Preview

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time: How Christopher's Character Changes

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
936 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time: How Christopher's Character Changes
In the novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon the main character Christopher changes greatly during his adventure.

Christopher is very different to normal people as he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a mental illness which deprives him of his social abilities and emotional interpretation. Christopher changes from an innocent unknowing boy to one of newfound truths and knowledge. At the start of the book he is very shy and protective of himself, only talking to those that he trusts. The author writes “It takes me a long time to get used to people I do not know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch until I know that they are safe”. Christopher is very protective of himself he keeps a Swiss Army Knife for safety, with Chris's type of autism he communicates in a very unique way and can get overwhelmed when people talk to him. In his mind things need to be done a specific way and he does not like to take orders. If people start to ask him too many questions his brain cannot interpret the information properly and he can have a meltdown, in part of the story he hits a policeman because he is asking him questions too fast. Throughout the novel he tries to not hit/punch people because he knows it is the right thing to do and to stay out of trouble. He also becomes braver as he must overcome all his fears in order to fulfill his goals. The first reason Christopher changes is the problem that arises in the beginning of the book, the murder of Wellington a black Poodle of his neighbor’s. Christopher decides, because he likes dogs to find out who kills the dog. Because of his autistic condition he sees the world in a different view to other people, he sees everything in a different way, he is much more observant and the unusual aspects of things. This bought about the change because it is for this reason Christopher writes the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    What is unique about this book is that the young narrator has Asperger syndrome and the style of his writing is very peculiar. “This will not be a funny book”, says Christopher. “I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them”. But it is a funny book, as well as a sad one.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through out the book, Chris is prompted to make many small decisions in order to determine how he will live the rest of his life. From the moment he decided to go onto the road from Virginia to the West Coast, then landing in Alaska, he made small mistakes due to ignorance to fine details. During the most part of the book, Christopher McCandless is struggling without himself knowing of it. Many people he sees and meets along the way have warned him about the dangers of traversing the wilderness, alone with very little supplies and experience. After journeying into the deep Alaskan wilderness, Chris's actions show that with ignorance to small details, suffering will soon follow.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon the main character is Christopher Boone who is a 15 year old boy. His mother ran away with his neighbor Mr. Shears and then Christopher’s dad and Mrs. Shears try out a romance too. However Mrs. Shears backs out though, so Christopher’s father kills her dog with a pitch fork. Then being the animal lover and curious person he is, wants to investigate the death of the dog. Christopher’s investigation was provoked by Mr. and Mrs. Shears; additionally, each of these characters enhanced Christopher’s life in different ways.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, we are introduced to Christopher Boone, a 15 year old boy who has a disability comparatively to Asperger's Syndrome. Christopher only lives with his dad, Ed Boone, because he is told that his mother died a couple of year ago from a heart attack. In the book, we learn Christoper has countless love-hate relationships with irregular objects. He loves math, red objects, and being honest; however he hates, yellow objects, metaphors, and lying. Christopher's main reason to write a mystery book, was to tell readers his process of finding the killer of Wellington, Mrs. Shears’s (his neighbor’s) dog. However, during the process of solving the mystery and writing his book, he comes across…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christopher changes when he decides to solve Wellington's murder since he must socialize with neighbors and strangers, something way out of his comfort zone. Because of his mental disability, he's not very good at having conversations and doesn't feel comfortable around people and has trouble understanding social cues. He also hates it when people touch or grab him, which leads to him getting arrested for hitting a police officer: "I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him." His arrest happened when the police showed up to his neighbor Mrs. Shears's lawn, the scene of the crime.…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Some cannot wait to become adults, while others wish nothing more than for time to slow down. Wanting to grow up and being forced to out of necessity have many different effects on a young mind. Christopher wants nothing more than to receive his A level math and be like any other boy his age. He has never seen himself any more challenged than other children, often thinking of himself as superior to them. Unlike the others, Christopher feels he thrives in solitude and loves to be on his own. “When I was asleep I had one of my favorite dreams... and in that dream nearly everyone on the earth is dead” (Haddon 198-199). Christopher has no realistic knowledge of how to fend or care for himself, but as far as he knows,…

