Agatha Christie’s “The idol house of Astarte” Essay

The story the Idol House of Astarte is just one of the stories that appe ard in Dame Agatha Christies The Thirteen Problems (1932, 2000)(also published as The Tuesday Club Murders. ) Ms. Jane Marple, one of Christies most beloved characters is the village old maid who has a knack for observing parallels between situations (Bargainnier 42). She along with her playwright nephew Raymond West, the artist Joyce Lempriere, Scotland Yards Sir Henry Clithering, the elderly clergyman Dr. Pender and the solicitor Mr. Petherick are featured telling accounts of puzzling situations and crimes they have see (Christie 1).To each story, the storyteller withholds the solution to the how the crime was solved and how it was committed. The challenge to the listeners is to guess the answers to the question of how the murders or crimes were committed and by whom. (2) The Idol House of Astarte (15-30) is the story shared by Dr. Pender. In it, he recalls the experience he had and the murder he witnessed a t a party at the fireside of a Sir Richard Haydon on Dartmoor. The kin itself, while unremarkable in appearance, was said to be built on a location full of history including that of the Neolithic hut dwellers, the Druids, Romans and early Phoenicians.On the grounds is a peculiar piece of land with a dense crop of trees, which Haydon thought to be the sacred grove of a Phoenician goddess of the moon, Astarte. The bus and eery atmosphere of the grove inspired one of the guests, an actress called Diana Ashley to suggest a Fancy dress or costume party for that evening. In the course of the evening, the house party dressed in their costumes once again venture to the grove and encounter a surprise in the form of a fully garment Diana Ashley who was acting the part of a priestess at the goddess temple.In excitement, Sir Richard Haydon attempts to approach Diana, stumbles and then falls forward. When he doesnt get up, his cousin Elliot investigates what happened and announces that Richa rd was dead apparently from a stab infract. Despite searching for a weapon or possible reason for Haydons death, none could be found. The next day, Elliot Haydon was also found stabbed that alive in the same position as Richard was. The difference was that a dagger was left in the wound. According to him, something supernatural happened in the grove and that his wound was inflicted by something he could not explain.The story goes on to detail the many solutions Ms. Marples party offers up for the deaths. Most of which bringed the supernatural and superhuman. Of them all, only the lawyer Mr. Petherick and Ms. Marple offered solutions that on the whole discounted the supernatural. In the end, it was Ms. Marple who came upon the correct answer to Dr. Penders mystery. There were many factors that made the story mystical. The story itself carries many suggestions of supernatural things such as magic and ghosts. ofttimes mention has also been given to the atmosphere of the grove, whic h was often described as spooky or creepy. There was also of course the setting, which was in a alter in a dense crop of trees and the time at which the murder happened which was a night with a rising moon (20). There was also the eerie dark punctuated with whispers and sighs, and the small summerhouse or temple at the clearing itself where a stone statue of the goddess Astarte was enshrined. The atmosphere of evil and foreboding enveloped the characters in the house party.Ms.Marples group was also invariably influenced by the eerie record of the story and Dr. Penders description of how he felt on seeing the grove as well as the events as they unfolded. I think this very atmosphere itself plus the mere fact that a clergyman such as Dr. Pender could be affected by such evil atmosphere, hindered the characters in the house party including some members of Ms. Marples group in their objective and sober assessment of the facts. In fact, I believe Ms. Marple stated it best when she said I dont see how anyone else could have done itI mean if, as Mr.Petherick so wisely says, one looks at the facts and disregards all that atmosphere of heathen goddesses which I dont think is very nice. (Christie 29) I also found it evoke that the to a greater extent artistic in Ms. Marples group such as Raymond West and Joyce Lempriere, were more susceptible to thinking up solutions of a supernatural nature such as seances and superhuman strength used in throwing a javelin. Sir Henry Clithering, while not completely taken in by the supernatural, did consider the possibility of murder done by a professional and exceptionally talented dagger of knife thrower.(27) Owing to his profession as a solicitor, Mr. Petherick was more trained to evaluate facts without the influence of atmosphere. Ms. Marple, besides being a matter-of-fact sort of person, has the wealth of her experience and observations of living in a village that she puke build her judgment on. Profession and experience seem to be used as indicators and measures of each characters objectivity and imagination. Both Ms. Christie and the character Dr. Pender are wonderful storytellers.The description of the grove and the feelings it created in those who visited it shows just how important atmosphere can be not only in a story (Bargainnier 28) alone also in influencing how people think, feel, and view things.Works Cited Bargainnier, Earl F. The Gentle Art of Murder The Detective Fiction of Agatha Christie. Bowling Green, OH Bowling Green State University favourite Press, 1980. Questia. 4 Nov. 2007 . Christie, Agatha. The Idol House of Astarte. The Thirteen Problems. New York Signet, 2000. 15-30.