As the first page is turned, we are confronted with Christopher Boone; a standoffish, apprehensive boy who knows little about emotions and lots about math. However, Christopher John Francis Boone is quite a remarkable boy. In Mark Haddon’s novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” we see just how remarkable Christopher can be as his journey changes him from an aloof, unassured boy to someone who cultivates the confidence to believe that they can do anything. As we begin the book, the unsociable and apprehensive nature of Christopher is made quite apparent. Upon entering his neighbor’s garden, Christopher is disturbed to find Wellington--Ms. Shear’s large, black poodle--lying still on the ground, a garden fork protruding from …show more content…
In a moment of overwhelming sadness and confusion, Christopher kneels and hugs the dog close to his body, wondering who would commit such a heinous crime. His thoughts are interrupted, however, by the presence of a policeman who makes an unwelcomed intrusion in Christopher’s valuable personal space. In his mindset of isolation and unsociability, the policeman coming and disrupting that valued space sends Christopher’s brain off into a panicky, explosive wave of terror. As the policeman yells and demands answers as to why this fifteen year old boy is cradling the corpse of a dead animal, Christopher can only “put [his] hands over [his] ears and close [his] eyes, rolled forward till [he] was hunched up with [his] forehead pressed onto the grass” (HADDON, 4.) Everyday confrontation and conversation causes Christopher to cringe with an indescribable anguish, to which he has no other response then to block out the world around him, creating a safe, protected shelter from all that cannot be …show more content…
Who was once a shy, alienated boy is now a confident and determined young man. Finding Wellington murdered, learning about the mother he knew to be dead, and traveling to London has shaped this transformation. After discovering that his mother was in fact alive, Christopher had to make an incredibly bold decision: whether to stay home in fear of his father, or travel into the frightening, unknown world. With his mind and his heart set on London, he tactfully navigates his way and reaches a goal he never thought he’d reach--his mother. As he looks back on his journey, Christopher recognizes that he alone was the one who achieved all of this greatness, and in a beautiful and touching line, proudly states that “I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means that I can do anything” (HADDON, 221.) By journeying from Swindon to London, Christopher had to navigate large crowds and strange people, as well as his own fear of both. Overcoming these feats has shaped Christopher from aloof and unconfident to bold and hopeful. Christopher has grown into someone he never imagined he would
All human beings face restrictions on a day to day basis that they have to thrive through. This is clearly illustrated by Mark Haddon in his book "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time”. Christopher Boone is cautious and logical. These attributes are what help him in finding his lost book his father has taken away from him. Christopher's logical thinking aids him conduct his search for the book his father has taken away from him.
Eliezer Wiesel and Christopher Boone were both just 15 when they were taken on their life altering expeditions, but it was their determination to return to their families and their strength to survive that lead them successfully to their goals. First of all, Christopher Boone was the disabled protagonist who was faced with many challenges but, it was Chris’s determination to solve the murder and reach his mother and that made him successful in obtaining his many ambitions. Christopher started of his book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by investigating the murder of his neighbor’s dog, but was quickly removed from the scene when the police were called. Although deterring to most, once out of jail, Christopher dedicated most
Christopher went to check on his neighbor’s dog Wellington when he looked up to see Mrs. Shears screaming, and calling the cops. After he was found innocent, Christopher decided to launch an investigation on who killed Wellington. When his father found out he told Christopher to leave it alone. Christopher ignores him and asks Mrs. Alexander questions soon their relationship grows and Christopher begins to trust her. When Christopher asked her why his father doesn’t like Mr. Shears she told him that his mother and Mr. Shears had an affair. When his father found Christopher’s book he learned that Christopher knows about the affair and that he was still being a “detective”. His father hid the book from Christopher, when he found the book he also found letters. The letters went sent from his mother, even after she “died”. When his dad found him with the letters he explained why he said she was dead, why he kept the letters from him, and why he killed Wellington. Later that night Christopher ran away from his father to London, England where his mother lives. When he arrived his mother took him in and he explained why he was there because being afraid of his father. When Christopher remembered his A level math class he and his mother move back to Swindon, England, soon Christopher begins to trust his
The use of elements of narrative and figurative language help establish a sense that Christopher is ‘the other’ in this novel. The choice of a fifteen year old boy with an unidentified disability as the narrator affects the experience of the story. His choice of words, his individual points of interest and competence to describe situations and prioritise information indicates that Christopher does not fit in with the general society’s standards. The narration in the novel is often substantially idiomatic. This highlights the key communication barrier between Christopher and others. There is an expectation for the character to have more of a sophisticated language but the narration has a simple use of sentence structure. For example, it is presented
When Christopher runs away from his father, and decides to go on a train to London to his mother, or when he finds out who killed Wellington the dog, he begins to do things he does not do regularly which shows how he becomes independent, as he states, “And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything” (Haddon, 221). This quote demonstrates how he overcomes various challenges, gains confidence in his abilities and becomes more self-sufficient. Also, Christopher passing an A level math test, and having the desire to take more A level math and physics classes and pass them represents how he wants “to go to university in another town” and “get a First Class Honours degree and… become a scientist” (Haddon, 220-221), which shows how doing well on the tests and going to university allows him to be able to live on his own in the future and become more independent.
