Captain Arthur Hastings is one of the two deuteragonists of Hercule Poirot series alongside Ariadne Oliver.
He is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He serves as a narrator and the overall deuteragonist in most of Poirot novels.
Personality[]
He is a former British Army officer, who is brave and has courage. Poirot sometimes likes to tease Hastings about being dim-witted at times, but he clearly enjoys the Captain's company. Hastings represents the traditional English gentleman—not too bright but absolutely scrupulous, a throwback to the Victorian-era gentleman who is always concerned about "fair play".
Biography[]
Arthur Hastings makes his debut in The Mysterious Affair at Styles on the 16th of July 1916. This is where he meets Poirot for the first time. We know little about him other than that he was injured in the First World War and is a friend of the Cavendishes. In The Murder on the Links, he meets his future wife, Dulcie Duveen, a dark haired, music-hall singer, actress and acrobat, who he calls Cinders (short for Cinderella). He moves to the Argentine where he buys a ranch, but nevertheless is no stranger to his good friend, Hercule Poirot. He has four children: one son in the navy, one son married and running the cattle ranch in Argentina, one daughter, Grace, married and living in India, and one daughter, Judith, his favourite although he admits he understands her least of all, secretary to Dr. Franklin, a specialist in the study of tropical disease. By Curtain, Hastings is a widower.
Hastings appears in most of the Poirot short stories, but features in only 8 novels: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Links, The Big Four, Peril at End House, the ABC Murders, Lord Edgware Dies, Dumb Witness and, of course, Curtain.
He is known for his weakness for auburn-haired women, as well as his old-fashioned chivalry, often playing the knight in shining armour. He is a traditional gentleman and has a tendency to view life through rose-coloured glasses, always seeing the best in people.
