Christopher's Father In 'Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night'

Christopher’s father is the one person who understands him. Do you agree?

In the novel, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon has created the character of the 14 year old Christopher Boone, a teenager with Aspergers Syndrome. Christopher’s father is not the only person who understands him. Many other people like his Mum, Siobhan, and Mrs. Alexander can relate to him, but to different extents.

Christopher’s father respects, understands and takes care of Christopher. His father lives with him so he knows about Christopher’s quirky behavior. For example, Christopher’s father understands that Christopher can’t be touched. Instead of them hugging like a normal father son relationship, they touch their hands together. He understands that Christopher can’t eat foods that are yellow or brown so his father cooks things to suit Christopher. This is why Christopher trusts his father.
However, Christopher’s father is not the only person that understands Christopher.
Siobhan, Christopher’s aid at school also can empathise with Christopher. Siobhan is like Christopher’s mentor and only friend. She teaches him a lot about people’s expressions and what they can mean. Christopher is a very literal person which means you can’t tell him things like “He was the apple of her eye” and other metaphors because he can’t understand the double meaning. Siobhan teachers him about the double meaning in metaphors and similes. Siobhan helps Christopher to analyze the world around him. Christopher can understand simple expressions like happy, sad or angry, however, he can’t understand other expressions like confused and body language that can mean more than one meaning. This is why Siobhan is another person Christopher can
trust.

Christopher’s mother can also relate to Christopher because she is his mother. She is sometimes impatient with him but she still understands him. At the beginning of the book Christopher thinks that she is dead so he missed her. But later on in the book he finds out that she is not dead she is really alive. So Christopher goes on a journey to find his mother. When he finally finds her in London all of there troubles are erased and he becomes trustworthy again. She also understands that he hates being touched and that he can’t eat food that is brown or yellow so she, like Christopher’s father cooks different food for him and does what Christopher likes.

Mrs. Alexander, a member of the community, also a friend of Christopher understands him and Christopher and Mrs. Alexander have a trusting relationship because she tells him the truth about his mother and Mr. Sheers having an affair. She also understands Christopher’s behavior so Christopher knows he can trust her.

Mr. Sheers, Christopher’s mother’s lover can’t relate to him. He can’t understand Christopher’s behavior and he can’t except that he needs his mother twenty-four hours a day. Mr. Sheers is not the only person who can’t empathise with him; the general public also finds it hard to except his social behavior. For example in the supermarket he can just have fits and sit on the ground and not go anywhere so people look at him funny.

Christopher Boone is a complicated and unusual character like many other people with developmental disorders. Those who are closest to him understand Christopher this isn’t always just family. Christopher’s father is not the only character in his son’s life that relates to how Christopher thinks, feels and acts.

By Nathan Brook
Yr 9C VCASS