Mark Haddon, In his book The Curious Incident... uses the character Christopher Boone in order to better portray the theme of the story. The theme of this novel revolves around trusting in family. The breakup of trust in the family begins when the father of Christopher snaps at him, saying, "Holy f*cking Jesus, Christopher. How stupid are you?"(pg. 81). This sudden lash out at Christopher begins to have him realise that he is losing trust in his own dad. Once Christopher finds out that his dad was the one that killed the dog, he wonders what else his father was hiding. At this point in the story Christopher has lost all trust in his father and even goes as far as to say "I don't want to talk to Father anymore. (pg. 218). Once Christopher's
But it was showed that his relationship with his parental figures was not ideal and he refuses any gifts from them and then randomly disappears which apparently doesn't worry his parents. But maybe he was selfish for disobeying his parents' feelings to shower their son with love, maybe Chris was trying to show his parents that he could be independent on his own. One of the reasons why he didn't keep contact with his parents or the people he met on the way of his personal adventure was because he was afraid of their disapproval. In the epilogue, it stated that his parent really did care about him and it showed their friend when they were on the bus realizing their son was dead. The three people he befriended was Jan Burress, Ronald Franz, and Wayne Westerberg, they offered him help but he denied every offer they had.
which unfortunately led him to reject and avoid any type of close relationships that he had made on his journey as Christopher did not want them to interfere with his decision to travel to Alaska on his own terms, as well as becoming completely concerned for his safety and welfare, which he almost failed to do so when he met an older man named Ron who deeply cared and loved Chrisopher as he wanted to adopt him into his family. Along the way Christopher starts to show his hatred towards authority as he goes on and shows multiple ways on how he avoided having to follow the law by breaking a lot of safety awareness laws which makes him an idiot as he risked his entire life and made it very difficult for others to come to his aid incase of an
That started the summer he graduated from high school. His parents explained, “He could be generous and caring to a fault, but he had a darker side as well, characterized by monomania, impatience, and unwavering self-absorption, qualities that seemed to intensify through his college years (120).” The event that created Christopher to become more isolated was the father keeping a secret of having another family. After finding out about his father secret family Christopher started containing a dark side that wanted no part of human contact. He wanted ultimate freedom from individuals and society that led him not wanting to have any long-term intimacy relationships with the individuals he met throughout his journey.
The quote also shows that his father is not going to let people marginalize or walk all over Christopher. “I want to see my son,” and “ why the hell is he locked up?” and “ of course, I'm bloody angry.” ( Haddon 16) this is another example of how Christopher's father Ed Boone Wanted to help and be a good parent for Christopher by being there for him when he was at the police station instead of yelling at Christopher or Blaming him for getting put in a holding cell for punching an officer. This shows how, even though Ed Boone did many things that would be considered things that a bad person
Raising a child like Christopher is very difficult. Christopher often disappears in the middle of the night to go out for walks and quickly becomes overwhelmed in new environments. For the better well-being of Christopher, Ed tends to be very overprotective of him. An example of this is shown when Christopher wants to do detective work to find out who killed Wellington. This idea suggests that Christopher has to talk to strangers which he is not comfortable with.
Mental Disorders, do not only affect the victim but also the people surrounding them. Throughout the novel Christopher Boone displays how he yearns for his own independency which is not offered to him because of his father’s over-protectiveness and the notice of his Asperger syndrome. Though as time passes, the protagonist continues to show his desire by doing many actions such as
Self) to develop the coming-of-age theme to explain how Christopher becomes more independent as the novel continues. For example, when he plans on living with his mother when he thinks his father will kill him. “I looked up and saw him staring through the bars at me. I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington.
Christopher’s parents, Ed Boone and Judy Boone, are very important people in Christopher’s life, as well as important characters in this novel. They play a big part in his life, he wouldn’t be the kind of person he is without their constant lectures and care that they provide. Both, the mother and the father, love and care for Christopher. “She had sent me lots of love and had my Get Well card on the table beside her bed.” Before his mother passed away, and even during her slow death, Judy continued to send love to her son.
The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time distinguishes Christopher’s independence and autarchy by portraying Christopher communicating with individuals who made him apprehensive in the beginning of the novel, controlling his behaviour and lack of emotion in public, and his vast improvement of having certainty towards others. Mark Haddon, the novelist of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is characterizing the liberation of young Christopher Boone with situations he feels nervous with, which is teaching readers that taking risks that you may be uncomfortable with will eventually lead to one’s happiness and
One of these are the reveal that Christopher’s mother was alive for the last two years. With this knowledge, Christopher goes to London and rekindle the relationships with his parents, resulting in a better life. All things considered, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is not just a simple murder mystery novel, but a book about the fears of everyday people, which when confronted with courage, can end with success. When confronted with the murder of Wellington, Christopher begins to start to overcome his social disability by trying to solve it. Due to his love of dogs, something he is passionate about, Christopher
In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, the protagonist, Christopher Boone is a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in a small town called Swindon, England with his father. He is mathematically and logically gifted but struggles to interact with people. He can only express himself in a simple and straightforward way and cannot understand any kind of social cue, like facial expressions, metaphors, and jokes. As he discovers the death of his neighbor’s dog and learns his mother is still alive, he experiences a series of challenges that he could never have imagined. In order to grow up, Christopher needs to learn how to interact with people more effectively.
Chris and his father never really got along. A man, a son, should always have his father there for him and talk to him, not be abusive towards him; this could have been a significant reason why he did what he wanted to do. On pg.6, in talking with Jim Gallian, Chris told him “he hadn't
When Christopher finds out that his father killed Wellington and hid the truth about his mom, Christopher's conscience tells him that he must leave to live with his mother. "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 said, "Trust me," because he had told a lie about a big thing" (122 Haddon). This quote is significant because it shows that Christopher's journey begins as a result of a traumatic experience.
He causes Christopher to act secretively, as he does not explain what was wrong in the situation. This happened when Christopher was inquiring about Wellington- his father responds by telling him to ‘Not go around sticking your ******* nose in other people’s business’ (82), but not fully elaborating on how so. This leaves Christopher to try testing a gray area, especially since he is autistic and will take everything in a literal manner.
Christopher was already aware that his mother had left and had been struggling with the emotional consequences of her absence. Lying to him only served to further confuse and distress him, as he struggled to reconcile the lie with his own experiences. Moreover, Christopher's father's lie was motivated by his own self-interest. He lied to protect himself from Christopher's rejection and to avoid having to face the difficult emotions associated with his wife's abandonment.