Keyword Guide · chapter-summary
This guide breaks down Chapter 6 of Agatha Christie’s mystery novel for high school and college students prepping class discussion, quizzes, or essays. It avoids spoilers for later chapters while highlighting details teachers usually test. You can adapt all included materials directly for your class notes or assignments.
Chapter 6 picks up immediately after the third guest death, as the remaining guests begin to openly distrust one another and search the island for the hidden killer. The group connects the deaths to the framed nursery rhyme hanging in every room, and suspicion lands on multiple people with unproven alibis. A key piece of physical evidence goes missing, raising the stakes for every person left on the island.
Next Step
Access fully curated chapter summaries, practice quizzes, and flashcards for every chapter of And Then There Were None.
This chapter marks a turning point in the novel, moving from initial confusion to deliberate, collective suspicion. Guests drop their polite facades and confront each other about the crimes they were accused of on the first night. The nursery rhyme motif moves from background decor to an active framework for the killer’s plan. Jot down every reference to the nursery rhyme in this chapter before your next class discussion.
Next step: Cross-reference the death that occurs in this chapter with the corresponding line of the nursery rhyme to track the killer’s pattern.
Action: Review the list of guest deaths from Chapters 1-5, plus the full text of the nursery rhyme featured in the novel.
Output: A one-sentence recap of the first two deaths and their corresponding rhyme lines.
Action: Highlight every line where a character lies, omits details, or accuses another guest of wrongdoing.
Output: A color-coded note sheet separating confirmed facts from unproven accusations.
Action: Compare your notes to the key takeaways listed in this guide, and fill in any gaps you missed.
Output: A 3-sentence summary of the chapter that you can use for quick quiz review.
Essay Builder
Upload your And Then There Were None essay draft to get instant feedback on thesis clarity, evidence use, and grammar from literature educators.
Action: Start with the core conflict (the third guest death) then list key plot beats in chronological order, ending with the missing item reveal. Leave out personal opinions or later chapter spoilers.
Output: A 3-4 sentence summary you can turn in for a reading check assignment.
Action: Pick one discussion question from the kit, write a 2-sentence answer, and note one specific detail from the chapter to support your point.
Output: A pre-written response you can share if your teacher calls on you unprompted.
Action: Match the third death to the victim’s alleged crime from the first night, and note how the punishment fits the crime as defined by the killer.
Output: A 1-sentence claim about the novel’s theme of justice that you can expand into an essay paragraph.
Teacher looks for: Accurate order of events, correct character names, and explicit connection to the nursery rhyme motif.
How to meet it: Include the name of the victim, the two primary suspects, the missing item, and the corresponding nursery rhyme line in your summary to earn full points.
Teacher looks for: References to specific text details, not just general opinions, and engagement with points made by other students.
How to meet it: Use one of the sentence starters from the essay kit to frame your comment, and cite a specific line or action from the chapter to support your point.
Teacher looks for: Clear topic sentence, specific evidence from the chapter, and explanation of how the evidence supports your thesis.
How to meet it: Structure your paragraph to start with a claim, follow with one specific detail from Chapter 6, then explain how that detail ties to your argument about the novel’s theme or structure.
The chapter opens with the remaining guests gathering for breakfast, only to find one member of the group dead in their bed. The death matches the third line of the nursery rhyme hung in every room, confirming the deaths are not accidental. The group immediately questions each other’s whereabouts the previous night, and no one can provide a fully corroborated alibi. Jot down the timeline of the previous night to identify gaps in characters’ stories.
One previously reserved character takes charge of the investigation, organizing a full search of the island and the mansion. Another character breaks down and admits partial guilt for the crime they were accused of on the first night, raising suspicion from the rest of the group. Small, previously unnoted character quirks are framed as potential evidence of guilt. Use this before class to flag which characters have the most to hide.
The nursery rhyme moves from a background decoration to a central point of discussion, as the group explicitly connects the first three deaths to the first three lines of the poem. The set of soldier figurines on the dining room table is now down to seven, matching the number of remaining guests. Every guest now recognizes the killer is following a pre-planned pattern tied to the rhyme. Add the third rhyme line and corresponding death to your ongoing motif tracker.
Suspicion first lands on the guest who had the least verified alibi for the time of the death, then shifts to another character who has medical training that could have been used to facilitate the killing. No character is fully cleared, and even the most level-headed guests admit they cannot trust anyone else in the group. The island search confirms no one else is present, meaning the killer is one of the seven remaining people. Create a chart ranking each character’s level of suspicion based on the evidence revealed so far.
The chapter ends with the group returning from the island search to discover a critical household item has gone missing from the kitchen. The item aligns with the fourth line of the nursery rhyme, signaling the killer plans to strike again soon. The final line of the chapter shows a guest noticing the missing item and realizing they are all in immediate danger. Write down one prediction for how the next death will play out, based on the fourth line of the rhyme.
Chapter 6 is a strong piece of evidence for arguments about narrative structure, paranoia as a theme, or Christie’s use of Chekhov’s gun. You can reference the shifting group dynamic to support claims about how isolation amplifies guilt and distrust. You can also use the missing item as an example of how Christie seeds plot clues early to make the ending feel earned. Use this before drafting an essay to note two specific details from this chapter you can use as evidence.
The third victim is a guest who was accused of causing the death of a vulnerable person in their care years before the trip to the island. The death aligns exactly with the third line of the nursery rhyme displayed in every room of the mansion.
A common household item used to start fires disappears from the kitchen. The item matches the object mentioned in the fourth line of the nursery rhyme, foreshadowing the method of the next death.
Suspicion first falls on a guest with no corroborating alibi for the night of the death, then shifts to a guest with professional medical knowledge that could have been used to carry out the killing without leaving obvious evidence.
No. The full search of the island confirms there are no hiding spots large enough for an intruder, so the group concludes the killer must be one of the seven remaining guests.
Editorial note: This page is independently written for educational support. Verify specifics with assigned class materials and the original text.
Continue in App
Access study guides, practice tests, and essay help for over 500 commonly taught high school and college literature works.
