Survival of the Wicked-est

            Throughout the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, the characters evolve.  Not that that's unusual in literature, this is just good because of how it ties to the themes of the novel.
Throughout the novel, the characters are killed off one by one, in order of what the murderer deems least guilty to most guilty.  In this way, the most wicked people will survive the longest.
            The murderer does not just want to kill those he/she believes is evil; he/she wants to send a message.  Those who are the most evil are subjected to increasing levels of paranoia and hysteria.  The murderer wants his/her victims to suffer.
             In this way, the characters evolve.  As they are picked off, fear creeps into their minds and takes over.  This causes the characters to become more crazy, and more untrusting; this culminates in one of the “victims” murdering another “victim”.  In this way, wickedness destroys itself (as the murderer believes that the “victims” are all evil).  Also, emotions that are generally thought to bring out negative qualities in people (fear, panic, anger) are the emotions that the murderer believes will show the true nature of those exposed.  In this way, the murderer confirms his/herself in believing that the true nature of the victims is wickedness, which wickedness will bring out, and which wickedness will destroy. Agatha Christie did one amazing job at showing this throughout the entire novel!