51 pages • 1 hour read
Agatha ChristieMurder at the Vicarage
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1930A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Vicarage
The Vicarage is a symbol of the village’s heart and pumps vitality into the theme of The Dynamics of Village Life. In small communities, the church and the Vicar are the center of the spiritual and social life during the early 20th century. All the quirks and personalities of the village are on display within its comfortable rooms. The Vicarage is open to all, which reinforces the heart and center of the village symbolism. Pathways, like blood vessels, lead to and from the vicarage. The primary one leads citizens directly into the Vicar’s study. Characters go in and out of the window or peek through the door like it is common property and not a private residence. All manner of gatherings happen there, including Sunday schools, social meetings, and ladies’ teas. The police and doctors gather there to trade information about the case. It offers a lens through which to see the Dynamics of a small village’s life and the perfect place for the narrator to live. The murderer struck a blow at the heart of the village by killing Protheroe in the vicarage. For the village and its symbolic heart to thrive again the murderer must be brought to justice; for much of the book the study is locked up and inaccessible.
The symbolic heart of the vicarage imparts morality. In Murder at the Vicarage, the murder is also an assault on the village’s morality. The charming presence of Lawrence Redding excites the hearts and minds of the villagers but he disrupts it morally. He causes arguments, jealousies, and speculations. Redding and the disease that Hawes has are similar because their presence alters personality. Clement notes that Anne Protheroe is completely different when she is under Redding’s control. His moral ambiguity infects everyone around him, including Lettice and Griselda. If Redding is the virus in the community that attacks the heart of the Vicarage, Doctor Haydock’s method of curing crime by getting rid of the disease applies. Once the village loses Redding, the virus, the heart and peace of the village heal and even prosper, as Griselda announces the imminent arrival of the next generation. The heart of the village, the vicarage, returns better than before as the vicar’s family continues to welcome all and grows.
The Pistol
The pistol used in the murder is a German Mauser. Redding mentions offhand that he got it from the war (34). This casual comment elevates the pistol from a murder weapon to a symbol for outside forces that infiltrate the community, create conflict and violence, and threaten the peace of St. Mary Mead. On a grander scale, it symbolizes threats to the traditional English way of life. When Murder at the Vicarage takes place, World War I is still in recent memory and the Second World War is on the horizon. The Mauser was one of two models carried by German soldiers. Men like Redding and Doctor Haydock, who can recognize the caliber of the bullets, obtained their knowledge through the horrors of war. The violence that is associated with an enemy weapon is inseparable from the weapon itself in this story. The murder in the village is a miniature version of enemy threats to the country as a whole. Redding and his foreign gun symbolize a larger fear the English had about outside evils disturbing their way of life. The death of Protheroe, who was once a Colonel and an active soldier, reinforces the symbol.
Clement has a moment of Marple-like deduction when he talks about why Archer, a long-time village resident and local poacher, wouldn’t be the murderer. He notes to Hawes that the Mauser is not a weapon Archer would use. As a local, his firearm of choice would be his hunting rifle. The Mauser is thus a weapon of an outsider and symbolizes the threat and harm of the outside world.
The Inaccurate Clock
Inaccurate clocks accentuate the theme of the Dynamics of Village Life. Clocks appear everywhere but none of them work properly. This symbolizes the fluid nature of time in a small village like St. Mary Mead. The Vicar is undoubtedly the busiest man in the novel, after Inspector Slack, with his numerous classes, sermons, services, and necessary social calls, and yet he functions without a working clock, which the murderer damaged. Even when it worked properly, it was still inaccurate.
The investigators devote much energy to character locations at certain times. This becomes irrelevant when investigators discover the faked times. Lettice, Mary, and Mrs. Price Ridley all misjudge time due to faulty watches, their work, or apathy about time. The inaccurate clock is an apt symbol for the easy pace and timelessness of village life. Redding smashes the vicar’s clock, which symbolizes the murder’s effect on the village.
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By Agatha Christie
