Samantha Gonzalez Mrs. Dou / Mrs. Benaderet CSU Expos Rdg & Wtg 14 March 2024 Lies and Love A single lie can unravel the bonds of trust. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon is a novel investigating the mystery behind a dog’s death. Christopher Boone, an autistic 15-year-old, discovers the body of a recently murdered Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s dog. After being falsely arrested and released for the murder, Christopher is determined to solve Wellington’s murder while documenting his findings for a school project novel. Ed, the widow of Judy Boone, takes the novel and demands that Christopher stop his investigation; However, Christopher decides not to listen to his father. While searching for the novel his father took, …show more content…
Christopher himself claims that his values on lying are based on logic, it is only that of an opinion. Christopher does not abide by his own rules at times. After his father tells him to stop investigating the death of Wellington, Christopher decides to lie to his father about his whereabouts to continue his goals, “This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth, but you do not tell all of the truth” (Haddon 48). However, what Christopher describes is more akin to a lie of omission, by “telling most of the truth minus one or two key facts whose absence changes the story,” Christopher withholds the specifics of where he was while he was out, or what he was doing (Ericsson 17). If he had said this, it would have changed the story completely other than just being “out”. But he did not want him to know because it would have angered him, so he lied by omission. This also shows that Christopher’s’beliefs on lying are not widely shared, so others have a difference in understanding what he sees as wrong. Because of his strong belief systems, which are hypocritical, this will cause conflict later on. One of the main instances of lying depriving trust in relationships is between Christopher and his father. Christopher has always held extreme values in what it means to tell the truth, and what a liar is. When he discovers his father has lied to him, Christopher’s
The book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” talks about a curious boy with autism whose name is Christopher John Francis Boone. Christopher tries to solve a case of Mrs. Shears,his neighbor, dogs skeptical death. Christopher lives only with his father. His father tells him that his mother died in the hospital, but she really didn't die. She is still alive and is living with Mrs. Shears ex-husband. The reason why Christopher’s mother isn’t living with him anymore is because she cheated on her husband with Mr. Shears. Christopher starts to slowly understand what was happening then he goes out trying to find his mom in London.
Although it is considered wrong to tell lies, it seems that literature has offered us situations where telling lies isn’t necessarily bad. Of course, lying often has a tragic outcome, but not always for the person or people who told the lie or lies. Oftentimes, these unfortunate outcomes are directed at the person about whom the lie was told. Furthermore, these stories have explained that dishonesty can result in success for both the liar and the target. Maybe we have been teaching the wrong values to our children.
White lies are usually used to prevent the hurting of someone’s feelings. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Christopher’s father uses white lies to deceive Christopher without establishing more questions about Christopher’s mother's flee. In everyday life, people lie extremely often, causing it to be difficult to tell when someone is actually lying. According to Pamela Meyer, “Lying's complex. It's woven into the fabric of our daily and our business lives. We're deeply ambivalent about the truth...We're against lying, but we're covertly for it in ways that our society has sanctioned for centuries and centuries and centuries. It's as old as breathing. It's part of our culture, it's part of our history.”(Meyer 4:59) In fact, the reason behind Christopher believing his father’s lies is because they are familiar in a way. Ed lies to Christopher, because of habit more than to protect anyone. Although, Christopher’s father used mostly white lies to protect Christopher from the harsh truth, he does it because of the emotion that goes along with them. Even though Christopher has a difficult time showing emotion he becomes upset. According to Paul Ekman in Lying and Deception, “Lies are also betrayed by signs of emotions. The simplest case is one in which the liar attempts to convincingly fabricate an emotion that is not felt. Few people are very good at this, although most of the time people get away
First Ericsson discuss white lies, she describes white lies as when a person “assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth” (Ericsson 181). A person decides that it is better to tell the lie rather than to tell the truth because of how they perceive the outcome will be. Ericsson believes that people should not use white lies because they’re “[deciding] what is best for someone else” (Ericsson 181). When people use white lies they’re assuming that what they are doing is good for the other person, even if they do not know for sure that the other person will benefit from not knowing. On the other hand in the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon, the main character, Christopher does not believe in lying but he uses white lies. Christopher says, “A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth” (Haddon 48). In this situation, Christopher’s
At first glance, Ed seems very protective of Christopher, claiming to his son, “I did it for your own good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie. I just thought . . . I just thought it was better if you didn’t know” (Haddon 114). Ed doesn’t want his son to have to live with the feeling of his mother leaving him; he doesn’t want his son to feel like it is his fault. Furthermore, Ed is trying to protect his son from the negative influence of Christopher’s mother. In the letters to Christopher, Judy confesses that “I’m not like your father. Your father is a much more pacient [sic] person. He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn’t let it show. But that’s not the way I am and there's nothing I can do to change that” (Haddon 106). Because of his autism, Christopher needs to be treated the best he can be. However, Judy admits that she cannot handle troublesome situations as well as Ed. Therefore, it is best for Christopher if he is shielded from his mother's hurtful behaviors, showing the positive motivation. By first accepting that the action is based on good intentions, it allows Ed’s lie to be seen as morally
Have you ever felt different from everyone else? Does your mind function in a unique way? Have you ever wanted to just live alone in a world of your own? In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon, a fifteen year old boy with Asperger's named Christopher, tries to solve a mystery involving the perplexing murder of his neighbor's dog. Christopher, being the narrator, takes readers on a journey inside his psyche, as he navigates the troubling and hectic world around him.
