General Macarthur's murder

General John Gordon Macarthur's murder marks the point at which the nightmare on Indian Island ceases to be ambiguous. After Anthony Marston's convulsive death and Mrs. Rogers' silent passing in her sleep, the old soldier's body is found by Dr. Armstrong just before lunch on the second day. The doctor runs back to the house, breathless, and announces the death to the five people sitting round the dining-room table. The storm breaks at the same moment, a hissing roar of rain that seems to seal the island off from the world as Blore and Armstrong carry the body upstairs. The General has been hit on the back of the head with a life preserver or some such blunt instrument. There is no question of heart failure or natural causes. The murder is deliberate, violent, and unmistakable.

Circumstances and State of Mind

Macarthur had spent the morning sitting alone at the extreme end of the island, staring out to sea. He had been in a strange, trance-like state since the gramophone accusation the night before. When Vera Claythorne came down to speak with him, he told her that none of them would leave the island, that it was the end, and that he felt a blessed relief at the prospect. He spoke of his wife Leslie, whom he had loved, and of Arthur Richmond, the young officer he had deliberately sent to his death in France during the war. He admitted the act to Vera, saying it was murder, but that he had no regrets at the time. Now, he said, he was waiting for the end. His acceptance of death, his sense of peace, made him a passive and easy target. He did not hear his killer approach from behind.

The Murder and Its Immediate Aftermath

The blow was struck while the rest of the party was occupied elsewhere. The search of the island that morning had already established that no outsider was hiding there, forcing the survivors to confront the horrifying conclusion that the murderer was one of them. Macarthur's death, coming so soon after the first two, crystallizes this terror. When Dr. Armstrong returns from finding the body, the five remaining guests rise from the table as one, knowing without being told what has happened. The china figures on the dining table have diminished again: there are now only seven. The nursery rhyme is being enacted with grim precision. The storm that breaks as the body is carried in provides a natural backdrop of chaos and isolation, cutting off any hope of rescue or communication with the mainland.

Consequences and Thematic Significance

Macarthur's murder changes the dynamic of the group entirely. The earlier deaths could be rationalized as suicide or accident; this one cannot. It forces the survivors to acknowledge that a madman is among them, and that they are all potential victims. The judge, Mr. Justice Wargrave, immediately takes charge, declaring that they now know exactly where they stand and that from this point on they must suspect each other. The atmosphere of mutual suspicion and fear that follows is the direct legacy of Macarthur's killing. His own attitude toward death—a weary acceptance, a longing for peace—stands in stark contrast to the desperate struggle for survival that will consume the remaining characters. His murder is the point of no return, the moment when the game of justice becomes a hunt with no escape.