(446) A murder is announced - parallels

by Agatha Christie

If you look at page 249 in "A Murder is Announced", you will find: "...She (Charlotte) was actually a kindly affectionate creature." That was rather an odd thing to say about a murderess! If you continue to read on, you'll see: "weak and kindly people are often very treacherous. And if they've got a grudge against life it saps the little moral strength that they possess."

In one of my earlier blogs I wrote about my old care group invited a psychotic patient to our meetings. When things were moving along well, that was when the lady patient took her medication regularly; she was a very kindly affectionate person. All of us in the care group felt her charm. Unfortunately, there were times when she was not taking her medication as prescribed by the doctor. Then we had to be very careful in what we said during the meeting and fellowship time. Her sickness made her paranoid and suspicious. If she took offense at what anyone said, then there would be ugly confrontations.

One time she was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward. A few of us visited her in the hospital. The other care group members visited her parents. From what the parents said, she went raving mad (it took three men to restrain her) and almost chopped her younger brother with a sharp meat knife. All because her brother told her to go get a job instead of asking for money from her parents. The patient grudged her siblings their normality. She did not pass her high school exam and she could not accept the failure. She was very upset that her condition prevented her from marriage and becoming a mother. No one dares to belittle her in any way. She was very ready to retaliate with any thing that can function as a weapon. All these happened in spite of the fact that she was normally  soft spoken and gentle.