SLEEPING MURDER - CHAPTERS 22-25

Sarah
Sep 30
2 min read

Our reading opens up with three big happenings. The first, the letters are REAL. Were you expecting that? The second, we have another murder. Lily is strangled, led "like a sheep to the slaughter." Our murderer is no longer "sleeping." They are on the prowl again. The third, we know where Helen Halliday is buried. Did you suspect? As Giles, Gwenda, and Miss Marple narrow down who was actually on "The Spot" at the time, we find our list of suspects hasn't begun to dwindle yet. Christie holds out on us to the last possible second!

I loved the bindweed being brought in again here at the end. As the police are digging the garden up looking for Helen's body and Gwenda is telling the entire story up to this point to the inspector, where is Miss Marple? She's out in the garden battling the choking weed that pushes its roots down deep and "squeezes the life out of the pretty growing flowers." This symbol absolutely ignites are imaginations with the knowledge that this strangling began long before the physical act of the murder occurred. Remember the ripped net of the tennis court, the hurt foot, and Helen's overheard words of being afraid of someone. Choking...choking....choking. Poor, poor Helen Halliday.

But then we have the moment of revelation. Dr. Kennedy comes to talk to Gwenda, is blinded and he says words close enough to the quote from the play that caused Gwenda to go into hysterics, "My eyes are dazzled," and suddenly Gwenda knows. She is standing in the presence of the murderer. As he attempts to strangle Gwenda, Miss Marple bursts in and sprays a soapy mixture into his eyes she had been using in the garden.

And so we wrap up our mystery with the story of an extremely controlling brother who was losing his power over his sister, and so he ended her life and destroyed the life of the man who loved her.

So what do you think Agatha Christie wants us to take away from this story? I think one thing is that murder is rarely simple. Whether it's premeditated or a crime of passion, it is the result of sin that many times has been allowed to take root and grow just like the bindweed. Galatians 5 puts us in mind of a garden when it talks about the fruits of the spirit, but it also lists the acts of the flesh which include jealousy, envy, and hatred. Nothing good ever comes about when these seeds are allowed to grow and flourish. So pull the weeds!

Hope you enjoyed the read!!