Is Hercule Poirot autistic?

Some of Inspector Morse (over the TV series he seems to 'learn' teamwork, and become more endearing to others), parts of Rebus, the Bones lead character, some aspects of Kay Scarpetta, maybe even some of Frost, although this last one is possibly more a consequence of when they were written rather than autistic-type traits.

Tilly in the Washington Poe series of novels by M W Craven appears written as a stereotypical autistic savant.

I also felt, now you bring it up, that dragging Dumbledore out of the closet was the same sort of move. It does tend to overly define a character that had been more nuanced. There author may do what ever they like, of course but it felt a bit forced, gimmicky.

Plus - many people, when they read or watch, fill in details from their own imaginations as they go along and being too explicit takes away from that.

I am of a similar mind. For certain characters "resonate" as relatable. i will go as far as that.

Martyn said:

Authors in the past as of now were drawing on character and personality types that they saw in the real world, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they encountered people who would today meet the criteria for an autism diagnosis. At the time that Christie was developing Poirot there was a great deal of research interest into what we would understand as neurodivergence.

Thank you for the explanation.

There is food for thought here for me, particularly with regard to the above para.

I'm not so much looking at characters and saying "this character is autistic" or even passing judgement on the validity of doing that. It's impossible to  definitively diagnose fictional characters even if that were desirable, but readers do interact with historical characterisation in ways that are shaped by their current understanding of psychology, people, ideas etc. 

I'm exploring what it is that leads contemporary readers to "headcanon" characters as such, and what is underpinning that judgement - the broadening/deepening of clinical and cultural knowledge of autism over the decades. 

Crime fiction is a genre where explicitly autistic/neurodivergent characters are now increasingly represented, so I'm exploring the historical trends within crime fiction characterisation that supports that. It appears to be a genre that is well suited to autistic characterisation.

Authors in the past as of now were drawing on character and personality types that they saw in the real world, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they encountered people who would today meet the criteria for an autism diagnosis. At the time that Christie was developing Poirot there was a great deal of research interest into what we would understand as neurodivergence.

Well, 

Not directly. But, the character of Poirot was, by Christie's own admission, much influenced by Holmes, she being a great admirer of Doyle's fictional detective. 

And, it is well known that Holmes was based on a real person known to Doyle, Dr. Joseph Bell. He may have been autistic, although we'll probably never know. 

So maybe, the answer could be yes, indirectly?

FH said:

Some creators don’t like to put a label on their ‘coded’ characters because that puts a responsibility on making sure their representation isn’t problematic/inaccurate. A character could have been written as autistic but nobody knows.

These days, yes, then, no....

FH said:

So I don’t think the time when a story was written would be important to that.

FH said:

A character could have been written as autistic but nobody knows.

Not during the time I refer to, hence the relevance of whether or not a diagnosis was available for the Agatha Christie era of writing (Golden Age as referred to by the OP).

Debbie said:

especially those created long before a diagnosis for 'high functioning'/Level 1/previously Aspergers' was a thing.

You were autistic before you were diagnosed right? And people who were autistic before autism was recognized are still autistic. So I don’t think the time when a story was written would be important to that.

Debbie said:

I don't think that a fictional character can be autistic/anything unless they are written/created as such

Some creators don’t like to put a label on their ‘coded’ characters because that puts a responsibility on making sure their representation isn’t problematic/inaccurate. A character could have been written as autistic but nobody knows.

Im not agreeing or disagreeing, just offering thoughts..

I don't think that a fictional character can be autistic/anything unless they are written/created as such, especially those created long before a diagnosis for 'high functioning'/Level 1/previously Aspergers' was a thing.

So, I am really struggling with this.

I think He may have had ADHD which would explain His need to always be on the T.V.

if you can think of any others that you resonate ad see yourself in...? I love a list, I do.

Could there be a correlation between autistic people being more likely to be LGBT and vice versa? 

I think your question would be best answered by Colombo.  Need I say more.............."oh, just I last thing."

Holmes is widely read as autistic these days. Interestingly, he was loosely based on Conan Doyle's old teacher Dr Joseph Bell, who it's also speculated was autistic. 

Thank you for that. That's really helpful, I'll investigate.

Interesting perspective, even though I know very little about this - perhaps in terms of analytical skills the same could be true of Sherlock Holmes 

Very interesting question and post, even though I know very little about this - on reflection, aside from his being gay, I’ve often wondered if Irish writer Oscar Wilde was autistic as well and perhaps the same could be said about fellow Irish writer James Joyce - in terms of analytical skills, the same could be true of Sherlock Holmes  

From the books, not the shows, I would say the most openly expressed ND person could be the character who is a consultant that Miss Marple uses who shows up every now and then in her books. They have a steel trap memory, flat delivery, restless bad eye contact and other features right out of the DSM. 

I cannot remember this incidental character's name but when I read the books I never forgot him as he was so like myself, So vividly did he reflect me.

I have never, though, felt all that much kinship with Poirot. Can't say why.

Other literary and film characters that resonate:

Jeeves the butler in "Jeeves and Woster"

 Boo Radley in to "kill a mocking bird"

Mister Memory from the stage show scenes in Hitchcock's "the 39 steps"

James Stewart's character in "Rear Window"

the night man in Orwell's "A touch of Evil"

Virginia O'brien in the marx Bro's "The Big Store"