Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time
The mind of an autistic person is fascinating and frightening because usually their actions can’t accurately express what their brain is thinking. It is frustrating to try and determine what a child with autism is trying to say, and often results in them being misunderstood. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, tells the story from the perspective of Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy with autism. Chris is brilliant at math and science, but is unable to understand or express emotion. His difficult home life further contributes to his illness; he doesn’t have anyone at home who supports him and tries to help him. His teacher, Siobhan, is his only friend and the only person who tries to help him learn to how to live with autism and how to assimilate himself into everyday society. This novel is very eye opening because it truly takes the reader into the mind of a person with autism.
Chris is a gifted math and science student; he can recite every prime number up to 2,057. Formulas and numbers come very easily to him, he doesn’t even have to think about what he’s doing, it comes as second nature. In the novel, Haddon provides diagrams of problems that Chris can solve. These problems are difficult for the reader to interpret, which makes it even more remarkable that Christopher can figure them out in such a concise manner. Chris has a photographic memory, and he explains in the novel that’s why he understands math, because it is simple and there is only one right answer. When reading the novel, it was confusing at first because Chris’ mind is so scattered, and the way he works out problems is not the way most people would think of doing so. After reading for a while, though, his thought process is not only understandable, it becomes somewhat logical.
Christopher’s problem solving skills are not what classify him as autistic; his inability to be social with others is what makes him so different. His...
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