The Moving Finger

Joanna Burton is a secondary, flat character in the novel and Jerry Burton’s sister. Joanna is a supportive and good-natured sister to Jerry. She moves with him to Little Furze to support his recovery and keep him company.

Joanna is an opinionated and independent young woman. She is also sensitive and caring. She is highly aware of Megan’s difficulties and feels sorry for her, telling Jerry, “I feel awfully sorry for that girl. […] She disturbs the pattern—the Symmington pattern. It’s a complete unit without her—and that’s a most unhappy feeling for a sensitive creature to have” (41). Joanna’s compassion for Megan prompts the siblings to invite her for a stay, establishing their friendship and leading to Megan’s romance with Jerry.

Joanna is also beautiful and Jerry notices that many men in the village are interested in her, including Dr. Griffith. As a Londoner, Joanna is unfamiliar with village life, and finds Lymstock old-fashioned and quaint. She is bewildered by Aimee Griffith asking for vegetables from the garden for the Red Cross, as she has never gardened and doesn’t know what is in season. She is amused by the Lymstock locals’ practice of using calling cards, which she considers very outdated, but charming. While Joanna is very curious and intelligent, and highly interested in the mystery, she does not make any significant contributions to solving the case.

Megan Hunter is a secondary, round character. She is a 20-year-old local of Lymstock, the daughter of Mrs. Symmington and her first husband, Mr. Hunter. With her biological father long gone and her mother and step-father both emotionally negligent, Megan feels like a misfit in her own family, as well as in Lymstock. Being neglected and judged makes Megan feel resentful toward the villagers, whom she calls “hateful pigs” (57). When Jerry proposes to Megan, her dark nature comes to the fore once again, as she admits she is more prone to hating others than to loving, making her feel she should not be a wife. Her bitterness makes Jerry wonder if she could be the letter writer, but this is too painful for him to seriously consider.

Megan’s lack of interest in life and apathy about her appearance irritate many in Lymstock. Some villagers assume that she is unintelligent, while others, like Aimee Griffith, judge her for her idleness. Urged on by Jerry, Megan changes in both appearance and demeanor. After Jerry forces her to get a new outfit and a haircut, Megan feels more refined and confident, and carries herself more elegantly. After helping Miss Marple and the police arrest her stepfather, Megan reveals that she is in love with Jerry and agrees to marry him. This marks an important change for her character, as she sheds her old identity as a bitter, resentful misfit and embraces a chance to share a new life of love with Jerry.

Mrs. Symmington is a secondary, flat character. She is the mother of Megan Hunter, and husband of Mr. Symmington. The villagers gossip about Mrs. Symmington’s first marriage, which fell apart when she left her husband, possibly because he was involved in crime. Her marriage to Mr. Symmington, a lawyer, has brought her wealth and more respectability in the village. Jerry shares that Mrs. Symmington is a skilled bridge player, and while she is not “intellectual” she is also “not stupid” and had a “natural shrewdness” (37).

Mrs. Symmington is portrayed as a doting mother to her young sons, but emotionally negligent to her older daughter Megan. After her death, some villagers slander Mrs. Symmington and feel that her apparent death by suicide confirms the rumors about her infidelity. Dr. Griffith reveals that Mrs. Symmington had mental health issues, particularly with anxiety, and that he had prescribed her medication for her nerves. In the end, the villagers’ baseless gossip is refuted when Miss Marple reveals that Mrs. Symmington was actually poisoned with cyanide by her husband, who disliked her and wanted to marry Elsie Holland.

Mr. Symmington is a secondary, flat character in the novel. He is the local lawyer in Lymstock, and a wealthy and respected person. Jerry’s first impression of Mr. Symmington is that he is perfectly nice, if boring, man: “Richard Symmington was the acme of calm respectability, the sort of man who would never give his wife a moment’s anxiety […] A kindly man, no doubt, a good husband and father, but not one to set the pulses madly racing” (26).

