THE DUALITY OF APPEARANCE AND REALITY AS A STRUCTURING PRINCIPLE OF AGATHA CHRISTIE’S DETECTIVE FICTION

Abstract

The article examines the duality of appearance and reality in Agatha Christie’s detective fiction as an important element of her narrative poetics. Although Christie’s narrative techniques and detective strategies have attracted considerable scholarly attention, the duality of appearance and reality has rarely been analyzed as a coherent organizing principle of her works. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the opposition between appearance and reality functions at the levels of narrative structure, characterization, and reader perception. The analysis is based on Christie’s novels “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”, “Murder on the Orient Express” and “And Then There Were None” and employs structural, narratological, and interpretative methods. The results suggest that the opposition between appearance and reality functions as a key organizing principle of Christie’s detective fiction, shaping narrative structure, characterization, plot construction, and reader perception. The study shows that dualism is not only a theme in Christie’s detective fiction but also a significant element of its narrative organization.

Keywords

Agatha Christie, dualism, detective fiction, appearance and reality, narrative structure, reader perception, characterization, hidden identity, plot construction.