Mark Haddon’s, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a novel which highlights people’s potential to change themselves as an individual when they have a goal to achieve and also how they grow as an individual. The novel also goes through a social context in which in real-life situations, people believe that others who have a disability are not capable of change because people believe that they do not have a potential or goal to change because of their disability. Through the character of a 15 year-old protagonist, Christopher, the reader sees that even when faced with adversity he is able to achieve great things and big goals. This novel goes through the topics of how Christopher challenges himself in situations he has never been …show more content…
A main point that made Christopher change the most was the ‘betrayal’ of his father. As Christopher was trying to find more evidence to who killed Wellington, Christopher's father explained something that completely changed Christophers mind, “I killed Wellington, Christopher,” (pg.152) he continued to explain to Christopher why it happened. At first, Christopher thought it was a joke but he slowly realised that it wasnt and made his up his mind that he wasn’t going to live with his father anymore because “That meant he could murder me…” (pg. 152) His father confusing his crimes made Christopher change completely, Christopher stopped trusting his father, ‘ran away’ to find his mother, and when he had met his father again during the end of the novel he continued to ignore and not talk to his father. Christopher finding out his mother wasn’t actually dead was a another major change in his life. Christopher’s father had been continuously telling Christopher that his mother was dead after she parted from him after she and Mr.Shears started gained feelings for each other. With that said, Father had been keeping away letters that mother was writing to Christopher because he thought it would be better for Christopher to not know that his mother left. Haddon’s main belief on this topic would be, despite the hardships people may go through during their life, there is always room for changes. No matter if you have a disability or not, all people are capable of change in which Haddon presents through Christopher’s point of view throughout the
The two essays “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs and “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris are excellent pieces of work that share many similarities. This paper would reflect on these similarities particularly in terms of the author, message and the targeted audience. On an everyday basis, people view those with disabilities in a different light and make them conscious at every step. This may be done without a conscious realisation but then it is probably human nature to observe and notice things that deviate from the normal in a society. In a way people are conditioned to look negatively at those individuals who are different in the conventional
“I am a Cripple,” when people typically hear these words they tend to feel bad for that person, but that is exactly what Mair does not want. She prefers that people treat her the same as they would if she did not have the disease. Throughout the essay, Mair discuses her disease openly. She uses an optimistic tone, so that the reader will not recoil with sadness when they hear her discuss the disease and how it affects her life. In Nancy Mair’s essay “On Being A Cripple,” Mair uses her personal stories, diction, and syntactical structures to create an optimistic tone throughout the essay, so that the audience can better connect story.
Disability, a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movement, senses, or activities. Lisa I. Iezzonis’ reading “Stand Out” depicts a rather stimulating framework of how the disability is seen and treated. The relationship between health, illness, and narrative in this reading marks the idea of discrimination of disability through her own life events by separation of identity, people. The author employs repeated phrases, metaphors and perspectives to display this. The form of literature is written and told in the form of the first-person perspective short story but in storytelling form.
With every decision one makes. There will always be consequences. In Haddon’s, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the character Christopher and his parents find that their bad decisions could lead to a negative outcome. Mrs. Boone’s choice to leave home and Mr. Boone’s choice to lie to Christopher lead to him leaving home to search for his mother. A common theme of the actions of the characters is acting before thinking. The theme of decisions and consequences reveals the imperfections of each character, ultimately demonstrating the quintessential impatient need for growth.
The curious incident of the dog in the night time is about a young boy with asperger's syndrome named Christopher. asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder considered to be on the “high functioning” end of the spectrum. Affected children and adults have difficulty with social interactions and exhibit a restricted range of interests repetitive behaviours. Christopher found a dead black poodle with a pitch fork in it. It made him very upset and he wanted to find out who killed Wellington, so he did some investigating so he could get the killer arrested but in a plot twist Christopher found out it was his father who killed Wellington. Christopher was very scared and angry with his father because he killed Wellington and lied about his mother dying of a heart attack when really she left Christopher and Ed for another man and moved to London. Christopher didn't like lier's. Christopher packed his bags and ran away from his father while he was at work and decided to go live with his mother. Christopher found the letters she had been writing him and the address was on the letters.
Christopher is a fifteen-year old boy with Aspergers Autism whose life is full of uncanny surprises. His main focus is on school, and his ability to take the maths A level exams. Unfortunately, that was his focus until he finds Wellington dead on Mrs. Shears’ lawn. Christopher wants to know who killed Wellington and why. He investigates and finds out not only who killed Wellington, but he discovers secrets about his mother and father. In the book “The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time”, the author, Mark Haddon, shows us how courageous Christopher is throughout his journey. According to Aristotle, a man is courageous when he sets himself free from his fears, pain, and poverty instead of running away from it. According to Aristotle’s theory, Christopher profusely shows courage when he investigates Wellington’s murder and travels to London to find his mom.
