The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon is a mystery novel from the perspective of a boy named Christopher who has Asperger’s syndrome. One day, he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington dead. He goes on a search to unlock the mystery of who killed the murderer. In his search, he uncovers letters from his mother, who his father lied to him about for two years, stating that she is dead from a heart attack. In reality, his mother ran off with their neighbor, Mr. Shears, years ago and Christopher is shocked. His father realizes that Christopher discovered the truth, and so he proceeds to tell Christopher that he killed Wellington, and in fear, Christopher goes to find his In the beginning of the story, Christopher listens to what his father tells him to do. He never questions him, but rather he listens and abides to his father orders him to do. His father scolds him and orders him to stop uncovering the mystery.“The next day at school I told Siobhan that Father had told I couldn’t do any more detecting which meant that the book was finished.” (page 52) Christopher does not ask his father any questions to why he can not continue his book, but he just listens and stops immediately. However, he becomes more independent when he makes the decision to rebel and continue investigating. He talks to Mrs. Alexander, his neighbor, asking about Mr. Shears hoping that it would lead him closer to finding out the murderer of Wellington. He lets his friend, Siobhan read his book, after he writes this encounter with her, and she asks, “‘Have you told your father about this?’ And I replied, ‘No.’ And she said, “Are you going to tell your father about this?’ And I replied, ‘No.’” (page 75) Christopher now holds his detective work secret, apart from his dad knowing that he would get in a lot of trouble if his dad finds out. He rebels against his father secretly, still trying to uncover the truth even though his father warns him not to. Christopher also grows in his independence when he goes to his mother, and travels long distance all by himself without his father’s help. He is in control of his own life, and his father no longer guides him, but he monitors his own decisions. By defying his father’s commands, he ultimately unlocks the mystery of his Wellington’s death and he is more confident as an individual. He says, “...I will become a scientist. And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.”
is a murderer. When this occurs, Christopher begins to feel afraid, the only emotion he is capable of experiencing.
Christopher abnormally obsesses over everything in his life. This is due to his severe OCD, which he struggles with throughout the novel. Likewise, Christopher’s OCD is depicted as a reaction to the lack of control over his environment. He copes with situations he cannot control by looking for various details within his life that bring him peace-of-mind him. For instance, before the policemen arrive at the crime scene of the murder of the Poodle, he felt tense and anxious caused by Mrs. Shears’s neurotic behavior in reaction to viewing Christopher peer over her dead dog. Later, when the police arrive to investigate the crime scene, Christopher feels a surge of comfort because the policeman is a representation (in Christopher’s mind) of order. When the police arrived Christopher thought: “Then the police arrived. I like the police. They have uniforms and
When Christopher finds Wellington dead on Mrs. Shears’ front lawn, he picks up the dog and strokes it. Christopher is determine to find out who killed Wellington because he likes dogs. Father tells Christopher to leave the dog alone and do not poke into other people’s business. But Christopher has to find out who killed him, thus he decides not to listen to father and go find out and investigate Wellington’s murder. Christopher’s courage began to show when one Saturday, he decides to go around his block and ask questions. Christopher does not like to be around people he does not know and he is scared of some of the people on his block, but he faces his fears--not out of fear, but because he knew it was something he had to do. Christopher mentions that talking to people on his block was brave. He knows what courage is and he knows that he has to be brave. Notice how Ch...
But to Christopher, it’s a different story. He applies the logic in response to the problem because to him, "logic can help you work out the right answer" (30). The readers apprehend the reason his father has to lie to him, but Christopher doesn't. Because of this, Christopher's characteristics and his lack of understanding other's emotions is highlighted.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is told through the eyes of a fifteen year old boy named Christopher Boone. Christopher has a highly-functioning form of autism which allows him to understand complex mathematical problems, but also leaves him unable to comprehend many simple human emotions. His inability to understand metaphors, distinguish emotions, and his lack of imagination makes it possible to consider Christopher as functioning like a computer rather than functioning as a human being. Throughout the story, Christopher is faced with many challenges which he conquers using the stable and never changing system of mathematics. All of these factors suggest that Christopher does, in fact, function like a computer, but it is apparent early in the story that Christopher, regardless of anything else, is capable of independent thought which separates him from the programmed, dependent world of computers.
