The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a novel written by Mark Haddon. It’s about Christopher Boone, a 15 year old boy, who lives in Swindon, with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism. Haddon used techniques such as motifs, diagrams and symbolisation to convey to the audience Christopher’s view of the world and in developing empathy towards people with disabilities.
The audience is aware that he is unable to recognise facial expression and he needs to be taught to understand emotions. However, we can relate to him with his anxiety and confusion when he finds his mother’s letters and his experience on his journey to London. Siobhan, his teacher at his special needs school helps him understand the way people act and she …show more content…
He also fans out his fingers and touches Christopher hand, which symbolises his father’s love for him. Ed told him a monumental lie that his mother, Judy died. “I wonder if you can understand any of this. I know it will be very difficult for you. But I hope you can understand a little.” This line appears in one of Judy’s letters, the one in which she explains why she left. After writing about explanations and memories, she writes that Christopher might not be able to understand any of the letters, suggesting that she's writing this letter as a way to express her own guilt as she is to apologise to Christopher. When he uncovers the truth about his mother, he felt sick and was in a trance. “There is a gap in my memory...I had been sick all over the bed.” His detached description of this is juxtaposed against his intense reactions. Christopher can neither control nor rationalise his emotional …show more content…
Ed also exposes a helpless side of himself with the affair with Mrs. Shears, showing that he wanted love and support. However, Christopher becomes frightened of his father. “I couldn’t live with father anymore because it was dangerous.” Christopher’s logic tells him he has to leave the house, because if his father killed Wellington then he might kill Christopher.
Christopher makes a mental map of the choices to live away from his father and realises the only option is to live with his mother in London. Christopher’s ways of coping on his journey to London shows that he is able to keep his antisocial behaviour under control when it is necessary. However, he does show odd behaviours, such as hiding in the luggage area when the police is with him, sitting at the train station with his eyes closed for 5 hours and jumping down onto the rails to find his pet rat, Toby.
Christopher carries his Swiss Army Knife everywhere he goes, often clutching it in his pocket on his journey to London. The knife makes him feel safe, because he knows that if anyone tries to attack him, he can defend himself and could even kill them. “If they hit me and if I kill them it will be self-defence.” Thus, the knife symbolises Christopher’s physical safety, the only kind of safety he’s aware of. However, the knife can’t protect him from the mental and emotional damage that his parents cause
The audience is aware that he is unable to recognise facial expression and he needs to be taught to understand emotions. However, we can relate to him with his anxiety and confusion when he finds his mother’s letters and his experience on his journey to London. Siobhan, his teacher at his special needs school helps him understand the way people act and she …show more content…
He also fans out his fingers and touches Christopher hand, which symbolises his father’s love for him. Ed told him a monumental lie that his mother, Judy died. “I wonder if you can understand any of this. I know it will be very difficult for you. But I hope you can understand a little.” This line appears in one of Judy’s letters, the one in which she explains why she left. After writing about explanations and memories, she writes that Christopher might not be able to understand any of the letters, suggesting that she's writing this letter as a way to express her own guilt as she is to apologise to Christopher. When he uncovers the truth about his mother, he felt sick and was in a trance. “There is a gap in my memory...I had been sick all over the bed.” His detached description of this is juxtaposed against his intense reactions. Christopher can neither control nor rationalise his emotional …show more content…
Ed also exposes a helpless side of himself with the affair with Mrs. Shears, showing that he wanted love and support. However, Christopher becomes frightened of his father. “I couldn’t live with father anymore because it was dangerous.” Christopher’s logic tells him he has to leave the house, because if his father killed Wellington then he might kill Christopher.
Christopher makes a mental map of the choices to live away from his father and realises the only option is to live with his mother in London. Christopher’s ways of coping on his journey to London shows that he is able to keep his antisocial behaviour under control when it is necessary. However, he does show odd behaviours, such as hiding in the luggage area when the police is with him, sitting at the train station with his eyes closed for 5 hours and jumping down onto the rails to find his pet rat, Toby.
Christopher carries his Swiss Army Knife everywhere he goes, often clutching it in his pocket on his journey to London. The knife makes him feel safe, because he knows that if anyone tries to attack him, he can defend himself and could even kill them. “If they hit me and if I kill them it will be self-defence.” Thus, the knife symbolises Christopher’s physical safety, the only kind of safety he’s aware of. However, the knife can’t protect him from the mental and emotional damage that his parents cause