Postmodernism in Curious Incident

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 Christopher's "murder mystery novel" about who killed Wellington. By having this duality of the two stories, readers get a lot of insight into Christopher's head. I really like that Christopher acknowledges himself as the narrator and writer and gives us an inside look at his writing process. For example, directly after the opening chapter about Christopher discovering Wellington's body he states, "Siobhan said that the book should begin with something to grab people's attention. That is why I started with the dog" (Haddon 5). I think Christopher's transparency not only helps us as readers understand people with ASD but also allows Haddon to make Christopher more lovable, quirky, and unintentionally funny. I love that Christopher has an entire spiel about how he cannot tell jokes and how his book will not be funny. He states, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them" (Haddon 8). However, I found myself laughing throughout the book at the things Christopher says because oftentimes he's just so direct about them. He doesn't avoid subjects that are taboo or avoid saying things that may come off as mean, simply because he doesn't understand social constructs that make these subjects so. He sees them as simple facts. For example, it's easy and natural for him to launch into a spiel about heaven not existing, backing all of his beliefs up with fact, despite the fact that most people are unaccustomed to hearing things like that said so easily. 

Another major and crucial postmodern element Haddon employs is narrative perspective. Obviously the narrator plays a huge role in every novel from every literary time period, but postmodern writers are looking to explore unique narrative perspectives. There's no denying that Christopher has a very unique and limited view of the world! When crafting this unique perspective, Haddon uses many techniques. For one, he gives us visuals of Christopher's thoughts. Early on in the novel he gives us the diagram Siobhan drew for Christopher to understand people's faces better (2-3), he gives us maps Christopher draws (87), math problems Christopher solves (64-65), his train timetable (155), and many more visuals. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it reinforces Christopher's reliance on charts, diagrams, and using math and logic to understand his world. Secondly, it gives readers a visual to help understand Christopher's thoughts better. For example, I wouldn't be able to understand the math problems in the novel without seeing it written out in diagrams. Haddon makes some other very intentional decisions to maintain the integrity of the narrative. For example, did you notice that Christopher always starts sentences with "and"? After awhile I noticed that dialogue would always be written with "And I said" "And Father said" "And I said"...this really helped reinforce the stream of consciousness writing style Haddon employs to create Christopher's voice. I also love that he included so many irrelevant details. It helped show everything Christopher was thinking about at every moment of the day. For example, when describing his teachers he says, "Siobhan has long blond hair and wears glasses which are made of green plastic. And Mr. Jeavons smells of soap and wears brown shoes that have approximately 60 tiny circular holes in each of them" (Haddon 5). This stream of consciousness style is also evident on a larger scale by the fact that each chapter is short and simple. They don't always have a beginning or an end and they don't all connect in a logical manner. This technique is referred to as fragmentation in the postmodernist world.

Overall, I definitely think this book should be taught in schools! It's so valuable to help teach adolescents about special needs and it allows kids who have or are touched by ASD to better understand and empathize with the condition. In my opinion, it's hard not to love and empathize with Christopher and his quirks! I really think adolescents need to read narratives about people who are different from them so they can learn to empathize as well. It's also a plus that this book doesn't come off quite as taboo or controversial than others we've read. I really don't see how this one would end up on a banned books list! (haha)