The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time is structured unlike any other of this epoch. The novel opens with a murder, but not a murder of a human, the murder of a dog, very similar to the narrator’s favorite book The Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This book shows how one event can change a life and by finding this deceased dog, Christopher unknowingly altered his life and those lives close to him forever.
Christopher begins to take on the persona of an investigator throughout the book. He starts searching for clues to find who killed the dog and what their motives are. By pursuing this line of inquiry Christopher finds out an immense amount of information kept secret from him by his father. While investigating the murder it is uncovered that Christopher’s mother, Judy, is not dead like his father had said. In reality his mother ran away with their neighbor Mr. Shears and began a new life in London. His mother wrote to him constantly and the secretive nature of his father causes distress. After the discovery of his mother’s continual existence Christopher’s father quickly becomes the antagonist of the book. From there on out Christopher sees him as a villain

and begins to finally form an opinion about his father.
Another reason that aided in the villainous view on Christopher’s father is the killing of the dog.

After Judy and Mr. Sheers ran away together to London, the lonely Mrs. Shears and Ed Boone tried to spark a secret romance. After Mrs. Shears said that the relationship was not going to work out Mr. Boone found himself extremely angry with her and murdered her dog. Christopher loves dogs for their loyalty so when he finally deduces that his father is the murderer, Christopher is extremely enraged. This causes him to move to London with his mother and leave the father he hated completely alone. It is not until the end of the book that he finally forgives his father after he apologizes and gets him a dog of his own, “Christopher, I would never, ever do anything to hurt you"

(233.155).
Throughout the progression of the novel the protagonist unknowingly matures a great amount. In the late parts of the book it becomes obvious to the audience that Christopher is learning to rely on himself more than others much like a young adult should. This growth shows that anything is possible for Christopher in the future, whereas at the outset of the book the readers believe Christopher is already fulfilling his full potential.
Then, when I've got a degree in Maths, or Physics, or Maths and Physics, I will be able to get a job and earn lots of money and I will be able to pay someone who can look after me and cook my meals and wash my clothes, or I will get a lady to marry me and be my wife and she can look after me so I can have company and not be on my own. (71.8).
This quote is just one display of Christopher incalculable maturity throughout the book that changes his life and his parents lives drastically.
By finding the murdered dog on Mrs. Shears front lawn his life was changed infinitely. He discovered so much about his family that without pursuing the murderer he would have never uncovered. From finding out his mother was still alive, his father’s murder of Wellington because of his painful break-up with Mrs. Shears, and his incredible maturity within the book. Christopher and his family’s lives were changed for the better because of the murder of a neighbor's pet dog. The book showed that the pursuit of justice will always allow those in both the right and wrong to have their lives changed everlastingly.