Stereotype Characters in Crime Fiction:

 The classic crime fiction's golden era concentrated on the detailed process of untangling the knots of mystery or the act of ratiocination but lacked the art of detailed character delineation. Most of the characters were either stereotypes or caricatures. For instance, the detached and taciturn detective, the parade of suspects, the servants, who are never involved in the crime, or never turn out to be the convict, female characters in a conventionalized role were the characters, the readers were familiar to particularly in the case of the detective novel of that era. According to E.M Forster, characters in a novel are of two types, flat character, and round character. A flat character is a character, which tends to remain in the reader’s mind and leaves a lasting impression. Such characters, also defined as a humorous characters in the seventeenth century, basically stereotype or sometimes caricatures, who are constructed as mere functionaries and not characterized at all, as Forster points out, ‘In their purest form, they are constructed round a single idea or quality. They are easily recognized whenever they appear in the novel. A round character, on the other hand, is complex in temperament and motivation. Such characters are akin to real-life people, capable of astounding the readers with their actions and they are represented with subtle particularities. E.M.Forster :( Aspects of the Novel)

 In the detective novels of the Golden era, such flat characters are perceived in the role of the detective, the female characters, and the servants. The figure of the detective is at the pivot of crime fiction. When the crime disrupts and damages the social fabric, the detective restores the order fixes the social justice. The crime is a temporary disruption of the norm that can be reestablished by a rational and righteous human being like the detective. The task of a detective, according to Poe, is a type of ratiocination by which he can disentangle the complicated knots of mystery. To serve that purpose, the detective has to be an outsider, detached, and a keen observer. Poe is the founder of the tradition of problem-solving detectives. In this context, Arthur Conan Doyle deduces that ‘ Poe, who in his carelessly prodigal fashion, threw out of the seeds from which so much of our present literature has sprung, was the father of the detective tale.’ Edgar Allan Poe’s, Dupin is a brilliant detective of French elite society, who is insightful, learned, but arrogant, self-centered, and greedy. Sherlock Holmes, of Doyle, is an amateur detective and drawn to complex and baffling criminal cases often accompanied by a companion, Watson, who is a flat character, too. Holmes is a London-based ‘consulting detective’, renowned for his intellectual prowess and deft use of keen observation, deductive reasoning, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. The detective in Christie’s novel is a supercilious man named Hercule Poirot. This famous detective, Poirot made his first appearance in The Mysterious Affairs at Styles (1920). His Intellectual arrogance, fastidious and meticulous nature, and his idiosyncrasies sharply contrast with his physical appearance which instead of contributing an aura of heroism ( like Sherlock Holmes) enhances the comic traits of his character which also reduces the chance of imparting any sort of heroic attribute on the character. Poirot is a foreigner, a Belgian refugee, who has served the Brussels Police Force prior to the First World War, and his engagement in his occupation of a detective. Christie makes him Belgian in every aspect, be it his mannerism, accent, or demeanor. By making the detective a complete outsider, Christie made him a more objective, detached, and authoritative figure. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Poirot contemplates retirement from the tedious job of a private detective but is eventually compelled to resume that role when a murder is committed in the King’s Abbot.

Female characters in Agatha Christie’s Fiction: (M.Vipond) Christie’s female characters were something more than a stereotype, as we can safely assume that the accomplished writer found a way to balance convention and invention. Her female characters are recognizable as they are “Efficient, practical and competent businesswomen, and secretaries; successful and professional artists, actresses and authors; command in, cultured and intellectual headmistresses’. Even the ‘shrewd and courageous Miss Marple on the surface a fluttery, dithering old maid, but underneath ruthless in the cause of justice is an admirable type of character. Christie presented two contradictory images of women in her novels, the independent, self-sufficient, courageous woman, who is treated with respect by her partners and those emotional women who have no identity apart from being a housewife or a mother of a child. In Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,(1926) the female characters are mostly of the second category, widows or young girls and servants, who are dependent on a wealthy man, Mr. Ackroyd. The story begins with the news of the suicide of a widow named Mrs. Ferrars. Rumour has it that she killed her husband for his money. Mr. Ackroyd had a clandestine affair with the deceased lady. The plot is convoluted when Mr. Ackroyd is murdered in his own house and multiple suspects of the murder are interrogated by the enormously popular detective Hercule Poirot. Every suspect had their own motive to commit the crime. The story ends with an innovative twist, where the narrator James Sheppard turns out to be the murderer and makes the confession in his suicide note. Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, a widow dependent on Mr. Ackroyd, has no significant role to play except increasing the number of suspects on the list. Flora Ackroyd, Roger’s niece, who urges Poirot’s assistance in the investigation of her uncle, is engaged to Ralph. Her character at least exhibits some diversity when it is revealed that she is having an affair with Major Hector Blunt. She is also unaware of the fact that her fiancé is secretly married to the parlour maid of the house Ursula Bourne. It is evident that Christie has not put much effort to delineate other supporting characters like Mrs.Folliott, Ursula’s older sister, Caroline Sheppard, and even other important male characters like Ralph Paton, Major Blunt, Geoffrey Raymond, and John Parker.

The character of the servants, in Christie’s fiction, is meant to be supporting characters devoid of social breadth. In Christie’s novels, the incompetence of the servants and the employee’s obstinacy is evident. The servants are often characterized by incompetency and stupidity to such an extent that they are never made murderers. It can be assumed that ‘they are not thought to be worth developing as full characters’ (K.D.M.Snell). In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the characters of the servants are depicted as submissive, subordinates.  Except for the parlour maid, Ursula Brown, other characters like Elizabeth Russell, Mrs. Folliott have nothing special to offer to the development of the story.