Hercule Poirot, Or How To Learn To Use His Gray Cells
When we think of the noir and detective novel, we tend to associate it with the predominantly British novel from the beginning of the 20th century. Detectives such as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot inevitably come to mind. And it is precisely the little Belgian man that will interest us today.
Agatha Christie is the one who took charge of bringing this unique character to life. Hercule Poirot made his first appearance in the novel La Mystérieuse Affaire de Styles (1920). From there, he became one of the writer’s most recurring characters. He has indeed held the main role in 33 novels and fifty short stories.
The Queen of Crime has always had a love-hate relationship with her character. She said, about him, “Why? Why did I invent this loathsome, boring little creature? Despite everything, I must admit that Hercule Poirot won. From now on, I feel for him a certain affection that it is impossible for me to deny ”.
Agatha Christie and the success of her work
Christie’s reputation quickly grew, as did that of her characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Some of his books have been labeled the best of their kind. In addition, her work has been translated into over 100 languages, making her the most translated writer in the world. Sales place her just below authors like Shakespeare and works like The Bible or Don Quixote.
However, success with audiences doesn’t always come with adoration of criticism. It is for this reason that, for many, the work of Agatha Christie should not be cataloged as literature, but rather as sub-literature. In other words, a literature designed for the mass public. However, we cannot deny that she is an easily identifiable writer, and especially thanks to her character Hercule Poirot.
The character of Hercule Poirot
Conan Doyle, father of Sherlock Holmes, was one of Christie’s favorite writers. In his early novels, we identify a Poirot who follows the tradition of Doyle’s Sherlock or Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin. However, over time, Christie has given her character an identity of her own, moving her away from her influences and detaching her from Doyle’s lore.
To compare Poirot to other detectives of the genre or to try to understand him by using Holmes as a model would not be fair. It deserves a separate analysis. Poirot is a character easily recognized by the public. He has a great number of distinctive traits that make him unique and turn him into a detective as special as he is exceptional, both hateful and adorable.
Poirot’s perfectionism
Vanity, perfectionist, methodical, extremely organized, worshiper of square shapes and symmetry, a maniac who borders on pedantry and, above all, Belgian, very Belgian; this is how we could describe Hercule Poirot. Christie gave the nationality of Tintin to his detective following his contact with Belgian refugees during the First World War.
The perfectionism that characterizes Poirot is reflected in his physical appearance. Hercule Poirot is described as: short, plump, with a very particular pointed mustache. This mustache is so neat and perfect that it becomes comical; everything in this character is perfectly calculated. A little dirt on his jacket would disturb him to the highest degree. Besides, nothing, absolutely nothing, bothers him more than a slightly crooked frame.
An infinity of manias and extravagances will lead Poirot to truly comical situations, which will lighten the tragic and macabre framework of the intrigues. This idea of comedy in Poirot breaks, in a way, the cliché of the burlesque idiot. He walks away from the kind, clumsy man who makes everyone laugh, like Sancho Panza. Hercule Poirot is a very intelligent detective, able to unmask the most atrocious of assassins by only observing him and using his “little gray cells”. No one escapes the hands of Poirot: this detective is able to delve into the psychology of crime.
Hercule Poirot and crime
His obsession with perfection leads him to seek it out in any situation, even at crime scenes. Agatha Christie’s works all follow the same structure: character presentation, crime, investigation and resolution. The characters generally belong to the well-to-do class, spaces are small and crimes motivated by passion or money. Hercule Poirot solves the investigations without getting dirty, by keeping calm, by observing and by questioning. He uses psychology and reason.
By doing this he immerses himself in the minds of criminals, he connects with the reader and psychology. Christie offers us a game: She’s shuffled all the pieces throughout the book, and like Poirot, we need to rearrange them so that it all ends up making sense. This is how Agatha Christie managed to combine “what people like” and “what sells”; she knew how to connect with her audience, but not with criticism.
Hercule Poirot at the cinema
This type of work, with a simple structure and a captivating plot, is always likely to be adapted to the big screen. It is therefore not surprising that many actors have played the role of the famous Belgian detective. Adapting an Agatha Christie novel is usually synonymous with entry-level success, but in reality, it’s a double-edged sword that can either end up in something good or end up in complete failure.
Films that have strayed too far from Poirot’s essence
Why would a film version of such a well-known and beloved character fail? Precisely because of his reputation, his uniqueness and the ease with which we recognize the character. If, on the screen, the Poirot that we see differs too much from that of the books, the feeling will be one of deep rejection. This is what happened to poor Kenneth Branagh in 2017 with The Crime on the Orient Express. If you haven’t read the book, the movie may have a certain charm; However, if you know the character, Branagh’s detective will look like everything but Hercule Poirot.
Lots of action, a lot of freedom and, above all, a Hercule Poirot who is too agile, too thin and not very credible. Poirot would never resort to violence. He would never find himself in situations with too much action. He is a methodical, quiet, thoughtful character, like the novels of Agatha Christie. Likewise, the events narrated in Murder on the Orient Express take place in a small, claustrophobic space, with little action and lots of dialogue.
The key to Agatha Christie’s work is to gradually discover the plot, to move through small spaces, well decorated and luxurious … This may not be consistent with the mass cinema of the 21st century, and would explain why Branagh’s version did not convince. However, it should be noted that at the same time, the shadow of another adaptation hovered over this film: the 1974 version, in which Albert Finney played a great Poirot (enough to give spectators a stiff neck).
Hercule Poirot, the eternal detective
Time may not have been good for this detective. We will therefore keep in mind the classic interpretations of Peter Ustinov and, of course, the masterful David Suchet who, for years, brought Poirot to life on television. There is nothing wrong with wanting to reinvent a work but, faced with such unique characters, you cannot always aim for it. Sometimes it is better to keep a good memory than to try to light up an already well-lit place.
Christie always wanted to end this character that made her successful. This is why she wrote Hercule Poirot leaves the scene, to assassinate her unbearable and adorable detective. The writer kept this work in a drawer for years, until she saw fit to give eternal rest to the gray cells of Hercule Poirot. The popularity of the detective was so great and the impact of his death so profound that The New York Times published the only death announcement ever dedicated to the death of a character.
Our thoughts Sherlock Holmes is surely the most famous of detectives, and also the most charismatic and wacky. Find out why.
