The complexities of human nature often mean that there is misconception and confusion with the different ways we communicate. This can significantly impact how individuals interact with one another and how different things are interpreted. In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon’s protagonist, Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behaviour (Google.com.au, 2018), is used to demonstrate how people with this disorder may misunderstand communication, as well as other individuals.
Non-verbal communication is a very prominent …show more content…
Christopher finds it difficult to decipher what people are trying to expression through metaphorical speech as when he attempts to envision a picture of what they were saying ‘it just confuses me’. This additionally impacts his ability to tell jokes as he ‘does not understand them.’ The joke that Christopher used as an example: ‘His face was drawn but the curtains were real’ can be characterised as a pun, which further illustrates Christopher’s lack of understanding and knowledge. This is because as it is a pun people automatically alter their thinking to interpret the context of the joke differently to another variation of joke, but without the correct perspective people, such as Christopher, may come to different conclusions regarding the meaning of the joke. Haddon uses this to draw the audience’s attention to the literal and logical nature and thinking of those who suffer from …show more content…
Lying can have a very large impact on children and teenagers as it can indirectly demonstrate that it is acceptable to lie to make yourself look or feel better. Throughout the text Haddon makes it evident how Christopher feels toward lies. Haddon reinforces to the audience how adults can manipulate how a child thinks as when Christopher discovered that his father had lied to him about his mother’s death, he ‘… couldn’t trust him, even though he had said “Trust me,”…’ Ed Boone tries to justify his actions as he explains to Christopher that ‘it’s bloody hard telling the truth all the time.’ However, Christopher believes white lie aren’t bad as they are “…not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth, but you do not tell all of the truth.” Haddon uses this to further emphasise how society has appropriated lying and how due to Christopher’s disorder he is able to see the difference between lying and telling a white lie, where as many other individuals interpret both as forms of
Non-verbal communication is a very prominent …show more content…
Christopher finds it difficult to decipher what people are trying to expression through metaphorical speech as when he attempts to envision a picture of what they were saying ‘it just confuses me’. This additionally impacts his ability to tell jokes as he ‘does not understand them.’ The joke that Christopher used as an example: ‘His face was drawn but the curtains were real’ can be characterised as a pun, which further illustrates Christopher’s lack of understanding and knowledge. This is because as it is a pun people automatically alter their thinking to interpret the context of the joke differently to another variation of joke, but without the correct perspective people, such as Christopher, may come to different conclusions regarding the meaning of the joke. Haddon uses this to draw the audience’s attention to the literal and logical nature and thinking of those who suffer from …show more content…
Lying can have a very large impact on children and teenagers as it can indirectly demonstrate that it is acceptable to lie to make yourself look or feel better. Throughout the text Haddon makes it evident how Christopher feels toward lies. Haddon reinforces to the audience how adults can manipulate how a child thinks as when Christopher discovered that his father had lied to him about his mother’s death, he ‘… couldn’t trust him, even though he had said “Trust me,”…’ Ed Boone tries to justify his actions as he explains to Christopher that ‘it’s bloody hard telling the truth all the time.’ However, Christopher believes white lie aren’t bad as they are “…not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth, but you do not tell all of the truth.” Haddon uses this to further emphasise how society has appropriated lying and how due to Christopher’s disorder he is able to see the difference between lying and telling a white lie, where as many other individuals interpret both as forms of