    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    He struggles in social scenarios and cannot read emotions, but flourishes in theoretical areas (such as mathematics). His social isolation is emphasised in his first person narration. “They are lies about things which didn’t happen and they make me feel shaky and scared.” He cannot cope with ‘normal’ social situations and is dislocated from society. This alienation drastically impacts the decisions he makes throughout the novel, and impacts his relationships. “…and it was dark in there and there was no one in there with me …and I did some quadratic equations like 0=437x + 103x + 11.” Christopher’s use of equations allow him to forget about his social struggles, and allow him to detach himself from reality. He functions in his own unique and logical world. This social solitude and Christopher’s unique condition greatly impacts the personal choices made throughout the novel, and the ramifications of these on…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When dealing with new situations, Christopher seems to react in a weird way when he is fazed by uncomfortable situations or new situations. He hates unpredictable situations and dislikes anything new. For example, when Christopher appears upon a dead dog, he copes with this new situations differently. (Haddon 1). He's willing to spend his whole life finding who killed Wellington and even write a book about it. Another example is when Christopher found his mother's letters in his father's room. He didn’t know how to react. He…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was written by Mark Haddon, to tell the story of Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy living in Swindon Wiltshire. Christopher was trying to discover who killed Mrs. Shears dog. Throughout the investigation, the author, Mark Haddon, wrote about Christopher’s Asperger’s Syndrome. Christopher Boone is accurately portrayed as someone with Asperger’s Syndrome. It shows the difficulties and the behavior as someone with Asperger’s Syndrome and gives the readers the chance to look inside the mind of kid with a autism spectrum disorder.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lala Essay

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Relationship between Christopher and his world - how Christopher interacts with him world; his perceptions of people and the world and how we as the reader realise the world perceives him…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When we think about heroes, Superman, Batman and other stereotypical heroes usually come to mind, but perhaps it’s the people that the public eye might consider “flawed” that bring this concept of bravery and courage into perspective. In Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Christopher is a most unexpected example of a hero. Although he may seem like an ordinary, 15-year-old boy, somewhat limited by autism, Christopher, in his own unique way, brings a new meaning to the word “hero”. Christopher shows the characteristics of a hero through his determination, and his ability to overcome his dependence on routines and certainties. This ability to conquer over his “disability” puts him above the common stereotypical hero.…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Into the Wild

    • 4535 Words
    • 19 Pages

    We know about characters from their actions, their thoughts, what they say, their appearance, and what others say about them. This book explores a character, Chris McCandless, and the actions he takes. Before reading about…

    • 4535 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adversity At Night

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Haddon allows Christopher to use politically incorrect words to make the point that people view autistic children as abnormal. As Christopher explains why he and his classmates are considered to have Special Needs, he remembers that, "...people used to call children like that spaz and crip and mong, which were nasty words." (44) As he continues, Christopher says that children now yell "Special needs, special needs!" so the language does not matter, the mean thoughts behind the labels are the same no matter what the words. By having Christopher express that realization, Haddon has use those specific and cruel words to illustrate both the depth of Christopher's intelligence and the fact that he understands how the world views him. Yet Haddon also shows the other side of autism when Christopher travels to London. His actions frustrate and anger people who try to help him and through their words the reader grasps how a prejudice against Christopher is understandable. Several incidents force Christopher into interactions with strangers; these encounters end in exasperation for the supposed helpers. As Christopher is in the train station trying to get to London, a policeman tries to help him. After engaging Christopher in conversation which is not literal enough for Christopher to understand, the policeman comments,…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christopher sees himself as a logical and curious person, he also thinks that he is ahead of mostly everybody in his class. As well as he is so determined to prove that he is not as low as his peers, he proved it by scoring a perfect score on his math exam. This would help his grade and help him get into the best colleges. He deals with the fact that he’s different than other people by performing his best so he can excel and achieve more. Even though he knows that he is a little different than everybody else, he still tries to become significant. For example a time when Christopher realized he was different was in chapter 3. It states “I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying.” This is when Siobhan drew him a bunch of different facial expressions. It was difficult for him to realize what people were feeling , so he either asked them what they were feeling or just walked away. This shows he is different.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, Pincher Martin, written by William Golding, Christopher Hadley Martin goes through a psychological transformation when he is stranded on an uninhabited island. The author associates his internal change with external change, by forcing Christopher into isolation and with the use of strong symbolic language. This seclusion triggers his transformation and ultimately results in his death. Christopher begins his journey when he is the only survivor of a torpedoed destroyer during World War II. He has the rigid mentality of a soldier throughout his whole ordeal. Golding argues that when placed in extreme isolation and given the right circumstances, man will return to the innate barbarism that was instilled in him since birth. Golding's modernist ideas greatly influence this novel, proving that separation of man and animals is not definite. Eventually, Christopher regresses to his natural savage instincts and loses his mind on the huge barren rock that he is stranded on. Christopher Martin transforms from an intelligent, determined man, into a secluded, insane animal. His path to destruction begins with a relentless attitude, while struggling to stay afloat in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays