The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime

The novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, has many antagonists that negatively impact Christopher’s quality of life. Ed Boone is the main antagonist in the novel. Ed Boone negatively impacts Christopher's quality of life by killing Wellington, lying to Christopher, and not handling Christopher's disorder properly.
Killing Wellington is one of the first mistakes Ed made as a father in the novel. If Ed did not kill Wellington, Christopher wouldn’t start to solve the crime, Ed knows that Christopher loves dogs but proceeds to murder the dog anyway, and played it down when telling Christopher thinking it would be okay. If Ed did not kill Wellington, Christopher would not need to solve the mystery of who did it,
He hits, yells, swears and is impatient with Christopher, doesn’t understand his needs being autistic, and can not control his anger around Christopher. Christopher, with his disorder, does not understand human emotions and does not like being touched. Throughout the novel, Ed seems to be doing all of the things that Christopher specifically doesn’t like. There is one point in the novel where Ed gets really mad at Christopher and yells and hits him. “I told you...Not to go sticking your f______ nose into other people’s business. And what do you do? You go around sticking your nose in other people’s business...What the f___ am I going to do with you Christopher?” “...But Father interrupted me and grabbed hold of my arm really hard.” (Haddon 82) This shows his lack of patience with Christopher and his abusiveness. This also relates to how Ed does not understand Christopher’s needs in relation to his disorder. If Ed understood Christopher, he would not hit him or yell at him. Doing these things only scare Christopher, they do not help him grow. Not only does Ed not control his anger towards Christopher, he also can not control his anger around Christopher. When Ed goes to London to find his son, he yells and swears at Roger and Judy knowing that Christopher can hear. “You, butt out or I’ll…” “I'm going to see him. And if you try to stop me…” (Haddon 197) This only scares Christopher more and makes his want to stay with his mom. Ed tries to be loving and caring, but he simply can not be patient enough, as this author says, “Ed displays caring and loving traits, and shows love for his son in many many ways, in spite of Christopher's dislike in physical contact. However, he is often impulsive, and can be verbally and physically abusive, when he is