do the investigation such as talking to Caroline, Dr. Sheppard’s sister, visiting a

nursing home, and interpreting Dr. Sheppard’s behavior. Christie successfully

gives the readers an intense suspense with unexpected surprise at the end of the

story through Poirot’s smart investigation, which makes the suspense and surprise

plausible and acceptable, and builds the artistic unity of the novel.

In conclusion, I am of the opinion that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is

one of the best detective novels because of its elements of plot. The events in the

story are closely related. The tension that Christie gives in this novel really

entertains the readers so that this novel is really worth reading. It is no wonder

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text:

Christie, Agatha. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. London: Harper, 2002.

Print.

References:

“Agatha Christie Biography.” Biographyonline.net. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

“Artistic Unity.” Humanitiesweb.org. n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

Curran, John. “The Top 10 Agatha Christie mysteries.” Theguardian.com. 2009.

Web. 1 Mar. 2015.

“Genres of Mystery and Crime Fiction.” Libguides.enc.edu. 2015. Web. 19 Mar.

2015.

Kennedy, Patrick. “Detective Fiction.” Literatureintranslation.about.com. 2015.

Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseens. Oxford: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.,

1972. Print.

Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,

Inc., 1974. Print.

Victor, William, S.L. “How to Write a Mystery.” Creative-writing-now.com.

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Wiehardt, Ginny. “Mystery Novel.” Fictionwriting.about.com. 2015. Web. 11