Christopher Boone Autism

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” begins when Christopher John Francis Boone, the fifteen-year-old narrator of the novel, discovers the perished body of his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, one evening on his neighbor’s lawn. Bewildered and crushed, Christopher sets out on a journey to uncover the murderer. Throughout the story you discover that Christopher possesses a mild form of autism. Living with this, he tends to sub consciously neglect the murder mystery and express his inner thought to us readers. Children who are born with any disability, especially ones who suffer from autism or Asperger’s have a difficult time concentrating and forming complete thoughts. In the novel Christopher’s goal resembles that of many children

and teens who suffer from chronic diseases, and struggles of growing up. His main inner conflict in this novel is the concept of becoming independent, as well as diligently handling his disability in a mature manner.

Because of Christopher’s condition, he is incapable of being independent as much as he would like to. Aside from having difficulty understanding others and coping with new environments, he also has communication and social problems. It thoroughly explains his feelings of being overwhelmed, frightened and his desire for independence. Throughout the book, he has a tendency to physically isolate himself when in an uncomfortable situation by curling into a ball on the floor. Entering the world with this condition, of course, made Christopher come across people who don’t comprehend his issues, not even he does. Living with this type of anxiety and vexatious attitude towards others have created a problem when interacting with other human beings. Christopher exemplifies however, he has the capability to do what he wants and take care of himself without anyone’s help. Although these disadvantages restrict him from many things, he is willing to overcome fear and attempt to change his inner society and the way he lives.

In the real world parents usually have an arduous time trying to identify how to cure their child’s disability. Christopher’s method of coping with his autism is more internal. His mind is so complex and he has a trillion things channeling in his brain at one time. One major facet Christopher brings to the reader’s attention is his confusion, but love about the rules used to determine prime numbers. He begins to analyze the potentially infinite number of which exist. He correlates prime numbers to act like life. He describes it as “logical, but impossible to fully comprehend.” To add to this, he has ordered the chapters in his book according to prime numbers. “Mr. Jeavons said that I liked maths because it was safe. He said I liked maths because it meant solving problems, and these problems were difficult and interesting but there was always a straightforward answer at the end. And what he meant was that maths wasn’t like life because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end” Chapter 101. Christopher compares Wellington’s murder as something like a math problem to be solved, and soon realizes he has involved himself in a much more complicated position.

In a similar article about coping with a child in a comparable situation as Christopher, Mary Walsh, a mother of a child with Asperger’s disease expresses her story to the public. “Finally in January 2005 -- when he was about to turn 3 -- his preschool teachers told us they were concerned about his lack of sociability and obsessive tendencies. Our pediatrician reviewed the preschool’s notes and said that just one symptom isn’t unusual, but several point to something more serious. Then she mentioned Asperger’s syndrome. I had no clue what that was. But after a pediatrician who specializes in developmental problems evaluated Matthew, the diagnosis was confirmed.” (Walsh page 1). She expresses about her sons discovery of his disease. While doing research about Asperger’s disease I’ve come to the conclusion it is very difficult to survive with this type of condition. “Autistic kids often have delayed speech, for instance, while the speech of children with Asperger’s tends to develop normally. But children with Asperger’s have trouble with “expressive language,” as well as with empathy and reading social cues.” Says Walsh. As Christopher in the book “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” demonstrates his struggles surviving with a mild form of autism, Mary Walsh thoroughly describes her personal experience with her son, Mathew, who suffers from the same condition.

After a bundle of occurrences and secrets revealed, Christopher winds up living with his mother in England.

He flees his father’s home and goes to find his mother in England. When Christopher receives information about scoring so high on his A-level math test, he had never been more thrilled. His academic skills and his process of connecting math to the real world has been the main factor in assisting him become independent. By scoring well on the exam, Christopher has a greater outcome of getting accepted into many universities, allowing him to live on his own. As a conclusion, Christopher’s agonizing trip to London serves as his strongest leap towards greatness and independence. The trip summarizes everything Christopher finds distressing about the world, and helped him overcome his fears in more ways than one, Not only did he gain confidence in his ability to face any challenge on his own, but it blocked most of his negativity on the world around him. The book comes to an ending with Christopher receiving a two month old golden retriever named Sandy. Sandy is Christopher’s greatest gift and you begin to notice his change from the beginning of the story to the next. In Mary Walsh’s anecdote, he also informs the readers she purchased a golden retriever puppy for her son that has made such an impact on his learning and social skills. Finally, Christopher and Mathew had a happy ending indeed and every day are discovering a new factor about themselves. No matter what endeavor leisure’s your way, anyone can overcome any obstacle they allow themselves to if you acquire a strong mindset, dedication, and

fortitude.