the original title of the mystery ("ten little niggers") was changed because it was offensive in the united states and some other places. alison light, a literary critic and feminist scholar, opined that christie's original title and the setting on "nigger island" (later changed to "indian island" and "soldier island", variously) were integral to the work. these aspects of the novel, she argued, "could be relied upon automatically to conjure up a thrilling 'otherness', a place where revelations about the 'dark side' of the english would be appropriate." unlike novels such as "heart of darkness", "christie's location is both more domesticated and privatized, taking for granted the construction of racial fears woven into psychic life as early as the nursery. if her story suggests how easy it is to play upon such fears, it is also a reminder of how intimately tied they are to sources of pleasure and enjoyment."