A Stylistic Study of Hedging in Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Abstract

The study of literary discourse with respect to its linguistic assimilation can help in the understanding of literature. While pursuing literary analysis, the workings of the language are often ignored due to which certain significant points go amiss. Thus, it is imperative to conduct a linguistic analysis to gain complete comprehension of the literature being studied. Resonating with this thought, the present study aims at analysing Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, essentially in the context of hedging. This paper includes a qualitative analysis of hedging which is conducted with the help of the tool called Wordsmith Version7. It investigates the usage of hedges in the noveland further illustrates how hedges can be used in the text, not just for politeness and respect, but to show caution and also to intentionally create an enigma of vagueness that obscures the facts and leads to misinterpretation of the text.