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The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime theme literary analysis
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The world is plagued with an inseparable mix of good and evil. People make mistakes, but often start out with good intentions. Often times actions live in the grey zone, a combination of good intentions but bad outcomes. In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time there are many decisions that could be considered morally ambiguous. The story is told from the perspective of an autistic fifteen-year-old, Christopher Boone, who is investigating the death of his neighbor’s dog. His mother, Judy Boone supposedly died two years back, when in actuality she ran off to London with another man and, in turn, has been shut out of Christopher’s life. His father, Ed Boone hides the truth involving Christopher’s mother, pretending …show more content…
she had died. This decision to lie is an example of moral ambiguity due to a combination of positive motivations designed to protect Christopher that result in negative outcomes. Ed’s decision to lie can be seen as morally ambiguous as it is rooted in the intention of trying to act in his son’s best interest.
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
ambiguous. However, Haddon makes it clear that Ed’s motivation was selfish ergo the evil in the action allows it to be interpreted as morally ambiguous. In her letters, Christopher’s mother explains, “When I rang your father he said I couldn’t come back. He was really angry. He said I couldn’t talk to you . . . He said I was never to set foot inside the house again.” (Haddon 109). Ed tries to punish his wife by blocking her completely out of Christopher’s life. Even the forty-three letters Judy writes are hidden from Christopher, for quite some time. Ed’s motivation is not only to protect Christopher by keeping Judy away from his son, but he is also trying to punish Judy, making his choice to lie to Christopher about her death ambiguous in terms of motivation. Moreover, the outcome of his behavior adds to the grey moral zone surrounding his choices. The breaking of trust between father and son eventually deteriorates their relationship into fear. As Christopher suspects, “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). Christopher, who defines love as honesty, begins to question whether his father really does love him because he is not honest. Trying to correct his mistake, Ed follows his son to London to tell him he is sorry. But their relationship has been broken, so much that when his father “held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan so that I [Christopher] could touch his fingers … I didn’t because I was frightened” (Haddon 197). As the result of fear, Christopher ends up alienated from his father; the morality of the situation is complicated by this awful outcome. Perhaps, Ed did consider the consequences of lying and hoping that it was successful, he took the risk. While he may have had a good motive, he cannot use this to justify the mistake he made, especially as his choice to lie ultimately resulted in more alienation from his son. Life is full of tough choices and many of these choices live in the grey zone between good and evil. Books like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time teach people to distinguish between the good and evil in the real world, and taking a stance on an action’s morality.
In the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, I claim that Ed Boone, Christopher's father, was justified in lying to him about the death of his mother. Despite the fact that he lied to him about something critical, he did so with the best intentions.
The relationship between Christopher and his father is extremely sensitive. One moment Christopher’s father lashes out towards him, and the next moment they visit the zoo together, enjoying each other’s company. Because of the Asperger’s, Christopher prefers to do his own thing without interaction from other people. He especially disgusts anyone telling him what to do. Christopher thinks his father interferes in his life while his father tries to be involved in it as much as possible, causing agony to Christopher. The article The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time states, “Eventually, his father comes to get him, and tells Christopher to not investigate the dog’s death any further.” One could debate that Christopher’s father does
Ed Boone, Christopher’s father, deceives himself in that he embellishes the truth about where his ex-wife truly is. As a result, Ed begins to believe the fabrication himself to make him feel better about her departure from their lives. Self-deception, as used in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, promotes the instability that Christopher encounters after being deceived. According to Paul Ekman in Lying and Deception, “Self-deception presumably occurs when the deceiver does not realize he is misleading himself and does not know his own motive for deceiving himself.” Granted that Ed Boone misleads himself he may not even recognize that he is deceiving himself. Not only did Christopher’s Father create a distortion of the truth to mislead himself, but he also mislead Christopher. Consequently, Christopher believed his mother to be dead, but in reality, she had abandoned them. In Mr. Boone’s account with self-deception, he doesn’t realize that the deception could potentially hurt those he had lied to due to his moral implications fading. According to Ann E. Tenbrunsel in Ethical Fading: The Role of Self-Deception in Unethical Behavior, “We argue that the process of self-deception is at the root of this juncture of disciplines. Self-deception causes the moral implications of a decision to fade, allowing individuals to behave incomprehensibly and, at the same time, not realize that they are
Malcolm Gladwell’s Usage of the Straw Man Method of Persuasion in What the Dog Saw
Christopher is a fifteen-year old boy with Aspergers Autism whose life is full of uncanny surprises. His main focus is on school, and his ability to take the maths A level exams. Unfortunately, that was his focus until he finds Wellington dead on Mrs. Shears’ lawn. Christopher wants to know who killed Wellington and why. He investigates and finds out not only who killed Wellington, but he discovers secrets about his mother and father. In the book “The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time”, the author, Mark Haddon, shows us how courageous Christopher is throughout his journey. According to Aristotle, a man is courageous when he sets himself free from his fears, pain, and poverty instead of running away from it. According to Aristotle’s theory, Christopher profusely shows courage when he investigates Wellington’s murder and travels to London to find his mom.
Whilst the concept of autism and what it means to be autistic is still widely unrecognised by many, Mark Haddon’s use of conventions of prose fiction and language amplifies the distinctive qualities of the text. Haddon exemplifies key themes such as the struggle to become independent, the nature of difference and the disorder of life through the strategic placement of literary devices.
Mark Haddon’s book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime mirrors the idea that trust is the glue that holds relationships together and how a lack of honesty and truth can create barriers between loved ones and shows how being honest can fix these problems. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is a innovative and ground breaking novel that continues to show the understanding of the world by Christopher Boone and his
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
The curious incident of the dog in the night time was narrated in first person by Christopher Boone however If it was narrated in third person the audience would not have understood the way Christopher was feeling. Communication, Social Interactions, Relationship’s and Christopher’s Autism spectrum disorder were some of the main areas expressed in the novel.
Animal spirits are a product of irrational behavior and are a major driving force in the economy. Intuitive then is the notion that animal spirits are also heavily involved in the process of economic boom and bust cycles. This much is straightforward and in reality seems to be the case. Animal spirits, which were initially defined by John Maynard Keynes, characterizes a variety of exogenous variables that could not be accounted for in the mainstream rational economic theories of the time. This definition was later reclassified by Akerlof and Shiller in their title book and provided some of the mechanics behind seemingly irrational behaviors. Akerlof and Shiller described and highlighted five specific features of animal spirits that affect the
He does not judge or give up on Christopher when he is angry. Christopher finds the letters and gets upset, but his dad gives him a bath and puts him to bed. He does not get mad at Christopher, he just supports him. Even though he is misunderstood, he does not let that stop him from being a good parent. Christopher is angry and as a result, Judy thinks that Ed is a bad dad. When in reality, he is a better fit for Christopher because no matter what happened to him, whether it was criticism from Judy or a meltdown from Christopher, he kept a level head. He assessed the situation, then dealt with it in a non-violent, supportive way. Even as Christopher was hitting him because he was angry, he didn't hit back, he just let him get his anger out. He preserves against her judgement and tries to get his son back because he knows he is a better parent for Christopher. His perseverance also shows that he understands Judy’s feelings and he understands why she is angry even though he does not agree. Although he isn't treated fairly, Ed keeps a level head and continues to be a good
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