Running Head: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME 1
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME 3
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Robert Jamerson
Rasmussen College
Writer’s Biography
Mark Haddon is the talented writer of the novel called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Haddon was brought into the world in the city of Northampton, which is in England. He had a prosperous writing career before publicizing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Haddon received his English bachelor’s degree in the year 1981. He obtained it from Merton College, which is in Oxford. After that, Haddon had different job experiences with the inclusion of some volunteer posts, whereby he assisted individuals that were disabled both physically and mentally. Several years after, Haddon resumed his studies to finish his English Literature master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh.
Haddon went back to England in the year 1997, where he was the winner of many awards after being involved in many television projects. The television projects included the award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and also The Royal Television Society Beat Children’s Drama for Micro-soap. Haddon’s work, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is simultaneously publicized in two publications. There is the David Frickling Books publication for younger adults. The second one is the Jonathan Cape print for grown-ups. The novel has also sold several co-editions in more than fifteen countries and also achieved the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. The work has also been awarded the Commonwealth Writer’s Best First Book Award. The work earned the two awards in the year 2003.
Introduction
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time pursues Christopher Boone’s story. Christopher is only 15 years of age and is very good at mathematics. However, he tends to think that humans are confusing. The book begins with Christopher finding a lifeless dog in the garden of Mrs. Shears, who is his neighbor. Christopher’s father, known as Ed, warns him to keep off the dead dog’s case. Christopher, however, opts to go ahead with the investigation. He was curious to know what or who had killed the dog.
During his investigation, Christopher makes a discovery concerning his mom. He learns that she is not dead and resides in London. That surprises Christopher since his father had said that her mother was dead. He also finds out that his father was responsible for the dog’s death (Haddon, 2007). Christopher is shocked and feels that his father can no longer be trusted thus makes a decision to take a trip to London to search for his beloved mother. He reunites with his mother but later goes back to Swindon for his A-level Mathematics examination. In the book’s ending, Christopher passes the test. He also realizes that anything is possible as long as he concentrates or puts all his effort into it.
Fiction Elements
Contemporary fictions are works of modern literature based on pure imaginations. Time is a critical modern literature’s factor, and its cyclic notion emerges when the writer flicks the reader through a not organized literary journey. As the reader comes across images, he or she is not able to foresee what will happen next. Whatever the reader expects is even likely not to occur in the entire fiction’s unfolding. Openness is yet another modern fiction factor that is addressed through family, the mind, etc. Various fictional elements indicate that The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is modern literature.
One element is the novel’s formation. Haddon’s work fits three likely genres, one being the family drama. It resembles family drama as it narrates Christopher’s story together with his family, where he discovers he has wrong beliefs regarding his family. He also uncovers his father’s secret. The play also fits in the crime mystery genre as it pursues Christopher’s investigation about the killing of Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s dog. The other style that fits the work is the bildungsroman or Coming of Age Story, whereby the reader follows Christopher, who is the primary character, as he grows and learns regarding himself and even the world at large. He discloses the dog’s murderer, goes to London, succeeds in his A-level Mathematics Test, and also learns that he can achieve anything.
The second element is the novel’s structure. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has two sections. There is that section that talks about the dog’s murder investigation by Christopher. The other segment talks about Christopher’s trip to London to look for his mom. The work has a play inside a play structure since Christopher writes a dramatization that is to be presented in his school. He is also seen directing it in school at the end of the novel. The work also has different narrators as Christopher’s story is told or detailed by various voices. The first voice is his own; the other belongs to Siobhan, and also Ensemble.
The work also has the time and even space structure whereby the action may abruptly and continuously move from present to past (Luckin, 2013). The same applies to location or even area as Christopher can at some point be in a train, and then the next minute he can be elsewhere. Prime numbers are also a large part of the work’s external structural factor. Christopher loves prime numbers and makes use of them in arranging the chapters. He does not use cardinal numbers. Prime numbers are also a reflection of the unsolved story in Haddon’s work. From the viewpoint of Christopher, trying to figure out the prime numbers is more like resolving a mystery.
The third factor that indicates the work is a modern literature’s example is the first-person viewpoint used by Haddon. In his work, Christopher writes his past mystery’s events. His first-person narrative is believable and even detailed. Probably his autistic condition makes the readers to quickly believe his story as he states that it is difficult for him to tell lies. Christopher also provides precise, deductive details, which probably coax the readers to believe his story.
Haddon is an excellent narrative author with high creative methods of capturing his readers from the start and also makes them feel like they are participating in the story. He also leaves the readers entertained to go through the story again (FreiBmann, 2008). Although the novel is meant for entertainment purposes, Haddon informs and even makes the reader understand autistic kids deeply. He speaks and also shows the way their brains function through Christopher, which is an excellent technique of combining entertainment with valuable information and even insights. A majority of the books try to illustrate the end of disability or overcoming a defect, but Haddon does the opposite. The main character that he uses is a disabled child, who co-exists with the disability until the end of the novel. The technique takes the readers to a distinct world that they do not expect.
