The Dog In The Night-Time Analysis

“It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a child with autism to raise the consciousness of the village,” (Elaine Hall) describes what occurs in Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time where Christopher Boone, the main character who is affected by a mild form of autism, goes on an adventure to discover who murdered Mrs. Shear’s [his neighbor's] dog, Wellington. This event serves as the catalyst that allows Christopher to embark on an adventure where he discovers many truths and gains more independence than he had before. Since the novel is written in Chris’ perspective, it soon becomes more based on character development rather than the plot due to the fact, he discovers more about himself rather than the death of Wellington. Nonetheless, the plot develops in an unexpected way when the focal point shifts from the death of Wellington to the discovery the fact is mother is not dead, unlike what his father told him. The author, Mark Haddon, develops the plot through Christopher’s discoveries which is seen through the letters he finds written by his mother, whom he had thought was dead and when he runs away to London to escape his father’s grasps occurs in the novel.

The novel focuses heavily on Chris’ development which is essential to the plot development since it’s been written in his perspective, Also, the novel is

truly his adventure to find the answer of who murdered his neighbor’s dog, Wellington. At first, he is an extreme germaphobe who refuses to be in extremely crowded areas.
“The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet.
I didn’t like him touching me like this.
And this is when I hit him.” (Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time, pg 8)
This occurs when the police find Chris holding the newly dead dog in his arms.

With suspicion, the policeman questions Chris; but as his brain is bombarded with information, he groans and lays on the ground. Afterwards, Chris is arrested for assaulting a police officer. This represents his state in the beginning of the novel; socially inept and incapable of understanding the situation. Although his condition doesn’t heavily change in the present, he explores more outside of his comfort zone and becomes more self-ruling. This is shown when Chris explores the train station in a desperate attempt to escape his

father.
“There were lots of people on the train, and I didn’t like that, because I don’t like lots of people I don’t know and I hate it even more if I am stuck in a room with lots of people I don’t know, and a train is like a room and you can’t get it out of it when it’s moving… So I stood very still in the train carriage and didn’t move.” (Haddon, The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-time, pg 158)
This represents Chris breaking out of his shell, and asserting his confidence despite being in an area that makes him uncomfortable. It mentions earlier that when Chris was placed in a car with two students that he didn’t know, so he jumped out of the car. This shows his development along with the plot, because in the attempt to ascertain the cause of Wellington’s death, he arrives to the conclusion that it was his father who killed him. Feeling uncomfortable by his father’s presence while holding the fear that his father would kill him next, he leaves to find his newly rediscovered mother.
“And I [Chris] said,” Father said you were dead.”
And she [Mother] said, “What?”
And I said,” He said you went into the hospital because you had something wrong with your heart. And then you had a heart attack and died and he kept all the letters in a shirt box in the cupboard in his bedroom and I found them because I was looking for a book I was writing about Wellington being killed and he’s taken it away from me and hidden it in the shirt box.
And then Mother said,” Oh my God.” (Haddon, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, pg 192)
This occurs after Chris reunites with his mother and she questions why he never replied to the 43 letters that she sent. Due to the investigation of Wellington’s death, Chris uncovers a multitude of secrets such as his living mother, which breaks the trust between Chris and his father. This proves further of the tangled plot hidden by Wellington’s demise. The plot moves in an orderly fashion with Chris’ timetables and routines, before there’s the disruption of Wellington’s passing, and as he tries to find order again, it’s once again disrupted. Then the reestablishment of a new order follows in the end, once Chris’ mother leaves her new husband.