The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time By Mark Haddon

Autism, formally known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a condition that impacts behavioral aspects including communication and social skills. These characteristics vary, and one individual may not display the same signs as another. While autism can permit several struggles daily, like difficulties forming relationships and expressing themselves, it can also provide a complex understanding of the world around them. They possess incredible abilities that no other can do. In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, young Christopher Boone is determined to solve the murder mystery of his neighbor’s dog. He thrives even with the downfalls of autism. He manages to navigate himself throughout the entire city

After finding out that his mother left his father for another man, he reminisces on his memories of young Mrs. Boone. He discusses how his memory is most similar to a DVD player because he can skip from one image to another in one swift thought. Christopher lists, “We were on holiday in Cornwall and in the afternoon we were on the beach…Mother was wearing a pair of shorts made out of denim and a light blue bikini top and was smoking cigarettes..” (Haddon 77) Christopher can pick apart anything that has ever occurred in his life. He remembers the exact setting, date, and time. He can actively recall all of his senses in the moment including sight and smell. For any other person, it would be difficult for one to recognize all details of one event, especially from such an early age. A few weeks later, Mr. Boone confesses to murdering the dog, Wellington, and lying about Mrs.Boone’s sudden death. He decides that he couldn’t live with him anymore, so he departs to find his mother. Christopher tries to find the nearest train station. He explains, “If something is nearby you can find it by moving in a spiral, walking clockwise and taking every right turn until you come back to the road you’ve already walked on…and so on, like this..” (Haddon 139) Using his memory he can visualize a pathway of directions. Christopher can get himself to his next destination even if he’s lost. He draws a visual map of where he walked past in his

On his journey to his mother, Christopher buys a ticket and boards his train to London. As he waits, he is burdened with tons of signs, all with various symbols, words, and fonts. He notes each phrase and admits that they became blurred and jumbled. He reports, “There were too many and my brain wasn’t working properly and this frightened me so I closed my eyes and counted slowly to 50…” (Haddon 170) Christopher’s senses have become overstimulated. When this happens, it becomes almost unfeasible to think and stand to be in the same room. He can read all of the information and it piles up all at once. For him, it feels like the signs are being thrown into his mind simultaneously. Consequently, he becomes engulfed in the large sounds of the train station. As he sits on a bench, Christopher eventually grows more stressed and anxious in a chaotic environment to his senses. He blurted, “…the roaring got louder and I groaned loudly but I couldn’t block it out..I thought the little station was going to collapse..” (Haddon 176) The sounds of the train moving only were heightened as he focused too much on them. The projection of sounds felt as if it were being blasted into his thoughts. These aspects of Christopher’s autism could affect what places he can and cannot tolerate. He would struggle with public areas that are inevitable to an unpredictable atmosphere at any given time. It would ultimately control his