Private and Public World: The Curious Incident of a Dog In the Night-Time
An individual’s public world is shaped by society’s established traditions and expectations whilst the private world is one’s true persona. These two worlds seem diametrically opposite; however, the intertwining complexities between the two worlds can be explored and understood through the analysis of narrative voice. An individual’s unique mindset, experiences and context, and their response to difficult situations influence the intricate bond between the public and private world. Such factors are necessary in communicating the individual’s thoughts and behaviours. Through narrative voice, Mark Haddon investigates the relationship between the public and private worlds …show more content…
The variation between an individual’s public and private world can be interpreted through analysing their narrative voice and behaviour and how it differs to the responder’s own voice. The Curious Incident gives the audience a full insight into the subjective world of Christopher. The protagonist, Christopher, has an intellectually adept and ruthlessly precise mind; however, he finds it extremely difficult to interact with others and understand complex human emotions. The convolutions of Christopher’s mind are highlighted in the scene with his altercation with a policeman. Despite the policeman’s harmless intentions by helping Christopher get up, he misinterprets this and lashes out, “The policeman… lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” The unemotional tone in these statements confirms that Christopher’s social …show more content…
The complexity of the relationship between Christopher Boone’s public and private world is established in the plot catalyst, where he makes discoveries about his mother and the extent of his father’s betrayal. Before Christopher stumbles across his mother’s letters, he says, “And this shows that sometimes people want to be stupid and they do not want to know the truth. And it shows…” The anaphora and accumulation of his denial foreshadows the upcoming events in Christopher’s public world and how it will dramatically impact his private world. This is ironic as Christopher’s values in truth are about to be challenged. He must confront the realities of his public world to overcome his private world, proving that experiences have the power to change his behaviour. When Christopher discovers his mother’s letters, his father attempts to justify his actions; “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly, I did. I never meant to lie.” The use of truncated sentence reinforces Mr Boone’s feeble effort to conceal the extent of his lies. This admission distorts Christopher’s sense of the public world, he retreats into his private world by doing mathematical questions such as, “I tried doubling in 2s … I couldn’t get past 215… So I groaned…” the first
An individual’s public world is shaped by society’s established traditions and expectations whilst the private world is one’s true persona. These two worlds seem diametrically opposite; however, the intertwining complexities between the two worlds can be explored and understood through the analysis of narrative voice. An individual’s unique mindset, experiences and context, and their response to difficult situations influence the intricate bond between the public and private world. Such factors are necessary in communicating the individual’s thoughts and behaviours. Through narrative voice, Mark Haddon investigates the relationship between the public and private worlds …show more content…
The variation between an individual’s public and private world can be interpreted through analysing their narrative voice and behaviour and how it differs to the responder’s own voice. The Curious Incident gives the audience a full insight into the subjective world of Christopher. The protagonist, Christopher, has an intellectually adept and ruthlessly precise mind; however, he finds it extremely difficult to interact with others and understand complex human emotions. The convolutions of Christopher’s mind are highlighted in the scene with his altercation with a policeman. Despite the policeman’s harmless intentions by helping Christopher get up, he misinterprets this and lashes out, “The policeman… lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” The unemotional tone in these statements confirms that Christopher’s social …show more content…
The complexity of the relationship between Christopher Boone’s public and private world is established in the plot catalyst, where he makes discoveries about his mother and the extent of his father’s betrayal. Before Christopher stumbles across his mother’s letters, he says, “And this shows that sometimes people want to be stupid and they do not want to know the truth. And it shows…” The anaphora and accumulation of his denial foreshadows the upcoming events in Christopher’s public world and how it will dramatically impact his private world. This is ironic as Christopher’s values in truth are about to be challenged. He must confront the realities of his public world to overcome his private world, proving that experiences have the power to change his behaviour. When Christopher discovers his mother’s letters, his father attempts to justify his actions; “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly, I did. I never meant to lie.” The use of truncated sentence reinforces Mr Boone’s feeble effort to conceal the extent of his lies. This admission distorts Christopher’s sense of the public world, he retreats into his private world by doing mathematical questions such as, “I tried doubling in 2s … I couldn’t get past 215… So I groaned…” the first