Curious Incident- Victoria Vance

By -
The Curious Incident really opened up my eyes as to what a person who has the same type of capabilities as Christopher Boone reacts to both specific and general settings; and what he and others who share the same qualities goes through on a daily basis. Even though this book is not a mold for everyone who is considered to be on the "Autistic Spectrum" it does highlight a specific person's experience through a multitude of events that anyone can endure. Prior to reading this novel, I was unable to truly grasp what people with any form of Autism had to go through (as this book is the only exposure that I have ever really had). But this book has made me more aware of people like Christopher, and it has exposed appropriate ways and inappropriate ways to learn how to interact with. The biggest take away (apart from the understanding of exceptional people) is how incredibly  honest Christopher is.

Christopher immediately states that, "I cannot tell lies. Mother used to say that was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I cannot tell lies," (19). This blatant disregard for morality creates a minuscule sense of humor for the reader. This is because he never denies attempting to lie, he just says that he cannot tell them. But he wouldn't have known that he was a bad liar unless he had attempted it. Therefore negating his mother's claim immediately because he never says that it's because he doesn't LIKE to tell lies, it's inferred it's because he cannot because it challenges his personality rather than morality. 

My next favorite instance that exhibits Christopher's exuberant honesty is when he is talking to the cop in the train station about his father being arrested and the cop responds with, "Arrested him? What for?" and Christopher just blurts out, "He killed a dog. With a garden fork. The dog was called Wellington." (159). To me, I thought was interesting because his honesty at this point was challenging his logic; which was strange because he had been proven to be extremely logical up to his decision to run away. I personally believe that honesty from Christopher plays a pretty big role in this novel as he begins to grow more as a person and establish his newfound relationship with his mother and father (after his father had destroyed it by dishonestly obviously). I just thought that the theme, if you will, of honesty was pretty interesting; and prior to this blog post I didn't even give it much thought. But it plays a huge role throughout the entirety of this novel and is one of my favorite aspects because it inspires changes in each of the characters.


Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 26, 2017 at 3:46 PM

    I agree. This book really allowed me to experience life in a different way. Very eye opening. I think that you chose very good supporting quotes for your blog. Good job!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe...
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm...
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C...
Read more