THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD: KEY QUOTES

Chapter 1

“But my instinct told me that there was stirring times ahead” (criminal psyche. AO5: disorder and chaos)

“Surely if a woman committed a crime like murder, she ‘d be sufficiently cold-blooded fruits of it without any weak-minded sentimental such as repentance.”(actual transgression. AO3: Stereotype of women)

Chapter 2

“rich in unmarried ladies and retired military officers. Our hobbies are summed up in the word gossip.”(AO2: Quintessential English Village)

“Our peaceful village of King’s Abbot” 

“I think I can safely say that it was at this moment that a foreboding of the future swept over me” (Foreshadowing of disastrous moments in the future)

Chapter 3

  “He is a foreigner” (Role of the detective. AO4: Character of Poirot- his mysterious demeanour.)

“Mr Porrott- a name which conveys an odd feeling of reality”

“He's a retired hair-dresser. Look at that moustache of his.”

“A pair of watchful eyes. It was our mysterious neighbour, Mr Porrot.”

“The strange little man seemed to read my thoughts.”

“Ridiculous little man” (Role of the criminal- making him feel superior. AO3. Post Modernist text- the role of the unreliable narrator)

“I always wanted to go to South America.” “I risked the substance for the shadow.” “A year ago I came into my legacy”. “I always wanted to travel the world” (Motive of the criminal)

“He was, to a certain extent, the victim of heredity.”

Chapter 4

“All this evening, I’ve had a queer feeling of being watched, spied upon.” (Uneasiness. AO2: Setting?)

“ I hesitated with my hand on the door handle, looking back and wondering if there was anything I had left undone.” (Role of the criminal. Leads the reader. AO2: the Unreliable narrator. 

“I noticed, just as I was turning the handle, a sound from within – the shutting down of a window, I took it to be. I noticed it, I may say, quite mechanically, without attaching any importance at the time.” (AO5: Role as a doctor: "mechanically".)

“And I was very uneasy. All sorts of foreboding assailed me.” (Suspicion)

 “It was the strain of that that drove her nearly mad” (Blackmail/Threats. Suicide)

“Suicide! And I drove her to it” (Suicide. Blame. AO2: Characterisation of two victims)

“She’s paid the penalty” (Punishment)

 “No, I cried impulsively, read it now”

 “What a fat, smug, oily face the man had, and surely there was something decidedly shifty in his eye.” (Role of the criminal. Misleading for the reader. AO2: the Unreliable narrator.)

 Chapter 5

“Ackroyd was sitting as I had left him in the armchair before the fire. His head had fallen sideways, and clearly visible, just below the collar of his coat, was a shining piece of twisted metal work”. (Victim. Weapon. AO5: Admiration of the weapon. AO2: Explicitly described, emphasis on the murder.)

“I did what little had to be done” (Role of the…