The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Essay by katib_1980 June 2010

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The novel 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,' by Mark Haddon is a one of a kind piece of narrative which takes us on a journey through the life of Christopher - a boy suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. Through the book Mark Haddon has tried to paint the picture of the life of someone who has to live with the disorder. The story is immensely accurate, since it is written in the first person narrative. He has classic traits of Asperger's Syndrome which add to the beauty of the story line.

As the story goes, Christopher leads a secluded life with his single parent father and enjoys mathematics. The story spins off with the murder of a neighborhood dog which leads the boy through various twists and turns, one of which includes finding out that his mother is not dead.

Mark Haddon has tried here to show the life of a boy who has the syndrome. The protagonist is a very sharp boy but has trouble comprehending emotions. In the book, his idea of emotions is "just having a picture on the screen in your head of what is going to happen tomorrow or next year, or what might happen instead of what did happen, and if it's a happy picture they smile and if it's a sad picture they cry." This is exactly how someone with the malady would react to the topic of human emotions.

Christopher like other people with Aspergers Syndrome likes to stick to a meticulous routine life (till the dog dies). People, who have the syndrome, like Christopher 'decide' their feelings; Christopher concludes his mood on the basis of things like the number of cars he sees, or their colors. Unlike the vast...