Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Essay

Affects of Autism on family relations in the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a “murder mystery” about an autistic, fifteen year old boy named Christopher and his journey as he investigates the murder of his neighbour’s dog. Yet instead, he uncovers the truth about his family and his “dead” mother. By being a child with autism, Christopher struggles to have sustainable relationships with his family. While he keeps a relatively good relationship with his father, it deteriorates to very low terms. His relationship with his mother on the other hand, is plainly uneasy with intense arguments on

While they can typically maintain a good relationship, it unravels to the point that they end up in physical fights or to the point that Cristopher runs away from home. For example, Christopher refuses to eat the meals that his mother makes him. So, his father takes his wishes into consideration and suggests making him a strawberry milkshake instead (108). This is one of the many ways that Mr. Boone accommodates Christopher, putting his child's needs before his owns. However, the good in their relationship can’t completely outweigh the bad. For example, Christopher and his father get into a physical fight when Mr. Boone finds out that Christopher has been trying to deduce who the murderer of Wellington was, even though it was clear that he was not to (81-82). Later on when Christopher finds out that his father was the one who had killed Wellington, he comes to the conclusion that if his father murdered the dog, then he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him too, making him run away from home. Mr. Boone’s patience can only go so far before he loses his rag while Christopher has a hard time understanding his father’s reasons and solves these issues by shutting him