The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Analysis

📌Category: Books, Literature
📌Words: 502
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 10 April 2021

The novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time written by Mark Haddon follows a young boy, Christopher Boone who has Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism.  Christopher’s condition causes him to perceive the world differently.  Additionally, Christopher relies on many superstitions involving numbers, colours, and rituals that aid him to get through the day.  The novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time fulfils the expectation of a detective novel because an investigation is underway, there is a gruesome murder, and Christopher uncovers the truth about many aspects of his life. 

Firstly, the novel fulfils the expectations of a detective novel because an investigation is underway.  The novel opens with the discovery of Wellington, the neighbourhood dog.  This novel is narrated through the perspective of Christopher.  Christopher explains that “It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’ house. … There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog” (Haddon 1).  Christopher recognizes the dog on Mrs. Shears’ lawn and goes to investigate why he is there.  When he gets closer, he realizes that it is Wellington the poodle and he is dead.  Christopher sits down and begins to stroke his fur.  Christopher pulled the garden fork out of Wellington and hugged him.  The reader learns that Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism.  This explains his unusual reaction to discovering the deceased dog.  After four minutes of hugging the dog, Mrs. Shears came running from the patio and started yelling at Christopher.  Mrs. Shears’ enters the situation confused about why Christopher is hugging her dead dog, and she assumes that he is the one who killed him.  The reader knows this because she says, “What in f**ks name have you done to my dog?” (4).   Mrs. Shears calls the police on Christopher because she thinks that he murdered her dog.  After spending an hour at the police station and being questioned, Christopher’s dad arrives and picks him up.  Additionally, on the drive home, Christopher says, “I am going to find out who killed Wellington” (20).  Furthermore, Christopher has a tenacious drive for wanting to solve Wellington’s murder because he has a deeper connection with animals compared to people.  Clearly, the reader knows this because Christopher says, “I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. … Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk” (3-4).  Christopher says that people are confusing because they use similes and metaphors when they talk and he does not apprehend them.  In hopes of finding the perpetrator, Christopher goes around interrogating the neighbours and asking them, “Do you know who killed Wellington?” (36).  Despite Christopher’s efforts to find who killed Wellington, his father shuts down his investigation and forbids Christopher to do any further detective work.  Christopher possessed an unwavering determination to catch the murderer, and does not cease his investigation no matter what arises.  Therefore, the reader knows this novel is a detective novel because there is an ongoing investigation going on and Christopher is driven to find out who killed Wellington.

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