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Use Of Literary Techniques In The Incident Curious Incident Of The Dog In Nighttime

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Recommended: Literary analysis of the curious incident of the dog in the night time

In the novel, ‘The Incident Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ written by Mark Haddon, the protagonist is a 15-year-old named Christopher Boone who lives with Autism. Detailing from his point of view, Haddon uses different literary devices to explore Christopher’s life challenges and triumphs as he uncovers more about his own life. By writing the novel using a first-person perspective, including many illustrations, and through the use of changes in sentence structures, Haddon explores the complexities of autism in a way that adds understanding of the problems faced by those living with Asperger’s.

To convey to the reader what every individual on the Autism spectrum must deal with, Haddon utilises a first-person perspective. With …show more content…

Though for Christopher’s character, it does more than that. With Christopher’s inability to process and absorb information normally, understanding what he is thinking could be difficult for the readers. Therefore, by giving visual cues in the novel, Haddon effectively gives insight into Christopher’s intriguing mind and how he is able to organise his feelings inside his mind. This is particularly useful when he has to face a big decision but is unsure of how to face it. An example of this would be when Christopher was deciding on where he was going to stay after he ran away from home, “And then I realised that there was nothing I could do which felt safe. And I made a picture of it in my head.” (Chapter 179 p.162) A diagram is then shown underneath with his options of the places he could live in and adds, “And then I imagined crossing out all the possibilities which were impossible… And it was like this.” (Chapter 179 p.162) Haddon proceeds to show the same illustration with all the possibilities crossed out except one, which was to live with his mother. In having Christopher illustrate his thoughts, the reader can experience what is happening inside Christopher’s head and the process he thinks about before he makes a decision on his

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In conclusion, Christopher likes being by himself. Haddon makes us look through Christopher’s eyes in the book. We learn a lot about ourselves because of this. I realized that everyone is different and has a different point of view on everything. In the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time it says “‘Special needs!

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He thought he would of seen joy within this new horizon but all that was seen was his arrogance. Joy was expected in this journey but all that was seen was his mistakes and regrets. Christopher thought climbing the devil’s thumb would get him away from all the wrong that was happening in his life. Soon after, he has learned that starting over has changed almost nothing (Krakauer 155). This evidence shows how he was too self absorbed to realize reality and the consequences for his actions.

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Anoher instance when Haddon's character exhibits this ATL skill was when Christopher goes around to all of his neighbors for hepl and information. Haddon writes, "I decided that I would go and ask some od the other people who live on our street if they had seen anyone killing Wellington or whether they had seen anything strange happening in the street on Thursday night"(Haddon 34). Here christopher is getting a range of perspectives from his neighbors. Throughout the novel Haddon's vharacter grows and evaluates information from a range of sources, and becomes more relaxed. Also, because he is making connections among the sources he is becoming more open to people touching him and his surrondings.

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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.

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In sum, these rhetorical devices built suspense in the discovery of Christopher’s mother being alive. They helped exemplify his feelings and his actions. Also, they add on more effect as the reader continues the story to figure out what would happen

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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.

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This is shown in Curious when Haddon highlights the words that describe Christopher’s day. Through the perspective of Christopher, he mentioned “So because it was a Super Good Day I decided to walk into the park with Mrs Alexander even though it scared me.” The use of bolding places emphasis on Chris’ perspective on the day. Which then confronts the readers about Chris’ varying levels of courage based on a methodical system; whereas, most people would have different amounts of courage depending on each situation instead of the day. Which makes Chris un-relatable, furthering the readers’ suspicion of Chris’ autistic

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That is because his brain works so uniquely that I get surprised by the way he thinks about things. Sometimes there are long sentences and train of thoughts, which emphasize how difficult life and things are for Christopher. The frustration of the adults is reinforced by

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That meant he could murder me because I couldn’t trust him, even though he had said “Trust me,” because he had told a lie about a big thing… Which meant that I had to go to London to live with Mother” (Haddon 122-131). The quote explains how he will make a big decision with no one’s help or advice; this shows coming-of-age since it describes how he is ready to be independent by making his own choices, even knowing the risks that will happen. As the novel progresses, Haddon uses conflict frequently in the novel to show the theme coming-of-age theme. On page 193, a scene shows Christopher deciding on whom to stay with. For example, it states, “And there was a policeman outside the door, and he said, “Are you Christopher Boone?”

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These good days affected his emotions because he decided not to be sad about Wellington the dog dying. This changed Christopher because he was devastated that Wellington died. But Black days affected Christopher even more, "I don’t speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don’t eat my lunch and Take No Risks,”(Haddon 24). Black Days affect

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Furthermore, when Christopher learns that the murderer of the neighbor’s dog, Wellington, is his father, he starts to become frightened of his father as he “screamed and pushed him backward that he fell off the bed and onto the floor” (Haddon 122). There is a shift in Christopher’s emotional state from being in shock to any trust he had left in his father being broken even more. He starts to become aggressive and this emphasizes a difference in how Christopher views his father which helps shapes his character while reading through the

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Haddon uses imagery to develop the theme of fear, by showing and describing what Christopher does to overcome what he is afraid of. The author does a good job using imagery to do this, because you can see and picture what Christopher is thinking and feeling when having to do things that he doesn’t want to do. He also uses metaphors to different things that you would usually be scared of, to help you imagine it.

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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.

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Throughout the book Christopher overcomes all obstacles, big and small. Though some obstacles are small it still shows the reader that Christopher is willing to make the necessary changes for a positive outcome. One small obstacle that made a big impact on the readers

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The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time distinguishes Christopher’s independence and autarchy by portraying Christopher communicating with individuals who made him apprehensive in the beginning of the novel, controlling his behaviour and lack of emotion in public, and his vast improvement of having certainty towards others. Mark Haddon, the novelist of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is characterizing the liberation of young Christopher Boone with situations he feels nervous with, which is teaching readers that taking risks that you may be uncomfortable with will eventually lead to one’s happiness and

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