Similarities Between Fifth Business And The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night

Throughout my reading of the novels of Fifth Business and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, I have been able to analyze many characters and visualize their personalities. The two main characters are Dunstan Ramsay and Christopher John Francis Boone. These two characters portray two similar yet different personalities, since their roles and behaviours change throughout both novels.

Dunstan Ramsay, the main character in Fifth Business, is a small town boy from Deptford, Canada whom we get to see evolve into a grown up man looking for meaning in life. Dunstan has a natural ability to read people upon first or second meeting, but never seems to get a true read on himself. He is relatively successful financially, and is proclaimed

Dunstan respects his mother and sees her as a hard working, determined woman. Despite this, he has no love for her. His mother becomes the caretaker of Mrs. Dempter’s child, Paul. Dunstan described this time as the most joyous of his mother’s life, and the unhappiest of his own. (10)

The most important woman in Dunstan’s life is Mrs. Dempster. This is the pregnant woman hit with the snowball, and she plays a very subtle, yet significant role in the story. Although not responsible, Mrs. Dempster is the reason that Dunstan lives a life full of guilt. She gave birth to her son prematurely. Dunstan believes this to be his own fault and feels responsible. In a sense, she is the creator of the man he grows into.

Near the end of the story Dunstan says he believes traits from childhood still remain as a person grows older. (228) His guilt continues to follow him everywhere he goes, and influences the way he sees himself and others. Dunstan is constantly fulfilling his characterization of fifth business, which was given to him by Liesl. He never finds a woman he considers to be his other half, and never seems to believe he will. His guilt often gives him a sense of self-hatred, although he never seems to be able to consciously admit to

He is a 15-year-old boy, but there is something special about him.

‘’My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,507.’’ (3) This is how Christopher introduces himself. The way he says this, it's almost as if the things he knows are as important as his name, as if they are part of his identity.

Although Christopher does not mention autism by name anywhere in the novel, I believe that he recognizes the ways he differs from most people and he is aware of these differences. He says, for instance, that although most people enjoy chatting, he hates it because he finds it pointless. Christopher has trouble relating to others, and he really can't understand people's thoughts and feelings. It's hard for other people to have a normal conversation with him because they have to be careful of what they say. Christopher doesn't understand sarcasm or metaphors, and he can't read people's facial