The Curious Case Of The Dog In The Night

In Mark Haddon’s the curious case of the dog in the night time, the author uses his knowledge of Asperger’s syndrome to truly immerse the reader in the story. This provides a deep understanding that nearly allows the reader to see the book in first person, and allows them to truly understand, relate to, and empathize with the main character. The sense of depth gives the book’s dramatic events true meaning, and makes them impactful to the reader rather than being yet another novel attempting to use cheap and dry drama to lure readers in. Lastly, taking the place of Chris throughout his adventures adds an element of realism to the novel that would not otherwise be present. Many novels have the ability to create a very strong and defined main
character for the reader to follow and bond with. However, the reader must still overcome the perceptual gap between the two lives, and attempt to see the story through the eyes of the main character; a feat many may struggle with. This is not an issue with Haddon’s writing. Immediately we are thrown into the world of Chris, seeing the world truly from his perspective, and even written in his own words. Some of this dialogue very accurately and generally describes Christopher’s whole attitude and perspective towards life and its events. A prominent example of this would be when Christopher is attempting to figure out the faces of people around him by using diagrams. “But it was very difficult to decide which one of the diagrams was just like the face they were making because some peoples faces move very quickly (3)”. Another is when he describes what happened to Wellington. Chris’ odd word choice and demeanor easily allow the reader to put themselves in his place, getting quite involved in the story. This is shown when Chris says, “He was leaking blood from the fork holes (3).” Phrases like these were scattered early and often in the novel, thus allowing the reader to get a grasp on the main character early on in the novel. Seeing the book through Chris’ eyes this way really gives the reader a strong ability to truly feel the deep moments in the story, rather than it just being glossed over and dismissed and more pointless drama in a modern day novel.
Seeing and feeling Chris’ emotions and reactions to the family drama added a strong element of realism. This was further enhanced as Chris changed and began to truly feel more emotions. This can be seen in the novel when he says, “It made me sad to think that I could never be an astronaut (132).” and “I felt sick and I started groaning really loudly and the lady on the bench stood up and no one else sat down. And I felt like I felt like when I had flu and I had to stay in bed all day and all of me hit and I couldn't walk or eat or go sleep or do maths (176).” The author not only does a good job at immersion by using Chris’ emotions, but also the powerful way the people around him react to what he does. This adds a sense of realism, seriousness, and urgency. Many adults interact with Chris, and deal with his condition in differing manners. Whether it is his teacher helping him, or a man in the subway yelling at him, Haddon does an amazing job at making the situation seem real and important; thus allowing you to feel the emotions accompanied by the event alongside
Chris. When the two aforementioned elements of immersion come together, it adds a strong element of realism to the novel. Truly feeling like you are Chris taking an adventure to London, partnered with realistic conflicts and concerns, creates an incredibly vivid mental image for the reader. This is due to the fact that Haddon provides every building block the reader needs in order to construct said mental image, a task many other authors fail at. This can also be accredited to the small little details the Haddon adds to make the book seem even more like it is written by our character, and is a piece of his world. One example of this is each chapter being labeled in prime numbers. Chris comments on this while introducing himself to the audience, saying “My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all of the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057 (2).” These small but powerful details continue to add these elements of realism to the novel and backs the narrative that we are being directly told the story by Chris himself. In Mark Haddon’s the curious case of the dog in the night time, he uses his knowledge of Asperger’s syndrome to create a vivid sense of immersion for the audience. This creates a strong mental image that allows the reader to experience the book as if they were Chris, and allows them to truly understand him. The sense of depth gives the book’s climactic events true meaning, and makes them impactful to the reader. This prevents them from becoming oversaturated cheap and dry drama to lure readers in. Lastly, taking the place of Chris throughout this adventure adds an extreme element of realism to the novel that it would not otherwise have.