Comparative Essay – Can social disabilities affect an individual’s perception of the world and how they interact with their external world?
Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (TCIDN) is a murder mystery novel which takes place in the year 1998 in and around the town of Swindon, England and Sofie Laguna’s The Eye of the Sheep (TEOTS) tells a story of a dysfunctional family which is set in Melbourne’s west, Australia. Social disabilities can affect an individual’s perception of the world and how they interact with their external world. This is shown as both books have a child narrator with a developmental disability which affects how they see the world, and heightens the unique perceptions of a child’s limited understanding. …show more content…
Conflicts occasionally result from the main character’s disabilities and the complicated relationships between the families.
One aspect which illustrates that social disabilities can affect a person’s discernment of the world and how they interact with it is subjectivity. The narrator of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is a child, Christopher Boone has a social disability which causes him to see the world in a strange way, and much of the novel allows the reader to share Christopher’s unique perspective. The novel frequently diverts from the main plot to give us Christopher’s thoughts or feelings on a particular subject. This quote, “But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people's faces move very quickly.” (TCIDN, Page 4) shows that Christopher lacks the ability to fully understand what takes place in the minds of other people because he is unable to identify a person’s mood from their facial expressions. Consequently, this creates problems when communicating with …show more content…
His father is often enraged by Jimmy. For instance, early in the book when he wanted to mow the lawn, Jimmy watched as his father starts the lawn mower, but once the lawn mower starts, he disrupts his father and runs around getting on his father’s nerves. As Jimmy jumps and falls against the handle of the mower, it tips on its side and as Jimmy jumps again, his father reaches for him but ends up getting injured. Jimmy’s father Gavin, is an abusive and alcoholic and often calls Jimmy a “bloody little retard”. However, occasionally the family share a rare afternoon of fun and comradeship, such as that time when Jimmy’s father makes a go-cart for him, “Dad gave me a brush and we painted together without talking and I didn’t feel the need, not a single one.” (TEOTS, Page 48) This shows the bond between the two, working together without the need for words, when Jimmy’s father is not enraged or drunk and violent. However, the next day, he acts like the day before never happened, he looks at Jimmy for a second and then ignores him. The use of allegory in this quote, “I could see there was a war going inside Dad’s head as he hammered. That’s what made his neck sweat. Every day there were more men joining the battle. They shot arrows and bullets at each other and threw bombs full of glass and splinters. It hurt him to look at me or Robby because of the shrapnel
Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (TCIDN) is a murder mystery novel which takes place in the year 1998 in and around the town of Swindon, England and Sofie Laguna’s The Eye of the Sheep (TEOTS) tells a story of a dysfunctional family which is set in Melbourne’s west, Australia. Social disabilities can affect an individual’s perception of the world and how they interact with their external world. This is shown as both books have a child narrator with a developmental disability which affects how they see the world, and heightens the unique perceptions of a child’s limited understanding. …show more content…
Conflicts occasionally result from the main character’s disabilities and the complicated relationships between the families.
One aspect which illustrates that social disabilities can affect a person’s discernment of the world and how they interact with it is subjectivity. The narrator of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is a child, Christopher Boone has a social disability which causes him to see the world in a strange way, and much of the novel allows the reader to share Christopher’s unique perspective. The novel frequently diverts from the main plot to give us Christopher’s thoughts or feelings on a particular subject. This quote, “But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people's faces move very quickly.” (TCIDN, Page 4) shows that Christopher lacks the ability to fully understand what takes place in the minds of other people because he is unable to identify a person’s mood from their facial expressions. Consequently, this creates problems when communicating with …show more content…
His father is often enraged by Jimmy. For instance, early in the book when he wanted to mow the lawn, Jimmy watched as his father starts the lawn mower, but once the lawn mower starts, he disrupts his father and runs around getting on his father’s nerves. As Jimmy jumps and falls against the handle of the mower, it tips on its side and as Jimmy jumps again, his father reaches for him but ends up getting injured. Jimmy’s father Gavin, is an abusive and alcoholic and often calls Jimmy a “bloody little retard”. However, occasionally the family share a rare afternoon of fun and comradeship, such as that time when Jimmy’s father makes a go-cart for him, “Dad gave me a brush and we painted together without talking and I didn’t feel the need, not a single one.” (TEOTS, Page 48) This shows the bond between the two, working together without the need for words, when Jimmy’s father is not enraged or drunk and violent. However, the next day, he acts like the day before never happened, he looks at Jimmy for a second and then ignores him. The use of allegory in this quote, “I could see there was a war going inside Dad’s head as he hammered. That’s what made his neck sweat. Every day there were more men joining the battle. They shot arrows and bullets at each other and threw bombs full of glass and splinters. It hurt him to look at me or Robby because of the shrapnel