Christopher Boone Character Analysis- Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime

When Christopher’s father comes back home after leaving, he sees Christopher reading his mother’s letters. Christopher’s father was trying to hide the letters from Christopher, but was unsuccessful. When Christopher’s father realizes this he immediately said, “Those are. . . Oh shit. . . Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." (Haddon 114) knowing that Christopher read the letters from his mother. Christopher’s father said, “I killed Wellington” (Haddon 120) and Christopher could not comprehend whether his father was joking around or being completely honest with him. Christopher’s father tells Christopher the truth about his mother and Wellington after talking about the letters. When Christopher realizes his mother is alive and his father lied to him, he felt betrayed. His father tells Christopher it was for his own good and that he had to keep it a secret from him. Christopher’s thoughts were scattered; he no longer knew whether he could be near his father. The relationship he has with his father is crushed with a simple lie. Christopher’s father who matters to Christopher the most lies to Christopher, and his point of view suddenly shifts when he realizes

Emotions are a part of life and they come in handy when an author writes a book. In the case of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, he used emotions to bring his characters to life. Even though an array of emotions and feelings were used, the two most prominent were frustration and fear. The first emotion, frustration, played a key role in the novel as the main character, Christopher Boone, was a “special” boy who experienced many behavioral issues: some of which were caused by frustration - or even fear. Specifically, he lists a few of his abundant behavioral issues which includes “screaming… smashing things… groaning” when he is either “angry or confused”. (Pg. 45-47) Continuing on in Haddon’s - or Christopher's - novel, Christopher had evoked anger and frustration in his father by talking to strangers and “[getting] involved in other people’s business.” (Pg. 49) As a result of his anger, Christopher’s father was able to get him to promise not go around meddling in other people’s lives. Finally, one last example of frustration in this novel is the moment Christopher’s father tells him that he had killed Wellington. His father recalled what had caused him to kill the poor poodle.

And I could do this by going on a train because I knew all about trains from the train set, how you looked at the timetable and went to the station and bought a ticket and looked at the departure board to see if your train was on time and then you went to the right platform and got on board” (Haddon 131) This quote reveals the character of Christopher by showing that he is well informed about train time tables, and how he is able to incorporate his background knowledge on train time tables to assist him with his lengthy and very risky journey to London. This quote also displays that Christopher had taken a very extensive risk to leave his comfort zone, since Christopher finds a significant amount of difficulty dealing with new environments and finds it difficult to go to a new environment alone without assistance and someone he trusts. Christopher was able to overcome the challenge by succeeding with his journey to London, by relying solely on his photographic memory of his mother’s address and his background knowledge about trains and their timetables. Christopher was also able to overcome many of his fears such as large crowds, loud noises, and social

In trying to find out who murdered Wellington, Christopher uncovers a box containing letters from his mother addressed to him. Prior to this incident, Christopher’s father, Mr. Boone, told him that his mother passed away due to a heart attack while in the hospital. In addition, Christopher was unable to visit her. The date of the supposed death did not match up with the recent inscription on the letters, indicating his father lying about her death. Mr. Boone soon finds out about Christopher’s discovery, struggling to explain the situation: “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly, I did. I never meant to lie...I just thought

The reader is able to observe how Christopher interprets others actions when people call him “Special” and autistic. “Sometimes the children from the school down the road see us in the street when we’re getting off the bus and they shout, “Special Needs! Special Needs!” But I don’t take any notice because I don’t listen to what other people say and only sticks and stones can break my bones and I have my Swiss Army knife if they hit me and if I kill them it will be self-defense and I won’t go to prison” (Haddon 44). Christopher does not care what other people call him and interpret it as annoying. He goes as far to say he is willing to kill them if they act aggressively showing Christopher’s actions based on other people’s actions. Additionally, Christopher’s interpretation of how people do things leads him to be surprised by what they do instead. Christopher having autism allows him to think uniquely and in ways other people might not understand. When Mrs. Shears told Christopher to put down the dog, “She bent down. I thought she was going to pick the dog up herself, but she didn’t. Perhaps she noticed how much blood there was and didn’t want to get dirty. Instead she started screaming again” (Haddon 4). Christopher thought that because Mrs.Shears bent down, she would pick up the dog. However, he thought wrong and screamed to Christopher’s surprise.Therefore, Christopher’s interpretation of others actions affects the overall narrative, as having autism allows him to see things differently than other

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”.

The novel begins with Christopher stumbling upon the dead dog, Wellington, and gets accused as the killer. If this occurrence did not happen, then Christopher would not have wanted to find the real killer since death is never a drawback for him. In fact, Christopher views death as an inevitable event, so whoever killed Wellington does not pertain to him

Through Chris’s journey he met Jan Burres who is one of the people influenced by Chris. Jan is a middle age woman who travels in a motorhome with her boyfriend Bob selling secondhand goods in the flea markets. In 1990 Chris is researching for edible berries when Burres meets McCandless. He starts explaining to her his journey to Alaska and as he speaks Jan starts comparing McCandless with her son, making a connection between the both of them since Chris has no communication with his parents and her son drifted away from her and to its day has no communication with her either. Chris stays with Jan and her boyfriend Bob for a while and the whole time Jan warms him about the problems his actions can cause throughout his journey and tries to convince him to contact his parents. Even though he didn’t contact his family Jan had won a place in Chris’s heart and so had Chris. When he sent a postcard to Jan, she immediately