Mr. Symmington highly prizes his respectability and he does an excellent job of masking his manipulative and violent nature. He keeps up the act convincingly throughout the book, even tearing up and begging for the police to catch the letter writer: “Dry and unemotional as the man was, his lips were trembling. ‘I hope you find the devil who writes these soon. She murdered my wife as surely as if she’d put a knife into her’” (96).

Symmington is a highly organized and intelligent man who carefully planned two concurrent crimes: The anonymous letters, and his wife’s murder. At the end of the story, Miss Marple illuminates how Mr. Symmington ingeniously invented the anonymous letter scandal as a captivating diversion to his wife’s murder, which he convincingly staged as a death by suicide. By typing the envelopes on a typewriter and then giving it away to the Women’s Institute, Symmington added to the assumption that the letter writer must be a woman. Other actions, like sending himself a letter that he then reported to police, made him appear to be a victim of these crimes rather than a perpetrator. Mr. Symmington’s secrecy and convincing facade make him an unexpected villain to the villagers.

Partridge is a minor, flat character. She is the cook and housekeeper at Little Furze, normally for Miss Barton, and then for the tenants Jerry and Joanna. Jerry describes Partridge as a “gaunt dour female of middle age” (4). Partridge is portrayed as a resentful, bitter person who somewhat enjoys when tragedy befalls others. For instance, when Mrs. Symmington dies, Partridge seems happy to relay the drama to Jerry. 

Partridge has little compassion and patience for others. When Megan arrives at Little Furze to recover from her mother’s death, Partridge is annoyed to have a guest, and then seems pleased when she leaves a few days later. Similarly, when Agnes does not show up for tea, Partridge is very irritated by her friend’s absence, saying, “These girls nowadays—don’t know their place—no idea of how to behave. […] If Agnes likes to behave rudely that’s her lookout, but I shall give her a piece of my mind when we meet” (120-21). Partridge’s unpleasant personality and deep connections in the village cause Jerry and Joanna to suspect her of being the letter writer, but they never have concrete evidence to support this idea.

Rose is a minor, flat character in the story. She is employed as a cook in the Symmington household, whom Jerry describes as “a plump pudding-faced woman of forty” (128). Rose was a close colleague of Agnes Woddell’s, and is extremely upset by her death. Her talkative and emotional nature annoys Jerry, who feels that she should focus more on caring for others, especially Megan. 

Rose is an expressive person who is open about her feelings. When Jerry and Nash go to interview her she “rolled her eyes and clutched her heart and explained again how she’d been coming over queer all the morning” (140). Jerry and Nash feel that Rose is overly dramatic in her testimonies: “Nash wanted to hear Rose’s story again, so he explained to me, because she had already told him two different versions, and the more versions he got from her, the more likely it was that a few grains of truth might be incorporated” (140). 

Like many villagers, Rose is prone to gossip. She believes the rumors that Elsie Holland wants to marry Mr. Symmington, and slanders her to Jerry. In the end, Rose’s accurate information about the happenings in the Symmington household help Miss Marple solve the case, as she tells Jerry everyone’s activities, which he relays to Miss Marple.

Agnes Woddell is a minor, flat character in the story. Agnes was orphaned as a child and has a long history of working in the village; she was Miss Barton’s maid before being hired into the Symmington household. Agnes is a young, naive woman who relies on her old friend Partridge for advice. Nash judges Agnes as “slow-witted” (138) for failing to identify the letter writer. Miss Marple’s agrees that she was “slow” (226) for not realizing that only Mr. Symmington could have been the writer, since no one delivered any post the day Mrs. Symmington died.

Agnes’s growing suspicion of Mr. Symmington, but lack of concrete evidence to accuse him, makes her nervous and prompts her to seek out Partridge’s advice. Rose reports that Agnes was in “deadly fear” (140) for the week after Mrs. Symmington’s death as she began to suspect Mr. Symmington. However, Mr. Symmington murders her before the two friends can meet. Agnes’s tragic death spurs Mrs. Calthrop to hire Miss Marple to solve the case.

