The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Rhetorical Devices

In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon, English novelist, delivers a murder-mystery of Wellington, Mrs. Shears’ dog through an autistic view. Haddon uses the murder-mystery and other incidents during his lifetime to unwrap specifics of his disorder. He encounters specific situations, such as arriving at the train station, to explain how it takes groaning to calm him down and how he does not allow strangers to lay a hand on him. In his unraveling of his disorder and his quest to solve the murder-mystery, Haddon uses rhetorical devices such as details, metaphors, and imagery to develop his character. Autism is a developmental disorder that damages the ability to communicate and socialize. For Christopher Boone, the math genius, a factor that ties in with his

He uses the details to describe his prison cell and paint a picture of the situation he’s in. He declares, “It had a small window with bars and, on the opposite side, a metal door with a long, thin hatch near the floor for sliding trays of food into the cell and a sliding hatch higher up…” By specifically describing his prison cell and giving the audience an image of it, Haddon again reveals Christopher’s meticulous aura. He also uses imagery to describe the sergeant at the police station. He states, “The sergeant behind the desk had very hairy hands and he had bitten his nails so much that they had bled.” This quote once again qualifies the meticulous behavior. Finally, Haddon uses imagery to explain his escape plan if he were to be in a story. He expresses, “…use my glasses to focus the sunlight on a piece of clothing and start a fire. I would then make my escape when they saw the smoke and took me out of the cell.” With this quote, Christopher paints his escape plan and reveals to the audience his creativity. By using imagery, Haddon develops Christopher’s character as meticulous to his surroundings and creative