Literature Help: The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time

By Students' Academy

It is almost similar to a coming-of-age story, since Christopher, the protagonist, continues to struggle to find his goal. Struggle for independence is a noticeable theme that the author investigates through the character of Christopher. He is like many teenage protagonists in coming-of-age stories; however, his role is more serious and more determined.

He is obviously not as independent as he would like to be. He has a great problem of not understanding the views of the other people. He is not at all able to understand people. He finds it difficult to deal with new environments.

The story reveals that when Christopher is overloaded with new information, he is not able to take immediate and rational decisions. He finds it difficult to visit other places because he has spent most of his childhood at home with his father, who happens to have told him that his mother died of a heart attack.

Literature Help: The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Apr 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310897795

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Literature Help: The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time

Copyright

Literature Help: The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time

Students' Academy

Copyright@2015 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time by Mark Haddon was first published in 2003. It is a mystery novel by this British author.

The title has been taken from Arthur Canon Doyle’s story Silver Blaze. Haddon was greatly admired when the novel was published and it brought him the Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel and Book of the Year.

The novel was also the winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

The story of the novel has been narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone. He happens to be a fifteen years old boy; he describes himself as a mathematician with certain difficulties in his behavior.

Christopher lives in Swindon, Wiltshire. There is clear description of Christopher in the book, but his ailment is referred to Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome.

Writing on his blog, the author has mentioned that this novel is not a book about asperger’s…if anything it is a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The author has clearly mentioned on his blog that The Curious Incident… not particularly about any specific disorder.

The author has dedicated The Curious Incident… to Sos Eltis, his wife. He is also thankful to Kathryn Heyman, Clare Alexander, Kate Shaw, and Dave Cohen for supporting and helping him.

Instead of conventional successive cardinal number, the book uses prime number on its chapters.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Christopher is the main character and protagonist of the novel. He is a fifteen years old boy. He has an autistic spectrum condition.

He lives with his father. During the story he reveals that his mother, Judy, had passed away two years before.

One day, Christopher discovers the dead body of Wellington, the neighbor’s dog. The body has been speared by a garden fork.

Mrs. Shears, the neighbor and the owner of the dead dog, calls the police. The suspicion is on Christopher. During the interrogation, when a policeman touches Christopher, he hits the policeman. He is eventually arrested. He is taken to the police station but released with a police warning and caution.

Christopher is obviously upset after the incident, but he decides to investigate the death of the dog, although his father orders him not to enter the business of other people.

Christopher begins his investigation and finds the world around him difficult to understand and interpret. He has his fears and difficulties.

During his adventures, Christopher continues to write his experiences in a book, a ‘murder mystery novel.’ While investigating, he comes across several people whom he has never met before though they happen to be living on the same street.

One of the people he meets is the elderly Mrs. Alexander. She informs Christopher that his mother had an affair with Mr. Shears. She says that his mother had been with Mr. Shears for a long time.

Christopher’s father, Ed, finds out the book Christopher has been writing. He confiscates the book. There is a brief fight between the father and son. Christopher begins to look for his confiscated book.

While searching for