Dog In The Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time begins with the murder of a dog named Wellington. The narrator of the book, Christopher John Francis Boone (an autistic boy), discovers the deceased dog with a pitch fork in its body and decides to comfort it. While hugging the dead dog the owner Mrs. Shears walks out and screams at the scene and calls the police. The police arrive on the scene and question Christopher as to why he had been in the garden. Christopher defends himself from the questioning and when the officer grabs his arm Christopher hits him and is taken to the police station for assaulting an officer. It is from here Christopher decides he will solve the murder mystery and document it in this book we are reading. Christopher

Right from the start you can see Christopher has a very different way of thinking than most people do. What may seem black and white for us may be difficult for Christopher to understand or vice versa. For example, in the very beginning Siobhan draws different faces showing different emotions which Christopher was unable to understand. Most books today are told through your average human being who has the same mindset as almost everyone else. I think that is what makes this book unique because it’s told through the eyes of a fifteen year old autistic boy who doesn’t see the world like everyone else. I think one of the most important themes presented in this book was simply independence. Christopher is very sheltered in his life because of his autism but we as an audience get to see him break through that barrier by the actions he takes in this novel. I think one of the most important times we see this is when Christopher runs away from home to live with his mother. Christopher is scared of the real world because it involves everything that makes him uncomfortable. I think Christopher overcoming this obstacle shows us that independence can be a scary thing but we can’t let that stop us from going after what we want. One of the most important characters in this book was Christopher’s father. His father was the one who set most of the plot in motion so without him