Mark Haddon's 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 crime fiction bildungsroman novel which distinctively portrays intriguing ideas about the nature of choice through the unique voice of the fifteen year old protagonist, Christopher Boone. Haddon is influenced by earlier work with his children with Asperger's syndrome which allows him to successfully portray Christopher’s full perspective. Haddon’s peculiar choice of Christopher's characterisation that uses prime numbers as chapters, diagrams and specific language devices all facilitate and shape meaning in the apparent themes of; order and disorder, isolation and motif of trust within relationships.

Christopher is characterised as a very isolated figure, it is the

The difficulties of daily life with Christopher push both Judy, his mother and Ed, his father to their limits. Judy wishes to be a good mother to Christopher but is defeated by his behaviour as demonstrated in chapter 157, “I was not a very good mother, Christopher. Maybe if things had been different, maybe if you had been different, I might have been better at it.” The low modality and partial repetition in her fragmented sentences provides insight into her feeling of inadequacy to be a mother to Christopher and allows the responder to feel pathos for Christopher's father. “Christopher let me hold your hand. Just for once. Just for me. Will you? I won’t hold it too hard’ and she held out her hand and i said ‘I don’t like people holding my hand.” The short fragmented sentences and repetition of the motif of ‘touch’ demonstrates that Judy’s need for touch. Christopher's rejection of touch expresses the conflicting understanding of relationships and reflects his inability to change even when others require it from him. Contrastingly, in chapter 137 “And then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out like a fan, and I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out like a fan and we made our fingers and our thumbs touch” Christopher meticulous detail of the significance of him and his father's touch, is symbolic for connection it also provides insight into the patience of his father, although he might not always present to the responders that way. It also encompasses his understanding and acceptance of Christopher's peculiar choices. It is through Christopher’s unique complexities that responders come to understand the demanding choice to raise a child with