Independence is a skill that is acquired over time and gained through many aspects. In novels, themes such as independence are developed through a series of events that help with the interpretation of the overall message. Along with events, there are also other elements that contribute to the conclusion of a message being expressed by the author. In his novel, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon develops the theme of independence through his use of various text elements. Christopher, the protagonist, develops from being a very dependent boy to being able to handle situations and cope with his autism independently. The theme of gaining independence in Mark Haddon’s The curious incident of the dog in the night-time is developed through plot, narrative voice, and atmosphere. …show more content…
In the beginning of the novel, Christopher is put in an environment where he is not exposed to new situations. In a traumatic, overwhelming event he “rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that Father calls groaning. I make this noise when there is too much information coming into my head from the outside world” (Haddon 7). In this situation, he resorted to groaning in fear over processing the situation and thinking of a way to handle it. This situation shows Christopher’s inability to be independent when coping with difficult situations, and being unable. However, as the plot progresses, certain events put Christopher into situations where he has to get out of his comfort zone and be independent in order to develop and surpass a obstacle. He developed throughout the novel and it is evident through certain situations where he is able to control his thoughts. He was able
But then again Christopher doesn't understand so much since he can only think from his perspective (self centered) and doesn’t realise the sacrifices that his parents have done so maybe some parts of his parents actions are to be
This reason, was because of his parents were kind of hard on Christopher and there was a whole lot of secrets. From what I learn in certain classes, is when a child that finds out a parents secret they become more isolated because they wouldn't want to trust this person. This way of finding out these secrets could have been the trigger to Christopher's actions. This could cause a situation that Christopher needs to find who is and explore and complete a task to come home and show that he did something to be considered that he could make his own decisions because his parents were always pushing him and telling him what to do.
This quote is evident of Christopher’s ability to make risky decisions and follow through with them, especially since this is uncharacteristic of him. In addition, Christopher does not recognize that travelling on a train by himself is unsafe when he has never travelled on a train before. Christopher assumes he knows everything like planning his routes, but going to London from Swindon is not considered to be a train set toy. This emphasizes that Christopher does not have a rational explanation to what he does instead, makes decisions in haste to attempt risks that can be dangerous for him. As can be seen, analysing the novel from Christopher’s point of view shows how he develops to become a dynamic character by conquering his fears and in turn, allows him to be self-motivated.
And I could do this by going on a train because I knew all about trains from the train set, how you looked at the timetable and went to the station and bought a ticket and looked at the departure board to see if your train was on time and then you went to the right platform and got on board” (Haddon 131) This quote reveals the character of Christopher by showing that he is well informed about train time tables, and how he is able to incorporate his background knowledge on train time tables to assist him with his lengthy and very risky journey to London. This quote also displays that Christopher had taken a very extensive risk to leave his comfort zone, since Christopher finds a significant amount of difficulty dealing with new environments and finds it difficult to go to a new environment alone without assistance and someone he trusts. Christopher was able to overcome the challenge by succeeding with his journey to London, by relying solely on his photographic memory of his mother’s address and his background knowledge about trains and their timetables. Christopher was also able to overcome many of his fears such as large crowds, loud noises, and social
Christopher gains confidence he can perform well on the tests because he solves the murder case of Wellington all by himself. He passes the tests and chooses to go to university. It gives him the opportunity to one day and become someone of his own. He realizes what he accomplished and says to himself, “I am going to go to a University in another town… And I can live in flat all by myself” (152). In the beginning of the novel, Christopher did not like being alone. He always wants to be near his father and not near others. But now we learn Christopher feels brave to go to another city and live on his own. He is not afraid to meet new people and new environments. He no longer needs the assistance of others and feels confident to go see new places. He is not the person who he was and is now able to be live an independent life. He looks to go to university and become a highly educated individual. He always dreams of becoming somebody big and he tells himself, “I will get a First Class Honours degree and I will become a scientist” (152). Christopher becomes mature and realizes he does not want to live with his parents forever. He wants to become a person of his own and looks to become a scientist. He wants a job as a scientist and this represents how Christopher is thinking about what he wants to be from a young age. He understands that he
This essay will be an analytical essay where the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon will be analyzed and interpreted. The focus will be on the language of the novel and the themes and messages.
