On The Social Significance Of Agatha Christie's Detective Fiction

The sales volume of the world's top three of literature are Holy Bible, William Shakespeare and the detective fiction written by Agatha Christie. However, detective fiction in the literature criticism is far less concerned than the previous two. The reason of displaying such phenomenon is that critics undoubtedly classify detective fiction into the entertainment books for fun and pleasure purpose, because they don't have the same social function that classic literature possesses. This thesis is going to analysis the characters appear in Agatha Christie's detective fiction from exterior to interior, through which to draw the conclusion that the detective represents law and righteousness, and people living in the world should be guided by law and moral values, which is the social significance Christie's works possess.The first chapter introduces the research statement of detective fiction, the achievements of Agatha Christie, the purpose and significance of the thesis.In the second chapter, the features of the great detective Hercule Poirot from his appearance, language, life and personality perspectives are analyzed to examine what kind of detective Poirot is and the reason why he has to do so.In the third chapter, the features of victims, murderers, bystanders, witnesses and suspicious are summarized from their function, psychological statement, and social class perspectives to discuss their social meaning with the conclusion that .people should live under the guidance of moral code and law,other than just destruction, especially the youth.The social significance will be all summarized in the last chapter, comparing both the common and different points of detective fiction and classic literature, hoping that criticism of detective fiction can be of a wider range of concern, making it have its own place in classic literature.