Megan+K

** Plot Overview: ** Hercule Poirot is an inspector/detective is a Belgian detective who is riding on the Orient Express on his way to Paris. On his trip, he is faced with many different people from all around the world. During the night, the train is forced to stop because of the harsh winter snow and all of the passengers realize that Samuel Ratchett, a fellow passenger, has been stabbed to death multiple times. Throughout the story he attempts to discover who the real murderer is. Throughout the story, Poirot interviews all of the passengers and learns about the lives of each one. He finds out that Ratchett is an alias for Cassetti, a man accused of kidnapping and murdering a little American girl named Daisy Armstrong. Some of them are very difficult and he sees right through all of their lies. He soon discovers a strange similarity between all of the passengers on the train; they all have had past relations with the Armstrong family in some way and all have strong feelings about the kidnapping and murder of little Daisy. He discovers that the murder occurred in either of two ways. Either, it was a murderer who got on the train and then snuck off, or it was everyone on the train working together to have Cassetti murdered.  -  ** Hercule Poirot: ** a Belgian detective that has not been on a case for some time. He is very smart and wise to people’s tricks. He deals with the murder on the Orient Express in a professional and dignified way.  -  ** M. Ratchett: **  aka Cassetti. An American man who becomes the victim of a murder. He is not liked by the other passengers and is looked down upon. His death brings the story to its climax.  -  ** Mrs. Hubbard: ** an American woman who constantly talks throughout the trip. She annoys many of the passengers around her and will not stop worrying. She constantly talks about her American daughter and how the trip is so much different than her daughter said it would be.  -  ** Princess Dragomiroff: ** a Russian dame who acts snobby towards the other passengers. She shows her obvious wealth by wearing large pearls and sophisticated dresses. She looks down her nose at the other passengers on the Orient Express. ** Quotations: **  -   “ And most conveniently she leaves her handkerchief behind!” Pg 73 -Poirot is saying how it’s ironic that if a woman killed Ratchett/Casetti, that she would leave a handkerchief with an initial behind. This is when Poirot starts to realize that this is supposed to look like two people were the murderers. It is when he starts to uncover what kind of questions he should ask each of the passengers  -   “Not what you are thinking. I will put it like this. If Hildegarde Schmidt is guilty, the uniform may be found in her baggage. But if she is innocent, it //certainly// will be.” Pg 204 -Poirot is talking about how the murder weapons and the uniform that was worn by the murderer are being placed in “innocent’ people’s luggage. Therefore, he is stating that the murderer is trying to make the case impossible to solve.  -   “I saw it as a perfect mosaic, each person playing his or her allotted part. It was so arranged that if suspicion should fall on any one person, the evidence of one or more of the others would clear the accused person and confuse the issue…” Pg 314 -Poirot is telling the passengers on the train that he knows that they were all in on the murder. He has figured out how they made the evidence exclude any of them from guilt and make the case so difficult to solve. This is the part at the end of the story where the solution to the crime is realized. -**Hercule Poirot:** Poirot is the Belgian detective that takes on the case of murder on the Orient Express. He is a very calm and content person with a good eye for deceit. He is asked by M. Ratchett in the beginning of the story to help him because someone is coming after him. He refuses and does not want to get involved. However, the murder of M. Ratchett takes place and he is suddenly asked to solve it before the police get there. He takes on the murder case reluctantly, because he usually only chooses a certain clientele to work for. However, he feels that it will be easier to give the police a solution so that the murderer will not get away and make the case more difficult to solve. He responds to each of the passengers stories by making them think he believes what they are telling him. However, in the back of his mind he knows that they are all liars and are hiding something much bigger than what they have already revealed. -**M. Ratchett:** Although he is the victim of a violent murder in the story, Ratchett aka Cassetti is a major influence on the rest of the characters. He is really a kidnapper and murderer of a small child in America and is looked at as a horrible man. Since he had never received the death penalty at his trial, his actions along with his attitude made him the perfect murder victim in this story. He caused pain for many people, which made them choose to cause pain to him. -**Countess Andrenyi:** The Countess is riding the Orient Express with her husband Count Andrenyi. The case starts to unfold with her and the secrets that she is hiding. She has lied about her name and her husband has changed her passport. She acts very quiet and perfect all the time and tried to take suspicion off of herself. Her husband makes her hide behind him and does not let her speak for herself. Because of her personality and her relation to the Armstrong family, she appears to Poirot as the perfect suspect and helps him realize what the true murder plot is about. -**Mrs. Hubbard:** This American woman helps start the whole murder story. She screams in the middle of the night that a man has come into her room. She tries to make it appear that she is a victim as well as the victim of the murder. She cannot stand to not be the center of attention and shows this be participating in this part of the murder plot. She annoys many people on the train and basically gives herself away to Poirot about being a part of the murder with her actions. She does not appear to be a very smart or cunning woman at all.
 * __ Murder on the Orient Express  __**
 * Character List (4 of 17): **
 * Analysis of Major Characters: **