preview

Dog In The Night-Time

Decent Essays

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, as written by Mark Haddon, provides an astounding narrative that is more unique than any other. Told from the point of view from Christopher, a special needs fifteen-year old, Haddon tells the story in which Christopher goes on a journey to discover how and why the neighborhood dog was killed, and as a result discovers much more about his own world. The events that happen in the book are extraordinary circumstances. After all, a boy doesn’t find a dead dog and discover that his mother is alive every day. Christopher thinks logically, and approaches new and confusing situations as according. Therefore, It may appear that he is growing, but in reality, he is only adapting and reacting accordingly. …show more content…

He is incredibly skilled at math, science, and reasoning, but retains horribly awkward social skills, unbeknownst to himself. These tendencies are the problems that come from his condition, and ultimately prevent him from participating in a greater understanding of human behavior. Christopher acknowledges this difficulty when writing his story, and he says, “I find people confusing” (Haddon 14) after which he proceeds to explain to the audience why he does not understand people. After being thrown into the mystery of who killed Wellington, he applies his tendencies wherever he can in order to solve the mystery. Just like his math problems, he sees Wellington’s murder as a problem, and treats it as such. He later recognizes his practice of logic in the new situation, stating that “Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new” (Haddon 25). Therefore, just because the logic in the situation was used in a new way does not necessarily mean that Christopher himself is …show more content…

Because he thinks in this rigid caste-like system, he leaves little room for change. His brain works like a computer, as he takes in data and interprets as such. After he has experienced his life-changing event, he continues to think logically by taking his new experiences and basing new thoughts and insights on them. This is the only place where he seems to have shown growth. In the end, he has gained enough confidence to deal with life in a more efficient way. In his final writing to the audience, he states that “I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything” (Haddon 221). Even so, this is still only Christopher acknowledging his logical responses to extraordinary events. Throughout the entirety of the novel he has shown that instead of growing as a person, he has instead adapted to the various problems that he had to face, and in his mind, that is just as useful as anything

Get Access