The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Taylor Simmons

By Taylor Simmons -
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime written by Mark Haddon, Christopher, the main protagonist, struggles with being misunderstood while he trys to relate to others. Christopher is often isolated from the world as he explores the murder of Wellington, he neighbor’s dog, alone. Christopher has an unidentified form of Autism and this makes him different from the other characters in the novel. Christopher is very intelligent, but because of his condition, he thinks, speaks, and reacts to certain situations differently from others. This novel starts as Christopher’s investigation, murder mystery novel as he tries to uncover who killed Wellington but turns into a heart-wrenching novel of a young boy who wants to be understood and have trusting people in his life. 
               What I took away from this book was Christopher’s development. At the start of the novel, Christopher finds Wellington dead in Mrs. Shear’s garden. Instead of looking for help, Christopher goes to the dog and picks him up, bloody and all, Christopher holds him. At this point, we see that when Christopher is passionate about something, he will not stop until he finds out what he needs to know, hence the investigation of the dog murder despite being told many times to stop by his father and even some neighbors.

               Haddon uses characterization to help readers understand Christopher and get into his mind to see how he thinks. Christopher is very smart, he knows math and prime numbers very well, and all of the countries and their capitals. We also see that through his investigation of Wellington that he can relate to animals more than to humans. We also see this by how he treats his pet rat, Toby. Christopher hates the colors yellow and brown, so much that they cause his to have bad days and he will not eat food with those colors but seeing red cars will cause a super good day. These characteristics may seem a little weird but it made me realize that Christopher is actually not that different. We all have favorite colors and likes and dislikes just like Christopher and we also have favorite topics that we could talk about for hours.

               The climax of the story, Christopher finding out his dad killed Wellington and lied about what really happened to his mother, was a turning point for Christopher. All of this information confuses Christopher so much to the point that he plans a way to escape. He does not trust his father at this point and he wants to get a way. Christopher goes to London on his own to live with his mother. This shows Christopher’s development and how he breaks away from what he has always known and gains independence.  Christopher’s experience at the train station, being around so many new people, loud noises and everyone talking at once, granted him a new opportunity and I think the point Haddon was trying to make was that despite the disability someone may have or a condition that makes them different, they really are no different than the average person, we can all do the same things it just may not all be in the same exact way. Christopher’s trip shows that there is always more to someone that meets the eye and we should definitely judge a book by its cover.

Comments

  1. KeyCSeptember 25, 2017 at 5:40 PM

    I love how you references that Christopher actually isn't different because we can all relate with having a favorite color and dislikes which is very true. I personally think we all can relate with Christopher because it is normal for some to have things done in order, or a particular way (I'm guilty of this). Yes, I took from this novel as well to not judge a book before getting to know why someone has specified views on a certain things.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 29, 2017 at 8:52 AM

    Taylor, I love how you mention that Christopher just hugs the dog and doesn't let go. It really showcases his personality and how once he begins something he will not stop. Christopher is stubborn and does not stop until he reaches his goal, despite all the complications that comes about.
    I love your point about Christopher being just like us. We all face hard trials and have to make tough decisions. That's something I didn't think about during this book, but it is definitely an important thought to keep while reading this book.

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