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Kenzie Wilson

Ms. Starry

English 9 Honors

28 August 2017

Stock Character Essay

Throughout the book, “And There Were None,” by Agatha Christie, there is great

character development. Similar to many fictional books, in this book there are several “stock”

characters. A stock character is a static stereotypical character. A great example of this would be

Miss Emily Brent. Miss Brent is a very religious person that is “enveloped in an aura of

righteousness and unyielding principles.” (Christie 8) She was brought up as a religious person

and is very condescending towards non-religious people. All throughout the book, Emily Brent

remains a stereotypical religious person and it is reflected in the theme of the book.

​Emily Brent constantly shows to the others on the island, how she feels about God.

When all of the characters arrive at Soldier Island, Emily introduces herself, and almost

immediately, went to her room and read her Bible. Emily Brent makes it very clear how she feels

about God, and she puts Him above everyone else, which is what a religious person should do.

She believes that God is all powerful, and states to everyone that “... a sinner should be struck

down by the wrath of God.” (Christie 99) That’s to say, she wouldn't be a murderer, she would

simply let God take care of the wrong doers. She wouldn’t harm anyone else, because she has to

maintain the role of believing in God and putting Him above all others. To prove how much faith
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she has, when Mrs. Rogers passed away, she calls her death “an Act of God” (99) She continues

to act and live her upright life, during the whole book.

The theme throughout the book is that everybody gets what they deserve. This is shown

in the book because all of the residents on the island have something to do with someone’s death.

Each and every one of them has escaped the penalty of one's death. They needed to face the

consequences of their actions. Miss Brent is responsible for Beatrice Taylor’s suicide. However,

Emily doesn’t believe that it’s her fault. Miss Brent is very condescending and sees all

non-religious people as less to her and that they should and will be punished by God. Emily

Brent thinks that Beatrice is sinful because she got ‘in trouble’ (Christie 111), so to make her

point, she marked the scripture, “The Lord is known by the judgement which he executeth: the

wicked is shared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned into Hell.” (Christie

41) She believes that this is what her servant deserves because she is sinful and wicked. Even

though she thought of herself as a very righteous and pure person in the eyes of God, she still

unintentionally pushed Beatrice Taylor into committing suicide. Miss Brent has no remorse and

guilt towards Beatrice. Since she is responsible for Beatrice’s death, and she has to face the

consequences for her actions, and get what she deserves.

This is how Emily Brent is a stock character. Throughout the book, she remains religious

and she continues to act condescending. Nothing really changes with her and she is a static

character. She still believed that she wasn’t responsible for Beatrice Taylor, and that it was an act

of God that made her commit suicide. She remained that way throughout the book, and that's

how she is a stock character in the book, “And Then There Were None,” by Agatha Christie.