Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Analysis

The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon, discusses many important themes such as importance of being a good parent, having courage, and the struggles of becoming independent. The importance of being a good parent stresses Christopher’s betrayal to his parents and how his parents still provide him with his necessities. Having courage is Christopher’s journey to strive above his insecurities and his journey to finding his role in life. Christopher’s struggles of independence show how he journeyed from living in fear to his dominance over his faults.

One of the major themes portrayed in this novel by Mark Haddon is how Christopher strives to become more independent. From a young age, Christopher’s medical

diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome has inhibited him from becoming as independent as he needed to be. We see at the beginning that Christopher is unsure of himself and is unable to communicate with most people. After Christopher embarks to find the killer of Wellington, we see him gain the independence to strive a life against his father’s word and embrace the teenage mutiny against authority. The trip Christopher took to London was a drastic leap toward self security. Previously, Christopher lived in fear of the world and his anthropophobia. The trip epitomizes everything he lives in fear of such as social interactions, navigating through new environments, and feeling overloaded with information. His endurance through this independent trip proved his dominance over his diagnosis. Lastly, taking his A level maths exam took him to full independence. This was a decision to put forward the conventional desires. This would commence his new life at college and living by himself. We can tell by reading this novel Christopher has driven to conquer his insecurities and reach full independence.

Another major theme in the novel is the importance of having courage. Christopher needs courage to be able to get to his destination alone.
Christopher strikes out on his own and boards a train to London to live with his mother and her boyfriend. This trip serves as Christopher’s biggest challenge yet. It epitomizes everything that Christopher doesn’t like: Busloads of people, loud noises, everyone talking at once, and new environments that he has never seen or been to before.