When Christopher receives his ticket at the train station, he says, “I didn’t like the ticket being half yellow but I had to keep it because it was my train ticket” (153). This shows that even though Christopher despises the color yellow, he is able to see past it because he knows that without the ticket he won’t be able to get on the train, and if he doesn’t get on the train, he will not get to London and find Mother. Another time when he allows himself to consider the long-term benefits of pushing through his tendencies is when Christopher becomes confused and apprehensive at the ticket machines and the crowds of people around them, but he stands back and notices, “I watched 47 people [putting tickets into gray gates and walking through them] and I memorized what to do” (173). Despite the fact that Christopher was unsure of how to go about this situation, he picked up the pattern by watching others until he was able to do it himself. This is a skill that would greatly benefit him if he lived by himself. Christopher also shows the readers that when he becomes overwhelmed, he can push through it. When he is on the train and begins to feel scared, he says, “The trains coming in and out of the station were in a rhythm, like music or drumming. And it was like counting and saying, ‘Left, right, left, right, left, right...’ which Siobhan taught me
Attention Grabber: In the “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” we see a young adult, Christopher, traveling through life and overcoming obstacles he never thought he could.
2ND: When it comes to the sensing and intuitive preferences, Christopher was a sensing type of individual. According to the Temperament Type and Into the Wild Notes, sensing individuals attend to various events in the present moment. Christopher doesn't plan out the various details of his journey in a universal order, pack the essential necessities or set a planned agenda; he lives in the current moment. For example, when his yellow Datsun gets destroyed he decides to simple leave it behind. He doesn't scavenge to attempt to
Next, Christopher had to start doing things on his own, which increased his confidence in doing things by himself and being alone. Finally, Christopher started to build relationships, which increased his confidence in being around other people. Overall, it is clear that the obstacles that Christopher
It has become paramount that composers utilise various techniques in order to influence an individual’s perception of the world. As seen through the eyes of an Aspergers sufferer, Christopher Boone, Mark Haddon’s inventive novel entitle ‘The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night Time’, skilfully portrays how the decisions of significant characters and their relationships shape the overall message about the difficulties of living with a limiting social condition. This is challenged from the unique perspective of Christopher and explicitly seen through the relationship between the protagonist and both his parents. Haddon employs a myriad of techniques through the concepts of the conflicting nature of love, the desperation for a world of
He rarely socializes when he is at school or out in public, and when he is at home, he prefers to be alone his room with his pet rat. “And I really like little spaces, so long as there is no one else in there with me.” (Haddon. 50). In the rare occasion that Christopher associates with people out in public that he does not know, the interaction usually ends quickly due to Christopher feeling uncomfortable and leaving in a hurry. When he had no choice but to engage in conversation with a neighbor who was nothing but friendly to him, he began to think of every possible thing that could go wrong and quickly decided to leave. “And I thought she might be ringing the police and then I’d get into much more serious trouble because of the caution. So I walked away” (Haddon. 40). Even though Christopher does lack social skills, there are still ways he can learn to become more social and ways of interacting with others to better him. Unfortunately he does not put any effort into increasing his social skills, and neither do any of the few people he has a relationship with, causing him to resource to isolating himself because that is what he has always been used to doing. Overall, isolation plays a major role in both novels, causing both main characters to isolate themselves in similar ways. With both characters choosing to isolate themselves comes a great deal of independence.
Christopher is very different to normal people as he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a mental illness which deprives him of his social abilities and emotional interpretation. Christopher changes from an innocent unknowing boy to one of newfound truths and knowledge. At the start of the book he is very shy and protective of himself, only talking to those that he trusts. The author writes “It takes me a long time to get used to people I do not know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch until I know that they are safe”.
Christopher may seem to be the brightest kid on the block, but even he has his own struggles that he must
Christopher’s goal is quite similar to many other protagonists in the coming-of-age genre: the search for independence. Due to his condition, Christopher cannot be as independent as he would like. As a result, he rebels against his father by leaving to London. Christopher’s trip to London can be seen as his most adventurous step towards independence. This trip deals with everything Christopher has trouble handling. For example, Christopher finds navigating through new environments particularly distressing: “But this is not a very accurate map of the station because I was scared so I was not noticing things very well” (Haddon 145). This is why, according to Christopher, if he can travel to London, he can be independent. This relates to Alicia Keys’ famous hit ‘New