Mr Boone's Mistakes

In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon does not illustrate the life of an average teenage boy. He shows us Christopher Boone, a 15-year old boy who lies on the autistic spectrum. Christopher experiences many of the everyday activities most people his age do; he goes to school (where he relishes math), watches TV, and plays with his pet. However, his home life is fraught with conflict, causing readers to think Christopher may be better off without the frightening presence of his father, or the unreliability of his mother. Although Christopher may have the determination to live on his own, his unusual tendencies can be detrimental and outweigh the positives.

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

Boone: Well, Christopher decided that he would investigate of who the real murder was by using his strong critical thinking skills. One day, Christopher decided to go to Mrs.Shear’s house to look through her garden.

Thesis Statement: Despite the common misconception that Aspergers is a disability, Christopher Boon demonstrates that the syndrome provides him with distinct advantages.

In the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon, Ed Boone is the father of a brilliant boy, Christopher, who has signs of autism or a similar disorder which makes him very particular, and have extremely rigid standards. Ed constantly overworks himself to please Christopher, and make his son feel as comfortable as possible even though Christopher never thanks him. A similar idea is expressed in “Those Winter Sundays”, by Robert Hayden, where a boy reflects on all his father has done for him even though he and his family never acknowledged all of the effort and labor his father put into making them happy, healthy, and free from these labors. Both the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and “Those Winter Sundays” suggest that a parent will go to great lengths for their children's prosperity and comfort even if their children never say thank you.

Daniel Boone was born on October 22, 1734 and later died on September 26, 1820. He was an American pioneer and hunter whose frontier explorations made him one of the first heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the state of Kentucky. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.

Should parents care more about telling the truth or the result of telling the truth? In The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time written by Mark Haddon, the biggest problem that Ed Boone faced is hiding the truth about everything from his son; from the dog, to Mrs. Shears and the biggest secret of all, his mom.

In the novel, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time by Mark Haddon, the elements of Character of Father, the Aha-Moment of Christopher and the Conflict develops the theme when in making an effort to heal a relationship, one must be truthful in order to show a sense of trust and value to the person. Firstly, the Character of Father helps us to understand a level of effort he puts in trying to fix his relationship with Christopher. Father says “ And, um… I’ve got you a present. To show you that I really mean what I say. And to say sorry (Hadden 219), the quotation gives us a perspective that Ed really care for his son and that the golden retriever symbolizes a peace offering between them. However, he also shows effort in the relationship

[1] The silent film, With Daniel Boone Thru the Wilderness, was produced in 1926: a time of prosperity, an era without the skepticism of the modern American mind. People were not yet questioning the stories and histories they had been taught as children. The entertaining story told in this Robert North Bradbury film is loosely based on the life of an American hero. However, the presence of several insidiously inaccurate historical representations demonstrates how an entertaining film might not be as innocent as it initially seems. This film fails to question certain key issues concerning the Daniel Boone legend. In fact, it does quite the opposite. The creators of this

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”.

Christopher gains confidence he can perform well on the tests because he solves the murder case of Wellington all by himself. He passes the tests and chooses to go to university. It gives him the opportunity to one day and become someone of his own. He realizes what he accomplished and says to himself, “I am going to go to a University in another town… And I can live in flat all by myself” (152). In the beginning of the novel, Christopher did not like being alone. He always wants to be near his father and not near others. But now we learn Christopher feels brave to go to another city and live on his own. He is not afraid to meet new people and new environments. He no longer needs the assistance of others and feels confident to go see new places. He is not the person who he was and is now able to be live an independent life. He looks to go to university and become a highly educated individual. He always dreams of becoming somebody big and he tells himself, “I will get a First Class Honours degree and I will become a scientist” (152). Christopher becomes mature and realizes he does not want to live with his parents forever. He wants to become a person of his own and looks to become a scientist. He wants a job as a scientist and this represents how Christopher is thinking about what he wants to be from a young age. He understands that he

Boone may have his ups and downs; but, no matter what he goes through, he will always care for and love Christopher. Nobody is perfect, there is no such thing as perfection. Everyone and everything has its flaws. “Father rubbed his face with his hands and pulled his chin down with his fingers and stared at the wall... And he said, ‘I killed Wellington, Christopher.’” (120). It takes a lot of courage to admit a mistake. It took a lot more courage, however, to admit a mistake to your own child. A parent must be a role-model to their child, and Mr. Boone is a perfect example of that. He used all of his courage and initiative to apologize to Christopher and buy him a puppy, and Christopher can learn a thing or two from that. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them,” said John C. Maxwell. Mr. Boone may not be a perfect parent, but he tries his best to make Christopher happy and that is all that

Fifteen year old Christopher John Francis Boone knows every prime number up to 7,057 and despises the color yellow. His mother passed two years ago and he lives with his father. The book, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” tells the journey young Boone embarks on, starting with solving the mystery of his neighbor’s dog’s death. As the story progresses, Boone’s adventure becomes increasingly difficult, with news twists and turns along the way. One aspect that makes his journey even more difficult is that he has a disability. Although it is never mentioned directly, the distinct traits of Boone’s personality leads to the assertion that he in fact has Asperger’s Syndrome.

Christopher Boone articulates The Curious Incident, however, this novel isn’t told by an average fifteen-year-old boy; Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome—this isn’t stated in the novel, but we can acquire this knowledge simply by reading Christopher’s words. People with Asperger’s tend to have difficulty with social interactions, and Christopher clearly displays this inability when trying to figure out the emotions on the paper that Siobhan draws for him (1), also when he states, “ I find people confusing” (17). Another aspect of Asperger’s syndrome is a fascination with letters and numbers, this aspect is clear in the labeling of the chapters with prime numbers, his tactic to calm him self down by doing math in his head and finally by his adamant need to take A-level math and eventually physics. Nevertheless, this uniqueness about Christopher creates an unexpected narrative twist on this murder mystery novel.

Despite his disabilities Christy Brown recalls happy childhood memories playing with his brothers and other children from his neighbourhood, he describes how an old go cart was his saviour that allowed him to leave the seclusion of his home and out in the open with the other children “ Old Henry was my throne. On it I tasted adventure and excitement with the others.They took me with them everywhere…” Brown discusses how he felt happy and accepted by most of the children because of his ability to play outdoors and become a part of the childish play with the other children “ I was happy . I looked out on the world noticing everything except myself.” As a child it seems he was almost unaware that he had a disability that made him different from the other children and by the acceptance of his siblings and his own determination it seems that he did feel like a part of normal society