Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time": "What has the author tried to express in relation to personal goals and the changes they can make to a character?"

There are many examples of personal change in Mark Haddon’s novel ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.” Throughout the story the key protagonist Chris, and his family, are faced with many challenging changes. They all try to adjust to these changes by setting themselves goals. Christopher’s father must learn to control his anger while the mother Judy faces the challenge of responsibility and coping with her son. Through his adventure, Christopher learns confidence and begins to recognise and deal with his behavioural problems.

Christopher’s mother Judy recognises she is a bad mother and that she does not have the patience to cope with her son’s behavioural issues. She wrote to Chris and told Chris “I’m not like your father. Your father is much more pacient than me.” Her inability to handle this responsibility and her short temper with Ed ultimately led to their separation.

Chris Martin

Chris Trotter

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

She found her life easier without Chris, but when he returns to her, Judy realises her mistake. Having had a break from her responsibilities over her son she wants to move back with her family and manages to be patient with the arrangements. The goal of moving back into the family really helps her to overcome her emotional weaknesses.

Ed Boone is portrayed as a very torn man. He loves his son Christopher more than anything, but this is also the bane of his life. His responsibilities for Chris can be very trying and this is not helped by Christopher’s poor social skills. Through Ed’ many outbursts of violence and anger we can see he is a frustrated person. In the novel, Ed must learn to control his emotions after his violent actions scare off his son. To earn back Christopher’s trust, Ed must show his son that he...