105 pages • 3 hours read
Agatha ChristieDeath On The Nile
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1937A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
The Seductiveness of Evil
People who are guilty of some crime–Pennington, Tim, and Simon are all examples—seem to take an interest in crime or are drawn to Poirot, the detective. It seems that crime holds a seductive appeal for them, and also that all were seduced by the promise of wealth into committing crimes. Each of the men was either drawn into crime by a woman or found it easy to commit a crime by exploiting a woman. Because of her wealth and vulnerability, the predatorial Pennington saw Linnet as an easy victim. Simon was also drawn to crime by the desire to exploit Linnet and her wealth, but he was seduced in a much more literal way, as well; according to Jackie, the beautiful, selfish Linnet did her very best to draw Simon to her. Tim, too, was drawn into crime by his cousin, Joanna; until Tim reveals his engagement to Rosalie, the question whether Joanna and Tim are romantically involved is an open one.
The character who best illustrates the seductiveness of evil is Jackie. Jackie, despite her horrific actions, is portrayed sympathetically: she begins as a perfectly well-meaning person, but because of her excessive and misguided love for Simon, she begins to flirt with evil. As Poirot warns her, once she begins to follow the path of evil she will be unable to turn back; indeed, we seem to see Jackie struggling to make a decision at several points in the novel. However, she finally does decide to go through with her plans, and by the end of the novel she has become almost irredeemable: a formerly normal person who now finds killing fun and enjoyable.
The Danger of Loving “Too Much”
Poirot remarks several times that Jackie loves Simon too much and that it is not safe for her to do so. He appears to mean, at least in part, that it is morally dangerous for Jackie to love Simon so much; because she loves him almost beyond sanity, she is willing to do anything for him, including murder her best friend.
The other characters’ relationships also depict the danger of loving too much. Rosalie’s love for her mother leads her to try to conceal Mrs. Otterbourne’s vices and protect Mrs. Otterbourne from her own alcoholism; although Rosalie’s filial piety is noble, the lengths to which she must go in order to supervise her mother ruin their relationship (as Mrs. Otterbourne becomes bitter toward her) and, perhaps even more importantly, destroy Rosalie’s ability to be happy. It transforms Rosalie from a well-adjusted girl into an ill-tempered, constantly sulking, closed-off, moody person in whom most people cannot seem to find anything to like. Fortunately, Rosalie is resilient enough that she can still reach out to others, as her relationships with Poirot, Tim, and Mrs. Allerton show; still, her willingness to lie for Tim, even when she suspects him of murder, illustrates the dangers of loving someone at the expense of no longer being able to adhere to one’s former sense of right and wrong.
Related Titles
By Agatha Christie
