Ten Little Indian Boys (china figures)
The Ten Little Indian Boys (china figures) are a set of ten small china figurines placed on the dining table at Indian Island, serving as a macabre countdown that mirrors the deaths of the guests, each disappearance corresponding to a verse of the nursery rhyme and becoming a central symbol of the unknown murderer's method and the island's doom.
Appearance and Initial Significance
The china figures first appear during the dinner on the night of August 8th, set on a circular glass stand in the center of the round dining table. Anthony Marston notices them and remarks, "Quaint, these things, aren't they?" Vera Claythorne immediately connects them to the nursery rhyme, noting that the same rhyme is framed and hung over the mantelpiece in her bedroom. Every guest confirms that the framed rhyme is present in their rooms as well. The figures are explicitly identified as "the ten little Indian boys of the nursery rhyme," and the guests count them—there are exactly ten. The presence of the figures and the rhyme establishes a playful but ominous theme for the island, linking the decorative objects to the fate that awaits the party.
The Diminishing Count and the Pattern of Death
After the first death—Anthony Marston, who chokes on poisoned whiskey—Rogers, the butler, notices that only nine figures remain on the table. He mutters to himself, "That's a rum go! I could have sworn there were ten of them." The next morning, after Mrs. Rogers is found dead in her sleep, Rogers reports to Dr. Armstrong that only eight figures are left. The pattern becomes unmistakable: each death is accompanied by the disappearance of one china Indian. When General Macarthur is found dead, Vera Claythorne goes to the dining room and confirms that there are only seven figures. The figures thus function as a literal and symbolic tally of the murders, their diminishing number creating a growing sense of dread and inevitability among the survivors.
The Figures as a Clue and a Tool of the Murderer
The figures become a key piece of evidence for the guests as they try to understand the murders. Philip Lombard and Dr. Armstrong explicitly connect the disappearances to the nursery rhyme: "Ten little Indian boys going out to dine; One went and choked himself and then there were nine. Nine little Indian boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight." Lombard concludes that the pattern "fits too damned well to be a coincidence." The murderer, U. N. Owen, uses the figures as a signature, adhering closely to the nursery rhyme's sequence. After Emily Brent is injected with cyanide, a smashed china figure—the fifth—is found outside the dining room window alongside the discarded hypodermic syringe. The murderer's adherence to the rhyme is so precise that Vera Claythorne, in a moment of hysteria, realizes the rhyme is a blueprint for the killings.
The Final Figures and the End
As the murders continue, the count of figures dwindles. After the judge's staged death, only three figures remain on the table. When Dr. Armstrong's body is discovered washed ashore, Vera notes that only three figures are left. After Blore is killed by the marble bear clock, Vera, now alone, picks up the last remaining figure from the table, saying, "You can come with me. We've won, my dear! We've won!" She carries it with her as she goes upstairs, where she finds a rope with a noose hanging from the hook in her bedroom ceiling. The final line of the rhyme—"He went and hanged himself and then there were none"—is fulfilled as Vera hangs herself. The last china figure falls from her hand and breaks against the fender. The figures, which began as a decorative curiosity, end as a shattered testament to the complete annihilation of the island's inhabitants, their disappearance perfectly tracking the execution of the murderer's plan.
