The Theme Of Illusion In The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night

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In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Time, Mark Haddon displays great instances of illusions that influence Christopher’s understanding of his surroundings. The novel describes about Christopher’s investigation of Wellington’s death after the moment that Christopher finds Wellington’s body in Mrs. Shear’s property. However, Christopher’s father becomes disappointed when Christopher talks about Wellington’s investigation. Christopher was not aware that his father was responsible for Wellington’s murder, but he developed a reasoning that his father could kill him after finding that he killed Wellington. He cannot distinguish between realities and illusions, so he would believe his father when he said that Christopher’s mother, Mrs.Boone, passed away. In the novel, the theme of reality vs. illusion is developed through the various obstacles the protagonist must conquer: reinforcing the idea that autistic children can persevere in any situation.

Christopher is not aware of the fact that his dad killed Wellington even though Christopher was continually investigating Wellington’s death. For instance, Christopher was …show more content…

Christopher’s perseverance in illusions was caused by the fact that his father lied to him about his mother’s death and Christopher’s literal logic. Christopher’s father made many lies to hide that fact that he was Wellington’s murderer, so Christopher became scared of his father as he felt that he could become his murder victim. Christopher is not able to understand people and distinguish whether they are telling a fact or an exaggeration, so he is not able to differentiate between illusions and real truths. In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Time, Mark Haddon implies that illusions are taken as reality in an autistic person’s point of