The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Essay

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Each and everyday we are forced to make decisions and most of the time we have no idea how they will alter the course of our lives. And no matter how big or small, the effect of our choices cannot be predicted by even the genie himself. In the coming of age novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” written by Mark Haddon, Chris’s parents make decisions that they have no clue how the impact will be. Both of his parents make choices that are jeopardizing and hasty, but which one is the better parent? At the beginning of the book the reader learns that Christopher's mother died of a heart attack. The details his father told him were vague and didn’t add up. So, being his meticulous self Chris decided to further investigate his …show more content…

Although both parents thought they were making quintessential decisions, they instead ended up contributing to Chris’s emotional chaos. Which parent caused Chris less pain is hard to asses. For example, Chris’s dad didn’t try to make up for his mistakes. Instead, he only apologized and accepted that he had been wrong, but he didn’t try to make it better. Not once after he finally told the truth did his Dad try to find a solution to help overcome the tsunami flooding Chris’s emotions. His father tried to gain his trust back by purchasing a dog. “Then he came back through and gave me the dog.” (219) He knew the dog wouldn’t fix the problem. His mother, on the other hand, wrote letters to Chris after she left, despite knowing he was angry and probably wouldn’t respond. But, the most significant decision she made was to come home and help raise Chris. “But then everything was OK because mother got a job on the till in the garden center and the doctors gave her pills to take every morning…” (216) Even though mother makes a selfish decision in leaving, she does change, and that’s all anyone can ever hope for when someone hurts

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