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
When Christopher receives his ticket at the train station, he says, “I didn’t like the ticket being half yellow but I had to keep it because it was my train ticket” (153). This shows that even though Christopher despises the color yellow, he is able to see past it because he knows that without the ticket he won’t be able to get on the train, and if he doesn’t get on the train, he will not get to London and find Mother. Another time when he allows himself to consider the long-term benefits of pushing through his tendencies is when Christopher becomes confused and apprehensive at the ticket machines and the crowds of people around them, but he stands back and notices, “I watched 47 people [putting tickets into gray gates and walking through them] and I memorized what to do” (173). Despite the fact that Christopher was unsure of how to go about this situation, he picked up the pattern by watching others until he was able to do it himself. This is a skill that would greatly benefit him if he lived by himself. Christopher also shows the readers that when he becomes overwhelmed, he can push through it. When he is on the train and begins to feel scared, he says, “The trains coming in and out of the station were in a rhythm, like music or drumming. And it was like counting and saying, ‘Left, right, left, right, left, right...’ which Siobhan taught me
“And I was shaking and I wanted to be back at home, and then I realized I couldn’t be at home because Father was there and he told a lie and killed Wellington, which meant that it wasn’t my home anymore, my home was 451c Chapter Road, London NW2 5NG, and it scared me, having a wrong thought like, I wish I was back at home again, because it meant my mind wasn’t working properly” (Haddon 176). While Christopher is at the train station about to go to London he realizes how lost he is in his world and that he cannot go home because his father has betrayed him, and that he must keep going but he cannot escape the thought of going back, which makes him feel like his mind is betraying him. The fact that I had let people have such control in my life and emotions and to see that they could honestly care less about my well-being made me feel like anything they did or said didn’t mean a thing to me, it grew to the point where I feared heartache and I thought it was easier for me to block out everything, which lead me to distrust everyone but one thing I did not realize was that I would also cause myself heartache. Thus, it is clear that in difficult situations Christopher and I felt betrayed by our own minds and feeling like that makes you feel insecure. Your mind is one of the most important part of you and if it
Christopher’s goal is quite similar to many other protagonists in the coming-of-age genre: the search for independence. Due to his condition, Christopher cannot be as independent as he would like. As a result, he rebels against his father by leaving to London. Christopher’s trip to London can be seen as his most adventurous step towards independence. This trip deals with everything Christopher has trouble handling. For example, Christopher finds navigating through new environments particularly distressing: “But this is not a very accurate map of the station because I was scared so I was not noticing things very well” (Haddon 145). This is why, according to Christopher, if he can travel to London, he can be independent. This relates to Alicia Keys’ famous hit ‘New
In the book, Christopher was trying to solve the murder of Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s dog. He wants to go find out information about whom the suspect could be, but he has difficulties talking to strangers. His anxiety holds him back and makes him awkward around all strangers. While questioning his neighbors about what they know about Wellington he said, “‘Do you know who killed Wellington?’ I did not look at his face. I do not like looking at people’s faces, especially if they are strangers. He did not say anything for a few seconds”(36). This quote demonstrates Christopher’s severe social problems. He is withdrawn from the conversation and appears to be uncomfortable. While Christopher may not realize it throughout the course of the novel, his disability is a conflict to himself. When Christopher was trying to make his way to London to reunite with his mother, he had to travel through a train station. This situation could have been overwhelming to anybody who had never traveled alone, but Christopher didn’t handle his unease like most normal people. “And there was sweat running down my face from under my hair and I was moaning, not
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
What makes fiction novels especially interesting are the larger messages hidden within them. The novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon does just that. The novel centers around a 15 year old genius Christopher Boone who has a mental disability of some sort, struggling with communication because of it. The book is comprised of a murder mystery novel Christopher sought to write after discovering the bloody murder of his neighbor's dog, Wellington. Gradually, the story focuses away from the main conflict and morphs into a complicated story about Christopher’s life. With that, Haddon brings out the complexity and hardships of human life, specifically through the topic of truth and deceit. The truth comes out eventually; fabricating it now will only prolong the unwanted effects later. Also, lies ruin relationships, possibly for good.
point of view on christopher is he is a brave good hero but in reality he is a paradox.
First person narration is a technique which allows the reader to understand perspective. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a boy diagnosed with autism, lives his everyday life experiencing many issues. Mark Haddon chose to make Christopher, a boy with Autism, the narrator of this novel because Christopher’s first person narration has an overall impact on the story shaping it. First person narrative affects the novel as it lets the reader understand how Christopher, someone with Autism, may think about “dramatic” interactions and how he may interpret the actions of others.
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.
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)
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, written by Mark Haddon, is a mystery novel about a young boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. Christopher Boone, the narrator of the book, compels the reader to feel the most sympathy towards him, due to his Asperger’s Syndrome. Not only is this portrayed by this affliction but also by his parents’ separation and losing the stability of a family life. Ed Boone, Christopher’s father, can be sympathised with when his wife leaves him and he struggles with being a single parent of a child with a disability. Mrs Shears has also suffered loss when her dog, Wellington, was killed and then when her husband left her for another woman. Haddon retells the life of Christopher Boone, through a variety of different techniques such as repetition, dialogue, expletive language and short sentences.
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
The mind of an autistic person is fascinating and frightening because usually their actions can’t accurately express what their brain is thinking. It is frustrating to try and determine what a child with autism is trying to say, and often results in them being misunderstood. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, tells the story from the perspective of Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy with autism. Chris is brilliant at math and science, but is unable to understand or express emotion. His difficult home life further contributes to his illness; he doesn’t have anyone at home who supports him and tries to help him. His teacher, Siobhan, is his only friend and the only person who tries to help him learn to
How Does the Teller Change The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? Through the crime fiction novel, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, by Mark Haddon, the readers are able to feel connected with the protagonist, Christopher John Francis Boone, who speaks in first person subjective. The readers are engaged in the unique form and narrative techniques of the mystery novel. The novel alternates between a chapter about the murder mystery, and a chapter in which Christopher discusses ideas or concepts worth knowing.
Christopher seems to be a very logical individual in view of the fact that he doesn’t believe in supernatural, god or heaven. One of the reasons he doesn’t like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is because he believed in the supernatural which surely shows that Christopher is