Every individual's mind functions in a different and unique way. We all have idiosyncratic behaviours and functions. These distinctive characteristics are what make us who we are. But not all neurological differences help us in our day -to-day lives. Every individual also possess some psychological defects. These issues are clearly portrayed in the novel, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. In this story the protagonist is an autistic boy who faces many challenges in his life. Both his parents also face some complications in coping up with their son. Therefore the central theme in the novel, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, delineated by Christopher (the autistic boy), the father, and the mother, is that everyone has psychological problems that they need to overcome. Christopher Boone, the protagonist of this novel, has encountered a lot of hardships dealing with people because of his mental disability. One of his biggest problems he faces is his incompetence to decipher between emotions. In order to make out the more complicated emotions, Christopher “...got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant.” He keeps this piece of paper in his pocket and uses it as reference when he has difficulty understanding other people’s emotions. “I like dogs” says Christopher, you always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating.” (5.2) He also finds it difficult to follow instructions. Since he is a very logical person he needs the directions to be precise and specific. “And this is because when people tell you what to do it is usually confusing and does not make sense.For example, people often say ‘B... ... middle of paper ... ...s an inextricable part of her life. In conclusion, the most evident theme in this story is that everyone have problems mentally, that they need to overcome. Christopher, the mother, and the father are examples supporting this theme. Although, Christopher finds it difficult to recognize emotions, follow instructions, talk to strangers etc. he tries hard to overcome it. His behavioral problems, and care for others has improved over time proving that overtime his problems can be fixed. Ed Boone, the father has problem managing his emotions and often gets out of control but tries to control them for his son's sake. The mother, Judy Boone, faces problems with impatience but after parting with Christopher, shows significant improvement in her patience levels. Overall, no matter how bad a psychological problem is, there is always a way out if given time.
How far would a parent go to ensure the comfort of their child? What if the child had a mental disability? Children with autism can be difficult to deal with and it can be easy to misconstrue a parent’s intentions toward their disabled child. According to Petra Kuppers’s essay “Dancing Autism: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Bedlam,” an autistic child has a, “distanced view of the rules that make up love, relationships, need, and care,” and therefore can be more challenging to raise (Kuppers 193). Christopher is one such example of an autistic child. In Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher’s father is portrayed in a negative light, but actually proves himself to be an outstanding father.
The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time explores the concept of truth and lies through the eyes of Christopher, the main character, who has autism. His narrative perspective only allows the reader to understand what his own mind is capable of understanding such as his views on lying, facial
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a novel written by Mark Hadden talks about a boy named Christopher, who goes on a journey to discover numerous of incidents that occurred during his lifetime. Simon Stephens directed this play because it had a variety of central and governing issues in the characters for the audience to understand. One of the characters that have most of these issues is the fifteen- year- old protagonist Christopher. He has a special need called Asperger 's syndrome, which is a developmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and
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.
Lack of maternal bonds that Christopher and Patrick have with their mothers affects how they cope with stress and respond to affection from others. The loss of trust for Christohper’s father also impacts how he now interacts with him as he no longer feels safe enough to trust him. As for Patrick, the death of his father causes him to seek answers about death, but he discovers more that what he had planned. The roadblocks created by their parents impact how the characters learn to overcome them and to push forward on their journeys. The importance of a strong and healthy relationship between parents and their son is seen through development: “A child at this age largely only interacts with his or her parents; therefore, they are the main source of trust and mistrust in the child’s life. If parents have a trusting and supportive relationship with their child, then the child overcomes the crisis and establishes the virtue of hope” (Kelsey Sharpe, Parental Influence on the Development of
Initially, both Christopher and Ed are practical imitations of who they are described as, but the way that Christopher deals with his struggles, are more interesting. Firstly, Christopher has a unique way of solving his problems. He rationalizes these proble...
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is told through the eyes of a fifteen year old boy named Christopher Boone. Christopher has a highly-functioning form of autism which allows him to understand complex mathematical problems, but also leaves him unable to comprehend many simple human emotions. His inability to understand metaphors, distinguish emotions, and his lack of imagination makes it possible to consider Christopher as functioning like a computer rather than functioning as a human being. Throughout the story, Christopher is faced with many challenges which he conquers using the stable and never changing system of mathematics. All of these factors suggest that Christopher does, in fact, function like a computer, but it is apparent early in the story that Christopher, regardless of anything else, is capable of independent thought which separates him from the programmed, dependent world of computers.
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 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime by Mark Haddon, the main character Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy who has Asperger's Syndrome, a developmental disorder which affects the ability to socialize and communicate. Christopher lives with his father and believes that his mother has passed away from a heart attack. The story begins when Christopher finds his neighbor, Mrs Shear’s dog dead in the garden. Intrigued by the death of the dog and his obsession for animals he decides to investigate the murder. Furthermore, when Christopher goes deeper into the investigation he finds out that his very own father murdered the dog and that his mother is alive and well. Despite having a disability, Christopher reveals
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time exhibits real life situations experienced by an autistic, 15-year-old boy, from his own panorama. Christopher’s use of first person perspective ensures that his view on events are explained with accurate, detailed description, enhancing the responders understanding of how the mind of one with Asperger’s syndrome functions. This concept is elaborated on in Christopher’s struggle to become independent as the responder is able to grasp Christopher’s defensive mechanisms to dealing with stressful situations. Christopher narration “so I groaned to make the time pass quicker and not think” during a fit where his tendency to shut down and curl himself into a ball is essentially revealed substantiates his struggle to become independent as his
Any parent that has a child with a learning disability has a lot to face. Parents deal with ongoing struggles on a daily basis. Having a child with a learning disability can be traumatizing. It’s like learning that a family member suddenly passed away. the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon introduces a child named Christopher Boone who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. This disability affects Christopher with his daily life. Although Christopher is faced with many problems, he learns to overcome these obstacles with the help of others. Ed Boone, Christopher’s father is a horrible father who makes unforgivable decisions that adds to Christopher’s suffering; fortunately
Relationships can only survive through adapting to constant change. Without that aspect, they would not last. In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a boy with Aspergers goes through life surrounded by mystery, dishonesty, and dysfunctionality. Because of this, secrets are revealed, relationships are changed, and the connection between family is brought into a new light. Through these events, the boy and his family discover and rediscover their ties with each other. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the author demonstrates that the ability to adapt and change is the most essential characteristic in life because it strengthens relationships, as illustrated through Christopher, his mother
While trust is a somewhat common theme in modern novels, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime manages to portray how it affects people in their day to day lifestyle. The book tells the story of Christopher Boone a young boy with autism and his murder mystery novel about the murder of his neighbor's dog. Why this novel is significant is because Mark Haddon tells the story that many young people with autism, like Christopher, live everyday and who’s view on life and the idea of trust and understanding of the world is drastically different than any teenager.
Ed Boone takes a good care of Christopher as a single parent and provides him with everything he needs since his mother leaves them for Mr. Shears. Ed does more than a father should do for Christopher and has a role as both of his parents. Ed provides everything he can to make his son’s life as normal as it can be. “I cooked [Christopher’s] meals… I looked after [Christopher] every weekend. I looked after [Christopher] when he was ill…I went to school every time [Christopher] got into a fight.” (Haddon, 196-197). Even though Ed lies about Christopher’s mother death, He still takes care of Christopher and does not give up on him. Ed Boone is doing everything a father can do for his son and deals with him like a good father do.
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.