Curious Incident

By Anonymous -
   In Mark Haddon's, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher Boone takes on the role of detective as he tries to discover who killed Mrs.Shears pet poodle, Wellington. But, Curious Incident is much more meaningful than just a story about a boy and his mission to seek out an infamous dog killer. Christopher battles with himself throughout the entire book because of his daily struggle to overcome and understand his autism. As an audience, we get to experience a glimpse of what it is like to have ASD and get to know the mind of someone who handles life on a day to day basis with this condition. I think the most interesting part of the novel was Christopher's relationship with truth and how he explained it.

   The first time Christopher mentions not lying and always telling the truth, it is when he has the confrontation with the police man after Mrs. Shears call the police about her dog and Christopher. "He was quiet for a few seconds, then he asked, "Did you kill the dog, Christopher?" I said, "I didn't kill the dog." He said, "Do you know that it is wrong to lie to a policeman and that you can get into a very great deal of trouble if you do?" I said, "Yes." He said, "So do you know who killed the dog?" I said, "No." He said, "Are you telling the truth?" I said, "Yes, I always tell the truth."" (17-18) This is an important scene because it happens so soon in the book and the readers are already starting to get an idea of what it's like to live inside Christopher's mind and we're thinking about what it would actually be like to never ever lie. I think most people are used to telling lies, even if they're insignificant lies. After this occurrence at the police station, Christopher writes, "I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can't lie." (19) This is interesting to think about because we want to know what it feels like to not be able to lie and why Christopher can't lie. How is that even possible?

   "A lie is when you say something happened which didn't happen. But there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place. And there are an infinite number of things which didn't happen at that time and that place. And if I think about something which didn't happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn't happen." (19) Christopher explains why he can't lie in this passage and honestly, it makes a good amount of sense. It's a perfectly logical explanation and good because it is mostly wrong to lie about things and that's what we are taught as children, is that it is wrong to lie and we are expected to tell the truth at all times, but it's not very realistic. I admire this quality of Christopher's even if it isn't something that he necessarily has any control over. It's inspirational to me and I hope to think more in these terms and refer back to the book the next time I'm thinking about telling a lie.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 2, 2017 at 11:44 AM

    Wow! I am so impressed by your delivery with this blog. You are very great at explaining your points with great evidence. You're right, it is about so much more than solving a mystery, its much more about the journey. Christopher does have a very literal relationship with the truth. Everything is logical and truthful. The conversation with the police officer is so significant. To the outside world, it seems like a mischievous boy who is lying to the officer so he doesn't get in trouble. It's important to the reader to know that Christopher is being truthful. It's one of the first incidences that we get to see who Christopher is. It is weird to think about how someone cannot lie! Like, how do you get by at family dinners? It is a very admirable trait, though! It's awesome how you kind of pulled that theme out of the book. Great blog!

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