Point of view can greatly affect the way a reader feel about a novel. Point of view affects how the characters are perceived and how well the readers know them. It also provides a means for readers to feel connected with characters, or to better understand what a character is going through. The author’s way of thinking also has a very large impact on the point of view based on how they themselves see a situation. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is narrated in a very diverse way, by being narrated by a boy with a disorder, it could be very different if told by a different character, and it would change drastically if narrated by someone without autism.
Anger is one of the hardest emotions to control. Often, people hold it in, allowing it to build until it bursts, causing damage. In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the parents of a child with autism struggle to keep their cool around their son. Christopher’s mother fails to mask her emotions around her son, leaving his father to take care of him. Although his father tries to maintain calm, he often yells at Christopher as his son watches on in careful concentration. Haddon’s authorial choice of making Christopher’s parents lash out reveals irony in that Christopher is the one with the disorder yet is calm, analyzing situations objectively.
The theme of isolation is utilized in writing to shape the principal characters and provide a particular vision on some crucial aspects of their identities. Authors such as Nancy Mairs in, “On Being a Cripple” Zora Neale Hurston in, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” and Sherman Alexie in, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, offer us characterization to set the theme of isolation in their writing. In “On Being a Cripple” Mairs examines the public’s view of the disabled, as well as the views they have of themselves, and compare them to her own. In “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston discusses how she embraces being a girl of color in a world where people can be very discriminating. In “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” Sherman talks about how reading and writing helped shape his life in a positive way. Every author has their own unique way to express isolation in their writing such as personal experience which provides creditability to the writing and further engages the reader.
...though Christopher functions more like a computer than a human, but he possesses the ability to think independently, which over all else represents a human characteristic. No machine can operate efficiently without being instructed and following exact orders. Christopher also needs to be told exactly what to do because the vagueness of common phrases is confusing to him, but knows that people break rules and also knows that he can make decisions for himself. On his journey to find his mother, Christopher makes the decision to break away from all of his rules in order to find her. He is able to go to London against almost all odds, and does so by stepping out of his comfort zone and into a world of uncertainty. Even though he uses computer-like thinking to come to the conclusion of going to his mother, it is his underlying human qualities that make the trip possible.
It has become paramount that composers utilise various techniques in order to influence an individual’s perception of the world. As seen through the eyes of an Aspergers sufferer, Christopher Boone, Mark Haddon’s inventive novel entitle ‘The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night Time’, skilfully portrays how the decisions of significant characters and their relationships shape the overall message about the difficulties of living with a limiting social condition. This is challenged from the unique perspective of Christopher and explicitly seen through the relationship between the protagonist and both his parents. Haddon employs a myriad of techniques through the concepts of the conflicting nature of love, the desperation for a world of order and stability, and the value of truth. Along with the reoccurring allusions to mathematics and science in order to display the complexity of human interaction, as he skilfully depicts how both relationships attempt to deal with the issue in their day to day lives.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time chronicles of Christopher Boone of Swindon, England. The book is written by Mark Haddon, who formerly worked with autistic individuals, describes the world through the eyes of Christopher, who is self-proclaimed “special needs”. The novel never explicitly says what Christopher’s diagnosis is, but from the text it is apparent that he would fall on the higher functioning end of the Autism Spectrum.
Whilst the concept of autism and what it means to be autistic is still widely unrecognised by many, Mark Haddon’s use of conventions of prose fiction and language amplifies the distinctive qualities of the text. Haddon exemplifies key themes such as the struggle to become independent, the nature of difference and the disorder of life through the strategic placement of literary devices.
Routledge: New York : New York, 2001. Shakespeare, T (2013) “The Social Model of Disability” in The Disability Studies Reader Ed Davis, L D. Routledge: New York.
Although the reader is moved by Krents many stories and examples, the lack of objectivity in the essay leaves the reader with doubts. Krent’s theme - that if handicapped persons were viewed fairly their disability would be not be apparent- is one that the reader is aware of and wants to believe in. Yet, Krent’s own pessimistic tones overshadow the greater good. The reader is left with the unpalatable feeling that this essay may be nothing more than a very unconfident and dissatisfied man, attempting to pin his disappointments and failures on society, so that he may feel better about himself.