Imagine having no emotional response to a situation or experience in life. Imagine not being able to cry at
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is best known for its narration from an autistic boy, how it could be changed by a different character, and the impact that a non-autistic narrator could have on the novel. For Curious Incident point of view is one of the most important aspects as it hooks readers from the very beginning. The point of view immediately sets readers for what they can expect. Curious Incident changes how readers feel about first person point of view forever.
The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time explores the concept of truth and lies through the eyes of Christopher, the main character, who has autism. His narrative perspective only allows the reader to understand what his own mind is capable of understanding such as his views on lying, facial
While trust is a somewhat common theme in modern novels, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime manages to portray how it affects people in their day to day lifestyle. The book tells the story of Christopher Boone a young boy with autism and his murder mystery novel about the murder of his neighbor's dog. Why this novel is significant is because Mark Haddon tells the story that many young people with autism, like Christopher, live everyday and who’s view on life and the idea of trust and understanding of the world is drastically different than any teenager.
For instance, lying can lead to discomfort, distance and, fear. For one thing, Christopher felt uncomfortable around his dad because of the lie. Father tells him, “‘We’re only human.’ Then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. But I screamed and pushed him backward…” (122). Usually when Father does this, it is okay but, Christopher was in so much shock, he did not know what to do. He did not want to Father to touch him. Eventually, Christopher decides that, “ I had to get out of the house” (122). He felt the need to escape and break away from Father after what had happened so, he did would distance himself from Father. Additionally, Christopher is in fear towards his father, after being lied to and told the truth, the next morning, “... I heard Father coming down to the garden and I took out my Swiss Army knife out of my pocket … in case he found us” (127). The reason for this is because when Christopher finds out that Father is the one who kills Wellington, he was afraid that he could be the next victim to this murder crime which made him really scared. Trust is important between people. When it is lost, people feel discomfort, the need to distance themselves, and the sense of fear.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time chronicles of Christopher Boone of Swindon, England. The book is written by Mark Haddon, who formerly worked with autistic individuals, describes the world through the eyes of Christopher, who is self-proclaimed “special needs”. The novel never explicitly says what Christopher’s diagnosis is, but from the text it is apparent that he would fall on the higher functioning end of the Autism Spectrum.
‘Once’ there was ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ where the two main characters, Felix and Christopher Boone, travelled on their adventures to find their loved ones that were ‘gone’. In this oral I shall be talking about the similarities and differences of both books storylines and then I will begin talking about the similarities and differences in the main characters, exploring the themes and subjects of: Naïve narration, Isolation, Empathy, Tragedy, How the characters think and how they act around other people. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (By Mark Haddon), is a book where the main character Christopher Boone who has autism discovers his neighbour’s dog, lying dead on the ground, he then decides to
In Mark Haddon's “The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time”, Christopher, who suffers from a mental disability, discovers the underlying truth about his neighbor's dog, and thus, his own family's secrets. As a result, Christopher uses his emotions regarding his personal affairs in order to figure out the truth about his family. This causes him to act against his true nature, proving that his developmental limitations stand no chance against his own independence. Christopher, who is on the autistic spectrum, decides to investigate the murder of his neighbor's dog once he finds Wellington's body, deceased outside on the lawn. Along the way, he comes to the fateful conclusion that it was his father who committed the act.
The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time will take you on a ride of emotions as Christopher John Francis Boone fights through his autism to prove his innocence to everyone and himself as well. A story of a young boy on a mission to find out who killed his neighbor's dog, but while on the journey he reveals secrets about his family that was kept from him all these years. Mark Haddon did an amazing job on showing how the truth can affect someone in the text, not only the main character Christopher, but the others as well utilizing Characterization.