How to be Marple

Do you think you are similar to Miss Jane Marple? Similarities to Marple would include not only physical description, but personality traits, qualities, and even similar tastes. If you think you can emulate Miss Marple, read below to see if you possess any of these similarities.

Traits

Here's a challenge if you want to be more like Miss Marple: you must be able to tell 5 stories of ordinary people you know and relate those stories to 5 other people. That is what Marple always did. She did so well in solving crime because of her understanding of human nature. She knew what people are like because of her observations and living in a small village. She could always relate one person's problems or situation to someone else. With the village parallel (of a person there), she could always successfully predict how another person would react.

Family

Primary relative in the stories is nephew Raymond West, celebrated author & poet. His wife is Joan, an artist and mother of two boys. Do you have a nephew named Raymond? You're more like Marple if you do.

Hobbies

Marple's hobbies include bird watching, gardening, and knitting. The first time we are introduced to Miss Marple (in the short story collection The Thirteen Problems), we see her knitting "something white and soft and fleecy". Marple has been on holiday to the Caribbean, as a gift from her nephew Raymond. If you've been there for recreation, then you're a step closer to being like Marple. We can suppose that village gossip is also one of Marple's pastimes. We can also see the relationship between gossip and her tendency to compare people with others. If you like gossip and you relate what you know to all people around you, then you're more like Marple than you realize.