Mark Haddon's novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is an autobiographical mystery told from the point of view of an autistic teenager, Christopher Boone. Throughout the text, Haddon cleverly positions the audience to experience life from the perspective of someone who cannot hope to grasp the subtle nuances of human interactions and social norms. From the perspective of a highly unconventional storyteller, Haddon explores everyday settings and events, allowing him to portray interesting ideas about the differences that exist both within the nuanced world he created and in contemporary society as a whole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, one of the main themes depicted in the story is love, truth, and safety or security – all important aspects of building a relationship. Throughout the story, Christopher sees truth as a main part of the world and considers it right or wrong (right if you are sincere, wrong if you are not sincere). If someone tells him the truth, he can trust; even if, if they lie to him, he fears them. Throughout the entire novel he always carries a Swiss army knife with him, which shows that he is always aware of his physical safety, because he struggles to protect himself emotionally. So, he has a knife to defend himself from people who might attack him. In fact, he sometimes responds to any emotional harm with physical defense (for example: when he confronts his father for learning about his mother's affair). The truth is so crucial in Christopher's life because he thinks it will keep him safe from any emotional harm. Christopher struggles to understand why anyone would want to believe something that isn't true, such as that fairies exist - "...and fairies are made up of paper and you can't talk to someone who's dead” (Haddon 140). He wants knowing the truth about everything around him, which is why he can be perceived as literal or blunt - and is the only reason why he decides to find out the truth about Wellington's death. Christopher also reminds the people around him and us that never lies – “I don't tell lies” (Haddon 39) He even goes so far as to believe it's a "white lie" if he doesn't give every detail of his day; even though he later realizes that he needs to tell white lies if he wants to do detective work for the neighbors' houses, the author shows Christopher changing and being able to interact with the world around him Because Christopher relies on truth and lies, he refrains from thinking that situations other than that exist. Because Christopher is able to live in the moment in this way, he is able to protect himself from thinking about his "dead" mother or what life would have been like if she had still been around. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Furthermore, Christopher believes that the truth is a sign of love, so when his father lied to him about his mother, he cannot understand the fact that his father means well by lying to him. Furthermore, he feels the pain of the truth and vomits all over the bed, and this has put him in "emotional danger" instead of keeping him safe. But after fearing his father, he realizes that he must overcome this because his father still loves him. And as much as Christopher hates lies, he has to accept that sometimes people make mistakes without the intention of hurting someone they love. Works Cited Boone, C. (2018). The curious accident of the dog in the night. Vintage.Boucher, A., & Toms, J. (2015). An analysis of the social model of The Curious., 15(1), 41-53.
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