Influence Of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time delves into the life and mind of Christopher, using several techniques to alter and improve general attitudes, values and beliefs towards people with disabilities or differences. Techniques include, first person narrative style, frustration and isolation within relationships and symbolism.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is narrated by Christopher himself, expressing his perspective, and displaying further insight through the illustration of his logical thought processes. This is evident throughout the novel, but makes a particularly strong impact on the readers understanding of Christopher at the beginning of the book when he explains his difficulty in

This communicates that his mind works differently, and allows for Mark Haddon to continually elaborate on Christopher’s intellectual abilities through further thought processes. Additional evidence of this is found in the quote, “I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk” (pg 4). This reinforces Christopher’s social barriers and dependency on logic. For example, after discovering that his father was guilty of Wellingtons murder, he included a flow chart and series of thoughts which resulted in his decision of traveling to London. Christopher was afraid that his father might harm him. To most people, this would seem an unreasonable as his father had cared and loved him so fiercely and committedly, whilst dealing with copious stresses of parenting a child with behavioural problems his wife leaving him. However, Christopher remained severely frightened of his father, unable to empathise. This gives further insight into his character, illustrating that Christopher considers the murder of Wellington to be equal to, if not worse than that of a human. This alternative portrayal of the world allows

Christopher reasons by saying “I said that I liked things to be in a nice order”, in response to “Mr Jeavons, the psychologist at the school, once asked me why 4 red cars in a row made it a Good Day, and 3 red cars in a row made it a Quite Good Day, and 5 red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day and why 4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day” (pg 31). Christopher uses this logical frame of mind to create order and stability within his life. While he may not understand facial expressions, social conduct or metaphors, logic and reason makes complete sense to him, providing comfort and security inside a world full of things he does not understand. Although his car concept may sound ridiculous to begin with, the explanation and further expansion into his character develops an appreciation for Christopher’s self-constructed rules and regulation to keep himself in a happy and peaceful frame of mind. Ultimately, his calculating approach to life expands on his character, allowing the reader to gain a fuller understanding of him and hence more compassionate