Comparative Analysis of Agatha Christie’s “The Big Four” and Said Ahmad’s “Silence”
Keywords:
Investigator, criminal, justiceAbstract
The aim of this research is to conduct a comparative analysis between two writers — Agatha Christie, who left an indelible mark in world literature through her criminological narratives, and Said Ahmad, who significantly reflected the social and political atmosphere of Uzbekistan at the end of the 20th century.
This paper focuses on the following issues:
a) The depiction and comparison of immoral characters and dangerous circumstances in A. Christie’s The Big Four (1927) and S. Ahmad’s Silence (1989);
b) The comparative analysis of the investigative motives and approaches found in S. Ahmad’s protagonist Jayrona, A. Christie’s Hercule Poirot, and A. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.
The study seeks to explore the similarities between Jayrona and Poirot, created by authors of opposite genders, in terms of their responses to challenging situations.
To illustrate the argument, this research draws upon the ideas of Paul Hawkes (2025), Stepler (2017), and Balart & Oosterveen (2019).
References
Balart, P., & Oosterveen, M. (2019). Females show more sustained performance during test-taking than males. Nature Communications, 10(1), 1–11.
Christie, A. (1927). The Big Four. London: William Collins & Sons.
Christie, A. (1942). The Body in the Library. London: Collins Crime Club.
Doyle, A. C. (1892). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London: George Newnes Ltd.
Ahmad, S. (1989). Silence. Tashkent: G‘afur G‘ulom Literature and Art Publishing House.
Stepler, R. (2017). Female police officers’ on-the-job experiences diverge from those of male officers. Pew Research Center.
Hawkes, P. (2025). Why women investigators outperform men in adaptability. Oxford Journal of Criminology.
