The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon's novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery narrated from a first person perspective of a fifteen year old boy with aspergers named Christopher Boone. Throughout the book, Haddon is constantly providing the audience with the experience of Christopher's day-to-day life not understanding the norms of society.
In, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, some main themes Haddon focuses on are truth, safety and love. These are immensely important to Christopher because they build a relationship and as the author states in the novel…”I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It’s because I can’t tell lies”. (Haddon 19). When Christopher claims he can’t tell lies, he says it’s because they’re illogical and don’t make any sense as they’re made-up. Haddon shows Christopher importance and interest in relationships when father says…”You have to learn to trust me… and I don’t care how long it takes…”(Haddon 218). Ed (Christopher's father) says this after Christopher had found out his father was Wellington's murderer.
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Shears (Wellington’s owner). Ed loathed Mr. Shears as Mr. Shears was the reason for mother leaving Christopher and Ed. Mother wrote letters saying… ”I was not a very good mother Christopher”(Judy 106). It isn’t a secret that Christopher's mother feels terrible about the situation as this isn't the first letter. Judy loves Christopher but has a tough time with him because of her patience as she explains in the same letter…”I’m not like your father. Your father is a much more patient person”(Judy
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.
Christopher has think idea about his mom that he finds out shortly in the story that wasn 't true. He has the idea that his mother is dead and died in the hospital from being sick. He doesn 't think much about this, he doesn 't really seem concerned or really even sad. Later on he finds out that his mother and his neighbors husband had an affair and that she didn 't die she just left his father. when he find out about this he still doesn 't think much of the emotional part of what 's going on, he just wants to figure out the mystery of who killed wellington.
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.
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
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.
When Christopher finds out about the lies, his mood changes to regret. Christopher's mother hits Christopher’s father in a heat of the moment argument, she is angry with him. She finds regret when she finds out how Christophers father lied to Christopher about her being dead.
Christopher “[does not] tell lies” (Haddon 19) and his mother tells him it’s because he was a good person. Christopher was never able to lie in his life for specific reasons. Although he admits that he white lies, he says that white lying is inevitable. Christopher avoids lying to
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.
Though, when the killing of the neighbour's dog, Wellington occurs, Christopher's carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher's father, Ed Boone's temper is proven to have caused him to murder the dog and also lie to his son about his mother. When Ed confesses his crimes to Christopher, he refers to his temper metaphorically as "when that red mist comes down …". Haddon's realistic portrayal of family is shown to be destroyed as Ed's temper is what is undoing his relationship with Christopher. Haddon’s portrayal of Ed Boone allows him to represent interesting ideas about the family unit.
The characterization of Christopher is seen when he states: “Then I stopped reading the letter because I felt sick. Mother had not had a heart attack… And father had lied about this” (Haddon 112). In this scene, Christopher’s trust in his father is broken as he finds out his father lied about his mother's death, which causes Christopher to feel a wide range of emotions including shock, betrayal, and upsetness. These emotions characterize Christopher because they show how his character has changed over the course of the story from being seen as out of touch with his emotions and insensitive to events that would cause emotional trauma to others.
Christopher grew up without knowing much about the world and life it self. He acts as what many would say a child. This is due to his Aspergers. In the beginning of the novel Christopher explains what he thinks of life.
For example, Christopher remembers when Siobhan tells him "This is what Siobhan says is called a rhetorical question. It has a question mark at the end, but you are not meant to answer it because the person asking it already knows the answer. (Haddon 81) This proves that the things that Siobhan helps him learn helps him in many situations and when to speak and what to say. All of this says how much help Siobhan has been to Christopher and why he does the things he does.
III. b) Opportunities of Skill-Based Learning in the Novel The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time appeals to a wide range of readers. It allows to develop empathy for people who are living with a version of autism.