The Narrative Discourse Coherence of And Then There Were None: Based on the Textual Logic Analysis of Detective Fiction

Jinpei Wang

doi:10.54097/gmbxcp41

Authors

Jinpei Wang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/gmbxcp41

Keywords:

Detective Fiction Narrative, Discourse Coherence Theory, Agatha Christie, Narrative Perspective

Abstract

This study explores the narrative discourse coherence in Agatha Christie’s and Then There Were None by integrating literary narrative strategies and linguistic coherence theories. The analysis shows that the novel stays organised by using a setting that is closed off and a nursery rhyme structure, which helps connect the events together. Lexical cohesion, such as repeated references to "island" and "murder", reinforces thematic continuity. Rhetorical Structure Theory highlights how character secrets serve as satellites to elaborate the plot’s nuclei of sequential deaths. Cognitively, Christie’s use of shifting perspectives creates cognitive dissonance, prompting readers to reconcile unreliable narratives. The revelation of the murderer as a seemingly dead character disrupts causal expectations, engaging readers in retroactive sense-making. Discourse modes—narrative, descriptive, and argument—blend to balance sensory detail with ethical themes. The entity grid model confirms coherence through recurring entities like "the judge," demonstrating how setting restriction and genre subversion create a unified mystery. This interdisciplinary approach enriches understandings of how narrative strategies and coherence mechanisms interact in detective fiction.

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