Who Is The Father In The Curious Incident Of The Dog At Night

Both Mother and Father in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time struggle to accommodate for their autistic son’s needs. As parents, Mother and Father battle the conflict between doing as Christopher wishes and keeping themselves healthy both mentally and physically. Although they both make some bad decisions they also make wise decisions that support Christopher. When reflecting on these actions it is important to remember that negative actions cannot always be justified but can be understood. Both Mother and Father care for Christopher and can be justified as attempting to make the right decision for Christopher. Through analyzing Mother’s leaving, her reaction to Christopher returning, and her support for Father and Christopher’s relationship, in hand with Father’s hitting Christopher, his apology, his day to day caring for Christopher, and his heartbreak over the fractured relationship with his son we can see that Christopher’s parents actions, although not all justified, are understandable.
Mother often receives the majority of the disdain from readers because she leaves Christopher and …show more content…
Due to Christopher’s fear of Father, Mother becomes Christopher’s guardian as she supervises Father’s interaction with Christopher. “Father said, ‘Christopher, can I have a talk with you?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And Mother said, “It’s OK. I’ll be here.’” (Haddon 218). Christopher’s fear of Father is alleviated by the fact that Mother is constantly with him in these situations and is there to protect him. Instead of Christopher being angry that Mother left him, he focuses on the protection and care that she can provide for him now. Thus, the reader should act in a similar manner and reflect on the present and the true significance of the past to realize that Mother is caring for Christopher the best that she