Essay
The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time will take you on a ride of emotions as Christopher John Francis Boone fights through his autism to prove his innocence to everyone and himself as well. A story of a young boy on a mission to find out who killed his neighbor's dog, but while on the journey he reveals secrets about his family that was kept from him all these years. Mark Haddon did an amazing job on showing how the truth can affect someone in the text, not only the main character Christopher, but the others as well utilizing Characterization. In the beginning of the story, Christopher explains how close him and his father are as they only have each other. Christopher's dad has hidden things from him his whole life,
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Another character heavily affected by the dishonesty was his mother, Judy Boone. Throughout the novel it is believed that his mother had fallen ill and died early in his life, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, his mother had left him and his father and moved with another man to London. After the fact in an attempt to protect Christopher, and in a sense himself, he lied and fabricated the entire debacle of his mother's death. Although this lies heavily affected Christopher in a sense it also deeply affected his mother. For months his mother, who loved her son with all of her heart, weekly wrote to her son weekly trying to form some kind of connection with him was blocked each and every time by her ex-husband who selfishly hid her letters. Due to the fact that her letters were intercepted she never received any form of response and as far as we can infer may have believed that her son hated her for leaving them. The type of pain she must have been going through as a mother who felt as though their offspring despised them and yet continued to attempt to communicate him must be excruciating for her. The fact that she never ceased in her attempts exemplifies her love and determination when it comes to her son. Another occurrence of her being harmed by lies and dishonesty of those in her life is the failure of her marriage with Mr. Shear. Although their marriage may not have been perfect the very fact that they ran off together is a testament to the fact that at least at one point they cared very deeply for one another but nevertheless their marriage fell into shambles. One could easily claim that the catalyst for that was the arrival of her son and the chaos that followed his arrival. Once he arrived at their home on more than one occasion police appeared at their door, she lost her job, her ex-husband belligerently appeared at their home and many more
In the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, I claim that Ed Boone, Christopher's father, was justified in lying to him about the death of his mother. Despite the fact that he lied to him about something critical, he did so with the best intentions.
According to a study conducted by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of people cannot hold a ten-minute conversation without lying at least once (Benjamin). Whether these lies are crucial to the discussion or not, they can ultimately impact the outcomes people hope for. The Odyssey, written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald is a timeless tale full of dishonor and lies, many of which positively impact a man’s fate. The epic entails an archetypal hero, who is on the journey of a lifetime, fighting to get back to his home. Through his characters, Homer illustrates that lies and dishonesty is pivotal to many of the desirable outcomes found throughout the story.
Christopher’s father, Ed Boone and his mother, Judy Boone both have one important trait or aspect that they share together which is their way of showing their love and protection towards their child. In this case, that would be Christopher. A quote that Christopher’s father said in the book that supports this answer is “”And Father said,”Christopher, do you understand that I love you.” This shows how he desperately wants his son to love him despite all of his efforts in trying to prevent Christopher from knowing about the truth that he is hiding. A quote that Christopher’s mother saying in the book is, “Christopher, I never meant to hurt you. I thought that what I was doing was the best for all of us. I hope it is. And I want you to know that this is not your fault.” This demonstrates that she really cares about Christopher in what is right which is leaving the house just like what his father believes that it was the best decision in preventing Christopher to know the truth about his mother.
Though Christopher is aware of these facts about himself, this no lessens his struggles for self and social acceptance. His self, although different than most, still seeks validation and approval. On the other hand, Christopher seeks a world with people like him, or no one at all. Therefore, he simultaneously attempts to understand others and wishes he did not have to do
He wants to achieve his goals and let nothing stand in his way when he does. In addition to Christopher's persistence inside the classroom, he also kept on with the investigation despite what his father said. After Christopher discovers the letters from his mom, he does not quite understand what it means because he believes his mom to be dead. But his father tells him not to look through the letters anymore and puts them in a cupboard in his room. "It was six days before I could go back into Father's room to look in the shirt box in the cupboard ." (102) Even though Christopher's father tells him to leave the letters alone, he directly disobeys him to look for the truth within the letters. With his persistence he builds up enough courage to go into the letters and find out the truth about his mother. Because of this he finds the truth and finds his mother in London. Through Christopher's persistence he disobeys his father to find the letters and find out what he has been hiding from
In a lot of ways Krakauer relates to Christopher like their complicated relationship with their father’s,”Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please” ( Krakauer 134). Using words like “Fury” and “hunger” both describe christopher, they convey Christopher’s anger towards his parents ( more so his father) and his undying will to fool them into thinking that they are all he needs in this world. Krakauer like McCandless has the unconscious behavior to please but also defy at the same time. Krakauer says,” The boy could not pardon the mistakes his father had made as a young man, and he was even less willing to pardon the attempt at concealment. He later declared to Carine and others that the description committed by Walt and Billie made his “ entire childhood seem like a fiction “ ( Krakauer 122-123). The word “ fiction” was used to describe how much of a convoluted story was that Walt had described being that the relationship was nothing that was described. This sheds light on why Christopher was headed towards the adventurous life and why he greatly despised his parents. Krakauer also uses anecdotal evidence to examine Christopher and his parents
