The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Character Analysis

Development of Christopher
Developing from a child to a teenager means reaching for an understanding of things. This is where they become more mature and when new character traits are developed. People change each time as they progress when they move on or learn a lesson in life. In each novel there is always a person who gains new character traits. The novel " The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time" by Mark Haddon also has a main character whose traits develop as the story moves on. The main character "Christopher Boone" converts into a thoughtful, independent, and courageous teenager.
In the first place, Christopher becomes very thoughtful as he faces obstacles throughout the novel. There are various parts of the story where

Christopher appears to be very thoughtful. One part in the novel he thinks about escaping the house " I had to get out of the house, Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me because I couldn't trust him, even though he had said 'Trust me' because he had told a lie about a big thing" (Haddon 122). This is spoken by Christopher when he finds out that his father murdered the dog wellington. He is now in a position where he could not trust his own father for being mysterious and not telling that he killed Wellington. Anyone in this situation does not feel safe when they know the person is a murderer. Christopher left with no choice but to leave of the house which he put a lot of thought into. He is very innocent and a thought came into his mind of what if father kills him,
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after this thought he plans to stay away from the house. He feels that anything can be expected from father which can be dangerous. Christopher is also thoughtful of making a decision to live somewhere where he can feel safe as he says " And then I thought that I could go and live with mother because she was my family and I knew where she lived because I could remember the address from the letters, [...]" (Haddon,129). Christopher takes each step very carefully as he is in a very tough situation where he could not share the same roof with his father anymore. He decides to go live with his mother as he knew it would be safer. It is very thoughtful of him because he still trusts mother for telling the truth by sending those letters. To sum up, Christopher became very thoughtful as he carefully leaves the house for his own safety and to go live with his mother.
Secondly, he has become more independent as he faces some obstacles in his life.

After certain events that occur he begins to become more independent as he does not need help from anyone for handling his personal problem. He smartly found a way to solve a situation as he states "I took both my coats and my scarf from the hooks next to the front door and I put them all on because it would be cold outside at night. [...] I went into my room and I picked up Toby's cage. [...] Then I carried him downstairs again. [...] I went into the kitchen and I picked up my special food box" (Haddon 123-124). Christopher became independent as he did not depend on others for helping him out where as before he depended on his father most of the time. He wore his coat, scarf to not get cold by himself without any advice. Before stepping outside the house he also took his own pet Toby and some food. These are the signs that show him being independent by taking care of his pet and himself. He became even

more
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independent as he took out the money by himself without asking for any help. He states "And I put the cash point card into the machine like father had let me do sometimes when we were shopping together and it said enter your personal number and I typed in 3558 and pressed the Enter button and the machine said Please Enter Amount and there was a choice[...] (Haddon 151). Christopher starts to do certain things by himself like taking out the money. He used the credit card to take out the money from the machine which only an older teen or an adult can do. Christopher being a young teenager proves being mature by using the credit card for his needs. He proves being independent as he does not need any help to take his personal belongings and by taking out the money from the machine by himself.
Thirdly, Christopher becomes very courageous as he changes from a child to a teenager by taking risks in his life. He takes risks as he mentions
I reasoned that father had only made me do a promise about five things,bwhichbwere 1. Not to mention Mr. shears name in our house 2. Not goasking Mrs. Shears about who killed that bloody dog 3. Not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog 4. Not to go trespassing in other people's gardens 5. To stop this ridiculous bloody detective game [...]. And If you are a detective you have to Take risks, and this was a Super Good Day, which meant it was a good day for Taking Risks, so I said, 'Do you know Mr. shears?' which was like chatting (Haddon 56-57).

Father of Christopher roughly denies Christopher to investigate about who killed Wellington. After this Christopher still takes a chance to investigate, where he does not think about how his
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father will react to this.

He remains to do what he wants to do for himself, which is an example of being courageous as he knows his father will not like it and will get angry. Christopher also takes another big risk for his curiosity to go live with mother. He takes a big step by going to London alone " And then I went up to the door and I pressed the big button and the doors slid open and I stepped through the doors. And I was on the train to London" (Haddon 155). Christopher stepped through the doors and went inside the train going to London. It is unbelievable how he is actually going to London all by himself. This is something that an older teen can do, going on a train alone. He finds all the information about London and he has the guts to visit London. He becomes more courageous as he shows he can take big steps to solve problems in his life. He definitely develops from a child to a teenager by taking big risks such as investigating without the permission of his father and going to

London.
In conclusion, the main character Christopher Boone changes his character traits as he becomes thoughtful, independent, and courageous. The novel " The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time" by Mark Haddon changes the character traits of his main character by showing the challenges he faces throughout the story . Christopher faces many obstacles in his life which cause him to become a very thoughtful teenager and this is shown when he leaves the house and goes live with mother. Second, experiencing issues with father and doing things that mature people do causes him to become more independent. Third, taking very big risks like giving father a reason to get angry and going on a train alone causes him to change into a courageous teen. Christopher acts like a child even though he is a teenager, but certain obstacles and events came in the way which changes him a lot. Any person with autism can do a lot once
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the they learn something new or by making mistakes, which causes them to become more mature, just like Christopher.