Parenting in Curious Incident

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     For my blog post on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, I decided to focus on the way the parents in the novel treat Christopher.  I found the portrayal of these characters to be fairly accurate to life.  Most adults are uncomfortable when dealing with children with disabilities, if only because they are not sure what to do.  This is true of even Christopher's parents, such as his mother, who tells him "I was not a very good mother, Christopher.  Maybe if things had been different, maybe if you'd been differant [sic], I might have been better at it.  But that's just the way things turned out.  I'm not like your father.  Your father is a much more pacient [sic] person.  He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn't let it show.  But that's not the way I am and there's nothing I can do to change that (106)."  This attitude is hard to swallow, especially considering how much care Christopher's father puts into caring for him, but I think a key part of it is that it's so realistic.  Parenting is a difficult job, and it's even harder when there are further considerations that must be made.  As cruel as it may seem to say, I think that some parents just aren't up for the task, so some of them react like Christopher's mother and distance themselves from the situation.  I also find it interesting that his mother is seen as the better person in this situation, as Christopher leaves his home and braves transit just to live with her.  Of course, there are several factors at play, namely the fact that he discovers his father killed Wellington, but his father is much better at taking care of Christopher and giving consideration to his disability, all things considered.
     Although Christopher's father is probably the best at taking care of his son, he is far from the best parent in the novel.  He comes to Christopher's defense when he is arrested, knows to spread his fingers out in place of a hug, and even keeps a bottle of red food coloring close at hand for his son.  However, especially when Christopher pries about the mystery of Wellington's death, he loses patience and snaps, telling him "OK, Christopher, I am going to say this for the last and final time.  I will not tell you again.  Look at me when I'm talking to you, for God's sake.  Look at me.  You are not to go asking Mrs. Shears about who killed that bloody dog.  You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.  you are not to go trespassing in other peoples' gardens.  You are to stop this ridiculous bloody detective game right now (49-50)."  Although Christopher sees his father's insistence to track him down and bring him home when he is missing as threatening, the readers can be aware that he is only concerned for his son's safety, and rightfully so. 
     The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is not a novel ostensibly about parenting, but I found that the narrative lends itself to part of a discussion about parenting, especially when parenting a child with a disability.  A parent can think they are doing the right thing by leaving the family or lying to the child, but when the truth rears its head, as it always does, this will only hurt the child in the long run.  Although Christopher does not seem forever impacted by his parents' decisions by the end of the novel, they have caused stress for him in any case. 

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