This shows that Christopher's father was lying to him about his mother being dead and he had told a giant lie and was deceitful to Christopher that made him go through that pain as if he had lost his mother. The next quote happens right after father had confessed he had killed Wellington which filled Christopher with rage and fear from his father's wrong actions. Christopher states while writing in his book,"I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington. That means 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."(Haddon 122)This quote is important because, Christopher is saying that his father had admitted to killing Wellington the dog he had a connection with. Influenced Christopher to run away from home away from his father. In the end this all leads
“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” explores the ideas of a boy named Christopher, who writes a book as a detective in England discovering the murder of a dog named Wellington. Christopher liked Wellington, but on a particular morning, he found him dead; this caused him to write a book on who killed him. Father and Mother, Christopher’s parents, help the reader’s understand how he is different. Christopher may have Autism and Hyperthymesia, so he uses math equations, puzzles, and smiley faces to escape reality. His mind is constantly racing,
Also, because Christopher tells the story, Haddon has successfully pointed out the gap between Christopher 's view and the reader 's view when Christopher says, "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 had said "Trust me," because he had told a lie about a big thing" (55). It 's very clear to us that Christopher 's father won 't do anything that hurt him because we understand that his father loves him. But to Christopher, it 's a different story. He applies the logic in response to the problem because to him, "logic can help you work out the right answer" (30). The readers apprehend the reason his father has to lie to him, but Christopher doesn 't. Because of this, Christopher 's characteristics and his lack of understanding other 's emotional is
As Christopher nurtured up, he became fearful of his dad. He later tracks away from daddy to his mom. They all appeared at dad’s house and Christopher began a new life with his
The question of what constitutes morality is often asked by philosophers. One might wonder why morality is so important, or why many of us trouble ourselves over determining which actions are moral actions. Mill has given an account of the driving force behind our questionings of morality. He calls this driving force “Conscience,” and from this “mass of feeling which must be broken through in order to do what violates our standard of right,” we have derived our concept of morality (Mill 496). Some people may practice moral thought more often than others, and some people may give no thought to morality at all. However, morality is nevertheless a possibility of human nature, and a very important one. We each have our standards of right and wrong, and through the reasoning of individuals, these standards have helped to govern and shape human interactions to what it is today. No other beings except “rational beings,” as Kant calls us, are able to support this higher capability of reason; therefore, it is important for us to consider cases in which this capability is threatened. Such a case is lying. At first, it seems that lying should not be morally permissible, but the moral theories of Kant and Mill have answered both yes and no on this issue. Furthermore, it is difficult to decide which moral theory provides a better approach to this issue. In this paper, we will first walk through the principles of each moral theory, and then we will consider an example that will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each theory.
Nothing hurts more than being betrayed by a loved one, Christopher’s father has no trust in Christopher and tells him that his “Mother died 2 years ago”(22) and Christopher thinks his mother died of a heart attack. When Christopher finds out his father lied, he runs away to live with his mother and his father despritally looks for him and while looking for him realizes the importance of telling the truth. When someone betrays one’s trust, they can feel morally violated. Once Christopher finds his mother, she begins to realize how unfit her living conditions are for Christopher and brings him back to his father, bring him “[..] home in Swindon”(207) Christopher feels incredibly hurt and distressed he does not want to see his father. Whether a relationship can be repaired depends entirely on whether trust can or cannot be restored. Christopher’s father works very hard to regain his trust, he tells his son “[..] I don’t know about you, but this...this just hurts too much”, Christopher’s father is dealing with the result of being dishonest with his son and himself.
For instance, lying can lead to discomfort, distance and, fear. For one thing, Christopher felt uncomfortable around his dad because of the lie. Father tells him, “‘We’re only human.’ Then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. But I screamed and pushed him backward…” (122). Usually when Father does this, it is okay but, Christopher was in so much shock, he did not know what to do. He did not want to Father to touch him. Eventually, Christopher decides that, “ I had to get out of the house” (122). He felt the need to escape and break away from Father after what had happened so, he did would distance himself from Father. Additionally, Christopher is in fear towards his father, after being lied to and told the truth, the next morning, “... I heard Father coming down to the garden and I took out my Swiss Army knife out of my pocket … in case he found us” (127). The reason for this is because when Christopher finds out that Father is the one who kills Wellington, he was afraid that he could be the next victim to this murder crime which made him really scared. Trust is important between people. When it is lost, people feel discomfort, the need to distance themselves, and the sense of fear.
The settings in the story have impacts on the theme of young manhood. Chris leaves his family and decides to go on a journey to find a new life. Christopher felt affected in his family presence so he sends his final school report to his family: “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well-relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it”(Krakauer,55). He believes that this is a way to find his true identity and peace of mind, which he thought could be achieved by fleeing into the wild. Chris seemed to have a bad relationship with his parents, especially with his father because Chris found out that he had a child with his first wife when Chris was born. This fact is revealed by his dad’s old neighbour, “Walt’s split from his first wife, Marcia, was not a clean or amicable parting. Long after falling in love with Billie, long after she gave birth to Chris, Walt continued his relationship with Marcia in secret” (Krakauer121). Chris knew about his father’s affair with another woman and this made it easier for Chris to not care about what his family has to say ...
The curious incident of the dog in the night time was narrated in first person by Christopher Boone however If it was narrated in third person the audience would not have understood the way Christopher was feeling. Communication, Social Interactions, Relationship’s and Christopher’s Autism spectrum disorder were some of the main areas expressed in the novel.