Emily Barton is a minor, dynamic character. She is the homeowner of Little Furze, making her Jerry and Joanna’s landlady. Miss Barton is a kindly and gentle elderly woman who has led a very restricted and sheltered life. Jerry describes her as a “charming little old lady” (3). She was one of many sisters, all of whom remained single and lived together at Little Furze until their deaths. 

Miss Barton’s life in Lymstock has left her somewhat afraid and intimidated by the outer world. Barton’s shyness is highlighted during conversations about the local scandals, as she does not want to discuss the sensitive letter accusations with Jerry and Joanna. She is also an emotionally sensitive person. She finds it upsetting to discuss how the anonymous letters might be related to Mrs. Symmington’s and Agnes Woddell’s deaths. 

By the end of the story, Miss Barton moves out of Little Furze, as she sells the cottage to Jerry and Megan. She is no longer such a cautious homebody, as she embraces a fresh start by deciding to finally go on a cruise.

Superintendent Nash is a flat, minor character. He is the police superintendent in Lymstock and the highest-ranked local officer investigating the anonymous letters case. Jerry’s narration portrays Nash in a positive light, as he admits that he “took a great liking to him” (89). Jerry describes Nash as “[t]all, soldierly, with quiet reflective eyes and a straightforward unassuming manner” (89). 

Nash is clearly committed to the case: Throughout the story he regularly interviews suspects, sets up sting operations, and collaborates with Inspector Graves. Nash’s frustration with people’s secrecy about the letters shows his determination to catch the culprit who is spreading so much fear and slander. Like Graves, however, he also becomes stuck in his perception of the suspect as a woman, making it impossible for him to consider Mr. Symmington as a possible suspect until Miss Marple solves the case.

Inspector Graves is a minor, flat character. He is a police inspector from London. After the scandal of the anonymous letters escalates, supposedly prompting Mrs. Symmington’s death, Inspector Graves arrives in Lymstock to assist Nash with the investigation. Graves is an expert in anonymous letter cases, and is portrayed as a man with a “melancholy enthusiasm” (93) for his work, and a thorough knowledge of his subject. 

Graves’s professional competence is shown in his accurate assessment of the anonymous letters, as he correctly identifies the kind of typewriter used, and correctly hypothesizes that the writer is very educated and respectable. However, Graves puts too much emphasis on the fact that most anonymous letter writers are women. He tells Jerry and Nash that the Lymstock letters are highly similar to one written by a schoolgirl in Northumberland, and firmly believes that the Lymstock writer must be a woman too. In spite of his more narrow view of the case, Graves’s professional expertise helps Nash, Jerry, and eventually, Miss Marple solve the crime.

Miss Marple is a secondary, flat character in the story. Miss Marple is a gentle, curious, and intelligent elderly woman. She is first presented as a friend to the Calthrops, and at the end of the story is revealed to be a great amateur detective. Her habit of knitting over tea and her delicate conversational skills make her detective work very subtle, as she seems like a regular visitor making polite conversation.

Miss Marple has great powers of observation and deduction. Rather than being swept up in the misdirection of the anonymous letters like the other investigators, Miss Marple views the case in terms of the most simple hard evidence. This shows her deep experience in murder cases, as she prefers to assess plain facts, and she knows that murders are usually simple crimes that are covered up with red herrings. Through her powers of deduction Marple realizes that the letter writer was essentially framing a woman for his crime, safe in the knowledge that “no one was suspecting a man” (228).

