Dog In The Nighttime Techniques
The curious incident of the dog in the night time written by mark haddon is narrated from the perspective of a 15 year old boy Christopher who suffers from Aspergers syndrome. Like any good novel, this story is made memorable through the interaction of ideas and the techniques used to represent these ideas.
Idea: Seeing the world through the eyes of an Autistic boy
Techniques: Language techniques
Christopher expresses himself in a simple straight forward way cannot understand commonly accepted modes of signaling cannot emphasise with people or understand how they would be feeling focuses on small details
The fact that Christopher has a form of autism allows Haddon to take away the baggage that language has adopted over the years and
to strip it bare once again to a pure form; we have to interact directly with the words that are spoken and not with the implications of these words according to the society we live in
Paradox: simple voice (had to be written in more then a simple voice), cant lie (always gets things wrong), bad narrator (the narrator works with the story and becomes good)
Metaphor: cannot understand commonly accepted modes of signaling. For instance, he says 'I find people confusing. This is for two main reasons. The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking without using any words...The second main reason is that people often talk using metaphors.' Christopher does not accept the typical 'signals' that people use to communicate, for instance 'raising an eyebrow' which Siobhan explains to him 'can mean 'I want to do sex with you' and it can also mean 'I think that what you just said was very stupid.'
Idea: Detective story
Idea: Tragedy in his search for truth, Christopher uncovers a mystery that not only implicates him and his family but also causes a major shift in his family: he moves out and lives with his mother.
Techniques:
Idea: Love and relationships
Christopher's inability to express his feelings of love and closeness in a typical manner can feel alienating. If you did not understand Christopher you might not believe he was capable of feelings of love in the way in which most people understand. However, Christopher once again teaches us the importance of reassessing our own definitions.
Idea: Seeing the world through the eyes of an Autistic boy
Techniques: Language techniques
Christopher expresses himself in a simple straight forward way cannot understand commonly accepted modes of signaling cannot emphasise with people or understand how they would be feeling focuses on small details
The fact that Christopher has a form of autism allows Haddon to take away the baggage that language has adopted over the years and
to strip it bare once again to a pure form; we have to interact directly with the words that are spoken and not with the implications of these words according to the society we live in
Paradox: simple voice (had to be written in more then a simple voice), cant lie (always gets things wrong), bad narrator (the narrator works with the story and becomes good)
Metaphor: cannot understand commonly accepted modes of signaling. For instance, he says 'I find people confusing. This is for two main reasons. The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking without using any words...The second main reason is that people often talk using metaphors.' Christopher does not accept the typical 'signals' that people use to communicate, for instance 'raising an eyebrow' which Siobhan explains to him 'can mean 'I want to do sex with you' and it can also mean 'I think that what you just said was very stupid.'
Idea: Detective story
Idea: Tragedy in his search for truth, Christopher uncovers a mystery that not only implicates him and his family but also causes a major shift in his family: he moves out and lives with his mother.
Techniques:
Idea: Love and relationships
Christopher's inability to express his feelings of love and closeness in a typical manner can feel alienating. If you did not understand Christopher you might not believe he was capable of feelings of love in the way in which most people understand. However, Christopher once again teaches us the importance of reassessing our own definitions.