Hercule Poirot and Criminal Psychology: Crime and Detection in Selected Novels of Agatha Christie

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Drama, Department of Dramatic Literature, College of Arts, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Master’s Student in English Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University

Abstract

In this article, we explore the concept of criminal psychology and will explicate some of its major tenets in characterization of Hercule Poirot. Using an interdisciplinary approach, by close reading and drawing from crime and psychological theories (especially Behaviorism), we investigate the criminal profiling techniques in Agatha Christie’s detective novels. Particularly, we adduce Ian Marsh’s theory in introducing a set of explanations for criminal behavior and Westera et al.’s propositions in identifying features that make a detective’s endeavors effective. We focus on the psychological procedures that exist in the process of mystery (making and solution), as well as on the detective’s task to decodify riddles in light of the internal and external forces acting on him and how these affect his final decision. Then, we expand the notion of profiling as conducted by a detective and will illustrate some of the recurring biases that influence the final verdict about a case. Finally, we depict how the abovementioned proceedings are implemented in Murder on the Orient Express (1934), The A.B.C Murders (1936), and Hickory Dickory Dock (1955), three of Christie’s best-selling novels with Hercule Poirot as their leading character. The character of Poirot, with his immaculate criminal profiling, bears witness to how Christie drew from and, at the same time, contributed to the concept and practice of criminal psychology in fiction.

Keywords

References

American Psychological Association. (2013). What is forensic psychology? https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2013/09/forensic-psychology
Christie, A. (1934). Murder on the Orient Express. Collins Crime Club.
Christie, A. (1936). The ABC murders. Collins Crime Club.
Christie, A. (1955). Hickory dickory dock. Collins Crime Club.
Cutforth, R. (1976). Later than we thought: A portrait of the thirties. David & Charles.
Fillingim, C. S. (2007). Revelations from "Cheesecake Manor": Agatha Christie, detective fiction, and interwar England [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Louisiana State University. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4394&context=gradschool_theses
Fitzpatrick, J. (1976). Psychoanalysis and crime: A critical survey of salient trends in the literature. The annals of the American academy of political and social science, 423(1), 67-74.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/1041423
Hallman, R. J. (1961) Psychology of literature: A study of alienation and tragedy. Philosophical Library.
Kaplan, M. (1975). Literature and psychology. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
Marsh, I. (2006). Theories of crime (1st ed.).  Routledge.
Lucas, F. L. (1957). Literature and psychology. University of Michigan Press.
Tong, S., & Bowling, B. (2006). Art, craft and science of detective work. The Police Journal, 79(4), 323-329. https://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.2006.79.4.323
Walton, S. (2013). Guilty but insane: Psychology, law and selfhood in golden age of crime fiction [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. The University of Edinburgh. https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/7793/Walton2013.pdf
Westera, N. J., Kebbell, M. R., Milne, B., & Green, T. (2014). Towards a more effective detective. International Journal of Research and Policy, 26 (1). 1-17.
White, P. (2019). Literature through psychology. Published independently.
Journal of Language Horizons
Volume 5, Issue 1 - Serial Number 9
January 2021
Pages 167-184

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics