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

Mark Haddon, the author of the 2003 best seller book the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, was born in Northampton, England, 1962 (Ewing). He was a son of an architect father and homemaker mother (Ewing). In his early life, he was interested in math and science (Terry). As he attended college, he realized his love of English literature and attainted B.S degree at Oxford University in 1981(Ewing). After graduation, he volunteered to be a home caregiver for a multiple sclerosis patient and embarked on a variety of ordinary jobs in London , balancing his inner self after being burdened in “a fairly luxurious setting” of the well-known Oxford University(Terry). In 1983, he returned to college, finishing his M.Sc. in English Literature
In the book the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, playing with language in a fearless, toneless voice and implementing juxtaposition, ironic representation of disguise and symbolism, Haddon deliberately draws the theme of family ties—the essentially emotional ties binding all family members together regardless of how distinctive the families
Christopher, the narrator, was first emotionally attached to his apparently dead mother as he witnessed his neighbour’s Willington dead dog and was accidently arrested for hitting the police (Haddon 9). After his father came and got him home, he saw his father crying (Haddon 16-21). He verbally interpreted his father’s sadness stemmed from the dog’s death (Haddon 21). Then he afterward immediately reminded, “Mother died 2 years ago” (Haddon 22). The one-sentence paragraph captures attention itself, linking the prior events—the dog’s death and his father’s misery—to his mother’s death. In other words, the diametrically opposed language—telling and showing—reflects the invisible connection that attaches him to his dead mother—the inevitably human emotional connection Christopher’s mentally impaired condition