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.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time exhibits real life situations experienced by an autistic, 15-year-old boy, from his own panorama. Christopher’s use of first person perspective ensures that his view on events are explained with accurate, detailed description, enhancing the responders understanding of how the mind of one with Asperger’s syndrome functions. This concept is elaborated on in Christopher’s struggle to become independent as the responder is able to grasp Christopher’s defensive mechanisms to dealing with stressful situations. Christopher narration “so I groaned to make the time pass quicker and not think” during a fit where his tendency to shut down and curl himself into a ball is essentially revealed substantiates his struggle to become independent as his
He wants to achieve his goals and let nothing stand in his way when he does. In addition to Christopher's persistence inside the classroom, he also kept on with the investigation despite what his father said. After Christopher discovers the letters from his mom, he does not quite understand what it means because he believes his mom to be dead. But his father tells him not to look through the letters anymore and puts them in a cupboard in his room. "It was six days before I could go back into Father's room to look in the shirt box in the cupboard ." (102) Even though Christopher's father tells him to leave the letters alone, he directly disobeys him to look for the truth within the letters. With his persistence he builds up enough courage to go into the letters and find out the truth about his mother. Because of this he finds the truth and finds his mother in London. Through Christopher's persistence he disobeys his father to find the letters and find out what he has been hiding from
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
Relationships can only survive through adapting to constant change. Without that aspect, they would not last. In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a boy with Aspergers goes through life surrounded by mystery, dishonesty, and dysfunctionality. Because of this, secrets are revealed, relationships are changed, and the connection between family is brought into a new light. Through these events, the boy and his family discover and rediscover their ties with each other. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the author demonstrates that the ability to adapt and change is the most essential characteristic in life because it strengthens relationships, as illustrated through Christopher, his mother
Nothing hurts more than being betrayed by a loved one, Christopher’s father has no trust in Christopher and tells him that his “Mother died 2 years ago”(22) and Christopher thinks his mother died of a heart attack. When Christopher finds out his father lied, he runs away to live with his mother and his father despritally looks for him and while looking for him realizes the importance of telling the truth. When someone betrays one’s trust, they can feel morally violated. Once Christopher finds his mother, she begins to realize how unfit her living conditions are for Christopher and brings him back to his father, bring him “[..] home in Swindon”(207) Christopher feels incredibly hurt and distressed he does not want to see his father. Whether a relationship can be repaired depends entirely on whether trust can or cannot be restored. Christopher’s father works very hard to regain his trust, he tells his son “[..] I don’t know about you, but this...this just hurts too much”, Christopher’s father is dealing with the result of being dishonest with his son and himself.
“Children with autism are colorful, they are often very beautiful and like the rainbow they stand out”-Adele Devine. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, follows a short, yet crucial journey in a 15-year-old boy’s life: Christopher Boone. Christopher is an adolescent dealing with the neurological disability of Asperger’s, and his goal is to fit in with the people around him. The events in this piece of literature follow the death of Christopher’s neighbor’s dog: Wellington. In Haddon’s novel, Christopher has made significant development in the way he presents and handles himself in a variety of situations. There were many characters that played a significant role in Chris’ change; however, the contributions he
The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, is about a young boy around 15 years old with an mental illness, his name is Christopher. Christopher is a kid that issues in his life. He starts out in the setting of finding a dead dog in his neighbor’s yard and leading to finding out more about the lies in his family in the end. He is incredibly smart, but he doesn’t always know how to interact with others. He has a difficult time understanding people’s emotions and faces they make. There are other main characters besides Christopher, like his mother, father, and the police officers. He has a hard time meeting new people because he is not used to them and he gets nervous around them, but slowly he realizes how he has to get over the bumps of meeting new people. He developed personally
In conclusion, the most evident theme in this story is that everyone have problems mentally, that they need to overcome. Christopher, the mother, and the father are examples supporting this theme. Although, Christopher finds it difficult to recognize emotions, follow instructions, talk to strangers etc. he tries hard to overcome it. His behavioral problems, and care for others has improved over time proving that overtime his problems can be fixed. Ed Boone, the father has problem managing his emotions and often gets out of control but tries to control them for his son's sake. The mother, Judy Boone, faces problems with impatience but after parting with Christopher, shows significant improvement in her patience levels. Overall, no matter how bad a psychological problem is, there is always a way out if given time.
Christopher’s communications was quite precise, which let the reader understand the text in more depth which made it easier, yet if the book were written in third person the reader would not have understood the social interactions projected. A piece of communication that was in depth was when Christopher got taken to jail. Christopher then listed what he had in his pockets (For Example)