The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
By: Mark Haddon
Synopsis:
Christopher is a 15 year old living with a mild form of autism, he doesn’t like the colors yellow or brown but he loves red, he cannot bear physical contact and when he feels too overwhelmed by this he would put his hands over his eyes and start to groan. Christopher is uncommonly smart, he can calculate complicating math problems in his head, and he can analyze every situation by physics and logic, yet, he can’t understand people´s facial expressions or the simplest jokes. This situation he lives with makes him dislike human company and enjoy being alone or with animals. That’s why when Christian found his neighbor´s dog murdered by a garden fork he seems so affected. He then begins an investigation to find the killer of Wellington, without his father´s permission, and decides to write a mystery novel about this. Throughout his investigation, Christopher uncovers remarkable secrets about his parent´s marriage, Wellington´s killer, and about himself. Christopher must begin a journey where he must find bravery and order in his messy and illogical life, in order to complete his goal.
Setting, characters, and conflict:
This story takes place in 1998, around the town of Swindon, England. Christopher is the main character; he is a 15 year old living with Asperger´s Syndrome, a form of autism. Christopher is the narrator of the story; therefore, everything we read is from his point of view. One day Christopher finds his neighbor´s dog has been murdered, and he sets himself in finding the killer. This conflict is then developed into more secrets Christopher discovers in his investigation. For example; he realizes that his mom is alive after believing she was dead for two years, he also finds out shocking secrets about his parent´s marriage and the murder of Wellington. In the story Christopher must overcome the difficulties his condition gives him and he must find his independence in order to find the dog´s killer. As mentioned before, Christopher is the protagonist of the novel; another main character would be his father. Ed Boone is a single father that can be described as loving and caring but he can also have a high temper and a very short patience. In the story he can play both roles of protagonist and antagonist, because at the beginning of the story he was Christopher´s closest friends and the only family member. Then, Christopher discovers some disturbing secrets his father has been hiding, and becomes the antagonist. Judy Boone, the mother, also plays a very important role in the novel. She also shows an evolution from an antagonist to become one of the principal characters. At the beginning of the story we think that Christopher’s mother is dead, and then we learned that she was having an affair with Mr. Shears, the neighbor, and abandoned Christopher and his dad. Ed tells Christopher that his mom died and kept the secret for two years until his son finds out. Until this part, Christopher´s mother is an antagonist, but he decides to go look for her in London and finds her. This is when Judy becomes part of Christopher´s life again. Finally, I think Mr. Shears is a character that doesn’t seem so important but really he is the main reason that Christopher´s parents split up. In “The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-Time” there are a lot of characters that influences in some way the conflict of the story, we can also see that a lot of characters, like Christopher´s parents, change over time to become protagonists and antagonists.
Opinion:
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is an outstanding story that I personally enjoyed a lot. One of the things I liked the most about this story is how unpredictable it is. At first, I thought this was a mystery novel but as I read I found myself in an emotional and hilarious story. The main conflict the author presents is who killed the dog? But at the end we realize this is the least important problem of all. I also liked a lot that the story is very different form everything I have read, specially the way it is written. As I mentioned before, the narrator of the story is Christopher, a kid who thinks very different from everyone else and by reading the book we can see his perspective of every situation. Every word in the book is written by Christopher, therefore there are grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, and every single thought that passed through Christopher´s mind. This is why for the reader it is really interesting to be in a while in some else´s head. I would recommend this book to every single person that is looking for something completely different. This is such a complete book that everyone can read and can have multiple interpretations. I would also recommend it to those who want to feel every kind of emotion while reading because if you read this book you will experience laughter, heartbreak, frustration, happiness, and many more things.
By: Mark Haddon
Synopsis:
Christopher is a 15 year old living with a mild form of autism, he doesn’t like the colors yellow or brown but he loves red, he cannot bear physical contact and when he feels too overwhelmed by this he would put his hands over his eyes and start to groan. Christopher is uncommonly smart, he can calculate complicating math problems in his head, and he can analyze every situation by physics and logic, yet, he can’t understand people´s facial expressions or the simplest jokes. This situation he lives with makes him dislike human company and enjoy being alone or with animals. That’s why when Christian found his neighbor´s dog murdered by a garden fork he seems so affected. He then begins an investigation to find the killer of Wellington, without his father´s permission, and decides to write a mystery novel about this. Throughout his investigation, Christopher uncovers remarkable secrets about his parent´s marriage, Wellington´s killer, and about himself. Christopher must begin a journey where he must find bravery and order in his messy and illogical life, in order to complete his goal.
Setting, characters, and conflict:
This story takes place in 1998, around the town of Swindon, England. Christopher is the main character; he is a 15 year old living with Asperger´s Syndrome, a form of autism. Christopher is the narrator of the story; therefore, everything we read is from his point of view. One day Christopher finds his neighbor´s dog has been murdered, and he sets himself in finding the killer. This conflict is then developed into more secrets Christopher discovers in his investigation. For example; he realizes that his mom is alive after believing she was dead for two years, he also finds out shocking secrets about his parent´s marriage and the murder of Wellington. In the story Christopher must overcome the difficulties his condition gives him and he must find his independence in order to find the dog´s killer. As mentioned before, Christopher is the protagonist of the novel; another main character would be his father. Ed Boone is a single father that can be described as loving and caring but he can also have a high temper and a very short patience. In the story he can play both roles of protagonist and antagonist, because at the beginning of the story he was Christopher´s closest friends and the only family member. Then, Christopher discovers some disturbing secrets his father has been hiding, and becomes the antagonist. Judy Boone, the mother, also plays a very important role in the novel. She also shows an evolution from an antagonist to become one of the principal characters. At the beginning of the story we think that Christopher’s mother is dead, and then we learned that she was having an affair with Mr. Shears, the neighbor, and abandoned Christopher and his dad. Ed tells Christopher that his mom died and kept the secret for two years until his son finds out. Until this part, Christopher´s mother is an antagonist, but he decides to go look for her in London and finds her. This is when Judy becomes part of Christopher´s life again. Finally, I think Mr. Shears is a character that doesn’t seem so important but really he is the main reason that Christopher´s parents split up. In “The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-Time” there are a lot of characters that influences in some way the conflict of the story, we can also see that a lot of characters, like Christopher´s parents, change over time to become protagonists and antagonists.
Opinion:
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is an outstanding story that I personally enjoyed a lot. One of the things I liked the most about this story is how unpredictable it is. At first, I thought this was a mystery novel but as I read I found myself in an emotional and hilarious story. The main conflict the author presents is who killed the dog? But at the end we realize this is the least important problem of all. I also liked a lot that the story is very different form everything I have read, specially the way it is written. As I mentioned before, the narrator of the story is Christopher, a kid who thinks very different from everyone else and by reading the book we can see his perspective of every situation. Every word in the book is written by Christopher, therefore there are grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, and every single thought that passed through Christopher´s mind. This is why for the reader it is really interesting to be in a while in some else´s head. I would recommend this book to every single person that is looking for something completely different. This is such a complete book that everyone can read and can have multiple interpretations. I would also recommend it to those who want to feel every kind of emotion while reading because if you read this book you will experience laughter, heartbreak, frustration, happiness, and many more things.