He was very self-reliant. “When she tried to give him a little money for helping out at the swap meet,’ she recalls,’he acted real offended.”(46) Burres was a women who treated Chris as her own child. But when she tried to give Chris some money for helping her out, he declined. McCandless did not need anything from anyone even if he might have earned it. He did a lot of things just for the enjoyment and the face to face interaction to others. Christopher really didn't want anything from his parents. “I’m going to have to be real careful not to accept an gifts from them in the future.”(21) Chris and his parents had a weak relationship because of events that happen to him in his childhood. So Chris was on his own and away from others. From the time he was able to drive. Chris ws self-reliant and even bought his own care. Being self-reliant help Christopher in the past but ultimately led to his

Supporting reason 1: In the story, he soon finds out his mother that he thought was dead, was alive and his father had lied to him about his mother's whole new life because of an affair that separated the two. Christopher, instead of jumping to conclusions decides to wait and keep him calm until he had all the pieces put together. Chris would often say things as “I didn't have enough information “ or “i decided not to think about it anymore that night...could easily leap to the wrong conclusion” (Haddon, pg.99) whereas most would have immediately gone ballistic. Or when he agreeing goes on the walk in the park with Mrs. Alexander even though he feels uncomfortable around unfamiliar faces. He does just as John Roush discusses in “college should be an adventure” Roush establishes one must keep an open mind to even while being faced with the struggles college kids will face. He explains “Adventure is an attitude” and, “be mindful that whatever the activity, you are preparing yourself for an opportunity yet to be discovered.” (Roush, pg. 1)

(Haddon 122). This shows that all Father was trying to do was to protect Christopher and he didn’t want it to all backfire but as the lie got bigger and stronger it all went downhill. Father was just trying to protect Christopher from the hurtful truth but as it went along it went the wrong way. Christopher was so hurt by this truth that all he wanted to do was run away, in which case he did. Father hid Christopher's book to make sure that he would stop investigating about the murder of Wellington and made sure that he wouldn’t write in that book again, but as Christopher was looking for his book he found a box with envelopes in them, he opened them and started reading. As he started reading he did not know that is whole life was about to change so suddenly. “ Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time. And father had lied about this” (Haddon 112). This quote was the actual realization that Christopher’s mother wasn’t dead and that father had lied, this was a shocking moment for Christopher in which he couldn’t even talk or think for that matter. Father was trying to protect Christopher from the information of his mother so suddenly leaving, in

His father has always told Christopher that “If you don't tell the truth now, then later on...it hurts even more,” (120) this is what Christopher has lived by his whole life. The first setback in their relationship has to with the death of Wellington. After wellington dies Christopher is very motivated to figure out who has committed this murder “I am going to find out who killed wellington” (20) Christopher’s father states after his father picks him up from jail. Once they are in the car Christopher tells his father about his plan to find out who has killed wellington and his father tells him to “just try to keep your nose out of other people’s business.” (20) Christopher then later figures out that his father is the one accountable for Wellington's death after his father tells Christopher that he “killed wellington” (120). This is shocking to Christopher because he has always thought that his father was a very honest and trustworthy person. Later he realizes that this was not the only thing that his father has lied to him about. For many years Christopher’s father told him that his mother dies in the hospital due to heart problems and Christopher believes his father because his father has not given him any reason to doubt him until Christopher discovers the letters that his mother has been writing to his for the past few years. Once Christopher realizes that his father has lied to him about his mother and Wellington, Christopher feels like he is not safe living with his father or even being near him, he thinks he has no choice but to run away to his mother, who is now living in London which only puts more of a strain on their

Some of the first people Chris encounters are trampers such as himself. A couple, Jan and Bob, come across the young man that at the time called himself Alex. The sight of the boy reminded Jan of her own which brought a nostalgic pain. She explains, “I have a son about the same age Alex was, and we’ve been estranged for years now” (Krakauer 30). This encounter leaves Jan urging to have the boy stay with them for as long as he is willing. After departing and being gone for quite some time, they started sending letters to one another. Soon enough after being informed Jan and Bob had stopped at a place known as the Slabs, he made his way to them. Jan recalls, “He liked to tease me and torment me” (Krakauer 45). During these encounters Alex had left his mark on the couple.

This quote is evident of Christopher’s ability to make risky decisions and follow through with them, especially since this is uncharacteristic of him. In addition, Christopher does not recognize that travelling on a train by himself is unsafe when he has never travelled on a train before. Christopher assumes he knows everything like planning his routes, but going to London from Swindon is not considered to be a train set toy. This emphasizes that Christopher does not have a rational explanation to what he does instead, makes decisions in haste to attempt risks that can be dangerous for him. As can be seen, analysing the novel from Christopher’s point of view shows how he develops to become a dynamic character by conquering his fears and in turn, allows him to be self-motivated.

In this book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time, Mark Haddon writes about Christopher John Francis Boone who is an autistic child. Throughout this story Christopher attempts to solve a murder case of his neighbor’s poodle. Christopher wakes up one day at seven minutes past midnight, and he notices the next-door neighbor’s dog laying on the ground. So he decides to go over and check out what happened, soon he found a garden fork sticking out of a dog named Wellington. Since Christopher likes murder mystery novels, he decided to write his own murder mystery novel starting with finding out what happened to Wellington. Throughout his attempt in solving the mystery of the