Dog In The Night-Time Theme

In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, written by Mark Haddon, has a main theme of independence. The theme of independence is shown through the main character Christopher John Francis Boone throughout a major portion of the novel. Christopher is a child who has learning difficulties and special needs and struggles in many social aspects of life but in mathematics. As the novel progresses the reader learns of life changing events that have occurred to Christopher that makes him want to gain his own independence. But what Christopher didn’t know was that there would be struggles along his journey that would jeopardize his independence.

As the book progresses so does Christopher’s want for his independence. In the beginning

of the novel Christopher, was reliant on the care of his father for a majority of his life. In time Christopher discovers that his mother is actually alive and that his father had killed his Mrs. Shears dog, Wellington. After Christopher discovers these events he decides that he has to leave home and find his mother who lives in London, because he fears that his father might hurt him just as he had hurt Wellington.
Christopher’s independence is so important to him that he is willing to give up his current life and go al the way to London to find his mom. Christopher is willing to face his fears of being around strangers and being in places unfamiliar to him so that he can accomplish his goals. He went to great lengths to make sure he would be able to be independent while he could find his mother. Christopher packed his bag full of all the things he would need. He packed the foods he liked, and extra jacket, he brought his pet rat toby and packed the rat food pellets, and most importantly he stole his father’s ATM card so that he could pay for a train ticket.
At points in the novel it seemed as if Christopher’s journey and independence would come to a crashing halt.

One of Christopher’s fears was being in unfamiliar areas, which the train station was, and Christopher didn’t know how the whole ticket buying process worked. He just sat in the least crowded area for hours until a policeman came and helped Christopher buy a train ticket. When he got on the train, the police officer came back now knowing that Christopher had ran away and was going to take him to his father. Christopher knew that he would have to get away from the police officer to get to his mother so he hid on the train. He then had to continue the rest of his trip without the supplies he had brought with him in his bag. When I London Christopher was so mentally exhausted that he could barely think, and he sat in the subway station for hours until finally he managed to ask how to get to his mothers apartment. Once he arrived at his mother’s house and his life became more stable Christopher realized that he might have to mist his A level math test because he was in London with his mother.

In the end of the novel Christopher did make it to London to find his mother, he got an A+ on his A level math test, and he solved the mystery of who killed Wellington all on his own. It would take a child who was Christopher’s age an extremely large amount of independence and bravery to complete tasks like these. With the theme being independence one may find that a message that the

author is trying to say is that anyone can achieve their goals when they have independence and put their mind to it, but it cannot hurt to occasionally receive help, as no one person is truly independent.