Minds, Maths & Mom's Miraculous Not-Death: Blog About The Curious Incident

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is such a different book. I felt like I was inside Christopher’s mind, sitting comfortably on a couch with a bucket of popcorn, watching through his own eyes. As I turned each page, I found out details about Christopher’s perspective, how he depicts the process of understanding and how each lever cranks in his head for decision-making. Though I have not had personal experience with someone on the autism spectrum, I’ve been able to learn a lot about them through courses and texts. I feel that this book was the most personal and dedicated way to portray the lifestyle of someone on the autism spectrum.

I was personally not a fan of this book, though, I do believe it is beneficial to the classroom. It gives insight on how someone with autism thinks and reacts and could possibly solve some problems with bullying. At least at my high school, kids with all forms of autism were bullied. They obviously act and react differently, so students would laugh or aggravate them until they reacted. Maybe some insight on how everything works with autism, they would be less quick to poke fun. I would love to teach this book with a real-life activity, like asking a student with autism to speak and talk about their experience. This book was very humbling for me, and I think it would have the same effects on students.

I could not find any major themes in this book, at least not as obvious as the tree in “Speak” or poverty in “Diary.” I noticed things like red being a significant color since it was the color of the cars on a good day. The chapters are” counted in prime numbers” (11), which are Christopher’s favorite numbers. Mainly, this book is focused around description. It takes all of the things we do at the blink of an eye and lists and analyzes them. Since there are no themes, I think it is imperative to point out the emphasis of the narrator. Since the narrator is Christopher, everything told straight from his thoughts. He provides great detail on everything. When he first approaches Mrs. Alexander, she immediately described her everything detail. Mrs. Alexander was “wearing jeans and training shoes, which old people don’t normally wear. And there was mud on the jeans. And the trainers were New Balance trainers. And the laces were red” (39). For those of us who go up to someone for the first time might describe their face or hair. He immediately goes to the details we might notice but never describe. This gives us an idea of how those with autism observe. They may take more time to look around and take in their environment. Also, we notice that the thought process that those with autism go through are different. The idea of social constructs does not apply to Christopher’s thinking. He applies his logic to all obstacles, not considering how it might not fit in socially. When the policeman grabbed Christopher by the arm, he “did not like him touching [him]” (8). And this is when [he] hit him.” In Christopher’s mind, this is completely logical and a way with dealing with something that makes him uncomfortable. As a reader, we know it is not appropriate to hit an officer.

Regarding the way Christopher’s mind works, he solves everything like his maths. He does not think about deeper meaning, reason, or figurative language. Everything is precise and to the point. His way of thinking is the representation of math and how everything has a purpose, place, and meaning. He describes his emotions with faces/symbols, he has a diagram to explain his thinking (10), (27), (35), and he watches “47 people do [something] and [he] memorized what to do.” I believe that this form of thinking follows him through the entire book, until the realization of his mother’s not-death. With this imbalance in his lifestyle, this huge emotional event, he tries so hard to develop it as logically as possible. He “tried really hard to think if there was another explanation but [he] couldn’t think of one” (112). Once he realized that his usual way of thinking wasn’t working, he began to shut down and “rolled onto the bed and curled up in a ball.” (113). This is his reaction to a new kind of information that he could not process as logically as he was used to. This then altered every kind of processing he knew how to do. When his father put his hand on his shoulder to explain himself, “it didn’t hurt like it normally does” (114). This event is so significant because it shows a form of separation from the tendencies of autism. I think it was great to include this part because it gives insight on how those with autism sometimes react and how certain events can alter that.