Adversity At Night

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, relies on the narration of a fifteen year old autistic boy to tell a simple yet convoluted story of murder, betrayal and triumph. At first thought, Christopher Boone, would not seem to be a reliable narrator yet Haddon asks the reader to take a leap of faith by believing in Christopher's abilities despite the limitations of autism. Using Christopher's point of view, straightforward and honest narrative diction, imagery as well as the physical images Christopher draws, Haddon approaches many questions in his writing. Among these are how does society view people with disabilities and differences, how can adversity be overcome, and how does Christopher's family become the catalyst
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,
Foster would describe as a quest. As Foster outlines, Haddon has identified a questor, Christopher, a destination which is London, a specific reason for christopher to go to London which is to escape his father. Christopher encounters many "challenges and trials en route," (Foster 3) and a real reason for the quest which is to find out his mother is alive and to show how a person with autism can be brave, brilliant and resourceful. Unwittingly, Christopher's parents create the circumstances that start his quest. His mother has an affair, his father tells him his mother is dead, Mr. Boone hides the letters from Christopher's mom and he admits to killing Wellington thereby scaring Christopher and generating the need, in Christopher's mind, for his quest. As Foster states, "the real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge" (Foster 3). Haddon makes great use of Christopher's illustrations and equations to show his actual knowledge. Ironically, Christopher, due to his autism, is not capable of true self-knowledge so his quest does not quite fulfill Foster's requirements and becomes a modified quest with supporting characters gaining self-knowledge and Christopher learning as he always does with deliberation and insight but with a faulty logic that defines his thought