The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time Analysis

Imagine you are able to remember every detail of everything you see, such as conversations, what people are wearing during the day and even what they smell like, from what I know not many people have this ability, however the protagonist Christopher, in the novel, “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” can and this is due to his mental illness, autism. Mark Haddon’s choice of character is different to most crime and mystery related novels. Firstly I will discuss how Asperger’s syndrome has affected the way in which Christopher communicates with others. Subsequently I will explain the protagonist description on what is true and what is a lie, this also reflects on his perception of the world and this is heavily influenced by the
For instance, Christopher says “I think it should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day and people do not have skeletons in their cupboards.” Through first person perspective, Christopher displays frustration with his inability to understand the subtlety of the English language and uses a strong verb (lie) to express his belief of metaphors. This contrast is shown when he explains “this is not a metaphor. It is a simile …” to show that he understands similes in comparison to metaphors. The climax is when Christopher discovers that his father has been lying to him about his mother’s death. Christopher feels overwhelmed and says “Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all this time and father had lied about this.” Repetition of the noun ‘mother’ suggests Christopher’s emotional state as he felt disoriented because he found out that the one person who he trusted had lied to him. His father also uncovered the mystery of Wellington’s murderer who turned out to be him. Christopher says “Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him...” which shows that he feels frightened and vulnerable which is portrayed through the use of the hyperbole. Christopher experiences a sensation as though his life is in danger therefore, as a consequence, he escapes without his father’s permission. This
Because of his condition, Christopher cannot be as independent as he would like as he tends to “put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes… till I was hunched up with my forehead …” which is revealed through visual imagery, however, he still yearns to become independent. He states “I think I would make a very good astronaut…you would also have to be someone who would like being on their own… thousands and thousands of miles away…” Through repetition of the number thousands suggests Christopher would be okay if he lived a solitary life, unaided and unassisted, this represents a fantasy of escape from his current situation where he is dependent on his father meaning he has to obey his rules. Chapter 229 begins with the protagonists deepest wishes where he states “And when I was asleep I had one of my favourite dreams … And in the dream nearly everyone on earth is dead” through the use of polysyndeton further emphasises his desire to live in solidarity so he would not have any social interactions besides those who have the same condition as him. Furthermore he will not have any authoritative figures giving him commands. These details reveal Christopher’s sense of maturity as it fulfils his desire to live as an adult so he could make decisions on his