Miss Marple has a likeable, charming and gracious personality. She repeatedly thanks Jerry and compliments him for his fantastic observations and memory, telling him, “I can see you are a very clever young man—but not quite enough confidence in yourself. You ought to have!” (178). As a keen pursuer of justice, Miss Marple has strong morals and insists that others do too. For instance, when Jerry complains of the danger Megan was in, Miss Marple tells him, “Yes, it was dangerous, but we are not put into this world, Mr. Burton, to avoid danger when an innocent fellow-creature’s life is at stake. You understand me?” (231). Significantly, Miss Marple also subtly challenges the village’s prejudices against older, unmarried women, as she is clever, capable, and quietly strong-willed, and the only person who can solve the case.

Dr. Owen Griffith is a secondary, flat character in the story. He is the local doctor in Lymstock. Dr. Griffith is a very capable doctor, but is also “shy” and “awkward” (12). His profession brings him into constant contact with the villagers of Lymstock, and he is well-versed in the town’s happenings. Dr. Griffith offers his medical opinion of the letter writer’s habit, calling it “pathological” (14) and likely to continue. Over the course of the story, Dr. Griffith becomes a friend to Jerry and a love interest to Joanna, who is intrigued by his intelligence and his commitment to his work.

Aimee Griffith is a secondary and somewhat dynamic character in the story. She is a vigorous and busy middle-aged woman who is extremely active in the village as a volunteer for the Red Cross and the Girl Guides. However, despite her apparent commitment to charity and social causes, Aimee nearly always has negative things to say about other people, and often rants to Jerry about her judgments. She is particularly mean to Megan Hunter, whom she judges as being idle and lazy. Jerry admires her “energy and vitality” (25), but finds her particularly nosy, judgmental, and annoying. He considers her main trait to be her “maddeningly complacent confidence in herself” (154).

Throughout the story, Aimee hints at her enduring affection for Mr. Symmington, or “Dick,” as she calls him. She tells Jerry that she knows him well and expects that he would do the respectable thing by defending his late wife’s reputation. By the end of the story it is revealed that Aimee has been in love with Mr. Symmington for years, and this motivates her to write a single copy-cat anonymous letter to Elsie Holland, warning her away from Mr. Symmington. It is hinted that Mrs. Calthrop knows about Aimee’s painful secret crush: “Mrs. Dane Calthrop said: ‘Poor thing.’ I was puzzled. Surely she could not be pitying Aimee?” (63). Aimee’s anonymous letter prompts her arrest, during which the usually stoic and harsh woman cries, revealing her well-hidden desperation and heartbreak. At the end of the novel chastened by her experiences and is going on a cruise with Miss Emily Barton.

Reverend Calthrop is a minor, flat character in the novel. He is the local reverend in Lymstock, and husband to Mrs. Calthrop. Calthrop is portrayed as an out-of-touch bookish intellectual who always has his head in the clouds. Jerry describes him as “more remote from everyday life than anyone I have ever met” (59). The reverend has a habit of quoting philosophers in Latin, making him difficult to connect with. His wife tells Jerry, “Caleb would have been a saint […] if he hadn’t been just a little too intellectual” (61). Indeed, the reverend has little understanding of what the villagers are going through. After numerous anonymous letters rile the town for weeks, the reverend casually asks Jerry if he has heard any rumors about nasty letters, showing his total disconnect from the activities of the village.

Mrs. Calthrop is a minor, flat character in the story. She is well-known throughout the village, though not always well-liked. Emily Barton considers her aloof and strange, and Jerry feels that most of the villagers are intimidated by her. As the reverend’s wife, she has a certain status in Lymstock, and she seems to know all of the villagers’ comings and goings. She feels it is her role in the town to know what people are doing, and she has knowledge of people’s secrets and scandals, but she remains tight-lipped about them. 

Mrs. Calthrop is a frank woman who shares her honest opinion easily. For example, after Mrs. Symmington’s apparent death by suicide, she shares her dislike of the deceased woman and seems unsympathetic about her tragic demise. Mrs. Calthrop’s most important action in the story is inviting Miss Marple to come stay at her home and investigate the mystery, leading to the novel’s conclusion.