Haddon’s work has a few various settings. The primary setting is Christopher’s home, which is located at 36 Randolph Street, Swindon, in England. Christopher’s home is where he feels secure until he uncovers the truth regarding his father. There is also the school that Christopher attends. The other setting is the lawn of Mrs. Shears, where her dog’s murder occurred. The train station is yet another novel’s setting. It is also stated that the train was crowded with people. Christopher was forced to sit on the baggage shelves. The other primary scene was the house of Christopher’s mother. However, he first hid in his mother’s garden, which was not very comfortable due to the wetness and the cold.
Symbols are another element that indicates the work is modern literature. Haddon uses several symbols in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Ciocia, 2009). Among the symbols used is a dog. Dogs repeatedly appear all through the novel. They represent the safety of Christopher. The symbolism is applicable since the primary purpose of dogs is protecting those individuals around them. As Haddon (2007) notes, “I had to get out of the house, Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him, even though he had said, “Trust me,” because he had told a lie about a big thing” (p. 122).
Another symbol used is cars, which symbolizes the secretive order put on to the world by Christopher to make it understandable (Blackford, 2013). Christopher observes various vehicles on his way to school, and he uses their color to determine if his day will be good or bad. To him, the cars’ colors signify good luck or bad luck, and it becomes like some kind of religion. He later gets over the illusion of the vehicle and finally becomes wholly involved and aware of the world surrounding him. The other symbol is Mathematics A-level, which is a representation of Christopher’s future dreams. It is his first step out of the school and even Swindon.
Sherlock Holmes is yet another symbol used by Haddon in the entire book. Sherlock Holmes represents Christopher’s values of reasoning and even mental disengagement. Christopher highly regards Sherlock since he makes use of logic to resolve mysteries, and he does not surrender to the allurement of mysterious explanations for odd occurrences. Christopher attempts to emulate Sherlock’s techniques in solving the puzzle of the dog’s death. As Haddon (2007) notes, “I also like The Hound of the Baskervilles because I like Sherlock Holmes and I think if I were a proper detective he is the kind of detective I would be” (p. 73).
The author also uses stars as Christopher observes the stars whenever he is going through difficult emotional circumstances. He feels tiny while watching the stars since the universe is vast. He imagines that he is in outer space with no one around him, and the feeling makes him feel comforted. The stars symbolize the smallness of humankind and even Christopher’s disappointing social rules as compared to everything else. The stars are also a representation of his dream to become an astronaut and accomplish all the things that people thought he could not achieve. Lastly, there is the symbol of the Swiss Army Knife, which Christopher carries everywhere. The knife gives Christopher a secure feeling since he knows he can use it to defend himself in case any individual attempts to strike him. The knife hence signifies his physical protection.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has several subject matters. The first theme is family, as the work describes Christopher’s relation with his mother and also his mother (Andrade, 2007). It elaborates the essentiality of good parenting. There is also the theme of truthfulness and trust. Every character was, at some point, untruthful with themselves or with other individuals. The theme shows the effects of dishonesty. Confronting the unknown is another theme that is significantly explored through Christopher’s world experiences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mark Haddon’s narrative is distinct modern literature as the techniques used in his work are extraordinary, and no other author has presented such methods. The methods work in unison to attract the readers into the novel’s world. Not all the approaches may attract different readers, but there cannot lack a single Haddon’s method that draws the reader to go through the book. Haddon prevents fulfilling readers’ expectations or assumptions and ensures that readers get involved in the story. Al the methods used by Haddon are empowerment to each other hence pulling readers into that world of the novel. Other writers should embrace Haddon’s techniques as they capture or allure numerous individuals to read the book, and they also contain educational information. Readers get to learn a lot of things in the process of reading the book, which is an added advantage to the uneducated individuals regarding various topics.
References
Andrade, C. (2007). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Primary care
companion to the Journal of clinical psychiatry, 9(6), 474.
Blackford, H. (2013). Raw shok and modern method: Child consciousness in flowers for
Algernon and the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. Children’s Literature
Association Quarterly, 38(3), 284-303.
Ciocia, S. (2009). Postmodern investigations: The case of Christopher Boone in The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Children’s Literature in Education, 40(4), 320.
Freißmann, S. (2008). A Tale of Autistic Experience: Knowing, Living, Telling in Mark
Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Partial Answers: Journal
of Literature and the History of Ideas, 6(2), 395-417.
Haddon, M. (2007). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. National Geographic
Books.
Luckin, N. (2013). Language and World View: Mind Style in Mark Haddon’s’ The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ (Master’s thesis).