Christopher John Francis Boone, 15 year old young man that is diagnosed with an illness called Asperger syndrome ( Which is a form of autism that is a developmental disorder affecting ability to effectively socialize and communicate.) Christopher is very smart he knows all the countries and mostly prime numbers. “I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057 (Haddon 1).” Although, Christopher loves dogs, but one day he came across his neighbor’s dog, Wellington the poodle, as he came on his knees he started to pet the dog and when he noticed that he was bleeding and there was a pitch fork near the dog. The neighbor, Mrs. Shears, came out of her house and noticed that Christopher had her dog’s in his arms with holes pierced in him, as she was worried that dog was now dead she called the police due to the scene and he was taking away because of his disorder he doesn’t like to be yelled at or touched so in his own defense he punched the police officer that touched him and was brought to a police station was withheld in a cell until he was released.
One way Christopher develops is that at the beginning he says that he doesn’t talk to people he doesn’t know because he is scared of them. Although Christopher doesn’t like to talk to people he doesn’t know at the end of the book he overcomes his fear and starts talking to strangers so he can get through his goal of getting to his mom’s house. While Christopher is on his journey to get to his mom’s house he has to talk to some people to get there he does this once at an information booth to ask the worker where the address of his mom’s house is. Christopher also becomes more independent throughout the novel because at the beginning he only does things that Siobhan and his dad tell him to do but he never did his own things. Then later on in the book he starts writing stuff in his book that nobody told him to do and he also becomes more independent because he tries to get to his mom’s house in London which is very far all by himself. Christopher also achieved a couple of goals throughout the novel. One of the goals he achieved was getting to his mom’s house alone. This is an important goal for Christopher because he grew a lot throughout the process of finding his mom. Another goal he achieved was getting an A on his A-Level maths. This is also an important goal for Christopher because it makes him feel better about himself and makes him feel smart that people thought he couldn’t do something and he
Who is your superior? Who are you in charge of? How do you know? In the Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time, by Mark Haddon, Christopher Boone is a young man who has special needs. He has strict rules about food, colors, and cars. He especially hates lies. One day he finds his neighbor's dog has been killed. He clutches the dog to his chest ultimately, leading to him hitting a police officer. He decides he wants to investigate the murder of the dog, but his father makes him promise to ‘'keep his nose out of other people's business”, but he investigates nonetheless, soon discovering dark family secrets. Authority leads to isolation. This is clear in Christopher's relationship with the police.
Christopher is an autistic child who lives with his father after his mother has passed away. One night, he finds his neighbor's dog dead in their backyard. He becomes determined to figure out who the murderer is and starts to write a book on his journey. When his dad finds out what
The novel ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, written by Mark Haddon follows the events of a fifteen-year old boy named Christopher John Francis Boone. Upon the discovery of a neighborhood canine death, Christopher finds himself wound up in more then just a murder mystery. Haddon uses first person narration and contrasts characters to show when faced with the truth, Christopher, Ed and Judy Boone react in different ways. Haddon uses first person narration to highlight the protagonists, Christopher Boone’s, value and importance placed on the trust. Haddon has created Christopher as a contradictory and unpredictable narrator.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a well written book by Mark Haddon that describes the life of a teenager named Christopher Boone. The beginning of the book sets the plot of story and the story is told from the point of view of Christopher as a detective because he decides he wants to find out who killed Mrs. Shears’ dog. Christopher is determined to find out who killed Wellington by asking his neighbors and writing notes in his journal. Throughout the first part of the story, Haddon characterizes Christopher as someone who is phenomenal at math and excels at school, but is held back from the resources his school can provide. Christopher’s father finds out that he has been roaming around the neighborhood in other people’s
Christopher John Francis Boone uses his mind in extraordinary ways. He understands the world around him in a way nobody else can. He uses his remarkable mind in order to solve many problems of science and math. Christopher also uses this mind of his as way to solve the problem of his neighbor’s dog that was murdered and uncovers secrets about his family. This beautiful mind of his makes him a brilliant detective and helps him find the person who killed the dog and secrets about his family.
Through Christopher’s eyes, we can see how he copes with loss. Readers can view the difference in how Christopher reacts to loss compared to other people’s reaction to loss and the difficulties of coping. The death of Wellington hit Christopher hard and the way he coped with this was to find his killer. When he finds the killer, the father, he copes by running away, to live with his mother. Through Christopher the reader can see how his thoughts and actions processed the need to run away. “I had to get out of the house,” (Haddon, pg. 152). Christopher is a very logical person, but his decision to leave was irrational, but to him it was the only solution his mind could logically draw. He shows that coping with the loss of trust in his father and the loss of Wellington was very difficult for him, which is demonstrated through his decision to investigate Wellington’s death and the irrational need to run away. Narrative perspective illustrates the theme of coping with loss is difficult and in particular, people like Christopher can make decisions that can be irrational or
Christopher is very different to normal people as he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a mental illness which deprives him of his social abilities and emotional interpretation. Christopher changes from an innocent unknowing boy to one of newfound truths and knowledge. At the start of the book he is very shy and protective of himself, only talking to those that he trusts. The author writes “It takes me a long time to get used to people I do not know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch until I know that they are safe”.
As the novel progresses, so does the Characterization of Christopher. From originally being an awkward adolescent, our protagonist discovers that he can do anything he sets his mind to. Instead of hectically going over everything his brain needs to process, Christopher looks to the things he finds comfort in, such as, logic, arithmetic or math problems. Throughout his journey, Whenever Christopher found himself in a frustrated position, he began to recite complicated numbers