What Might Prevent the Protagonist From Changing/ Growing?
There are a few obstacles that Christopher has to face in his quest to find out who killed the dog. One major obstacle that he has to overcome is the other individuals around him. In order for him to find out who killed the dog he needs to have cooperation from people but that is simply not happening. One reason for this might be his age. He is 15 years old and his youth plays a big issue. Christopher is not respected by others and because of this don’t take him seriously. “She didn't answer my question. She just said goodbye, Christopher, and closed the door.” (Page 30) Finding out who the dog killer is will play a big role in Christopher’s change to adulthood. His lack of understanding when it comes to emotions has a big impact on how he treats others around him and how he responds to certain situations. Because of this, it can have bad consequences. “The policemen took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” (Page 8) Christopher did not understand the situation and acted in an inappropriate way. The policemen then proceeded to call Christopher a “little shit.” This is a very disrespectful thing to call someone but since Christopher is young, the officer was able to get away with it. When Christopher hit the police officer he got himself in trouble and as a result got a lecture from his father. Events like these affect Christopher in many ways, sometimes they may be good or sometimes they may be bad. Whichever way the consequence lean toward, it will always help Christopher learn from his mistakes and help him grow into adulthood.
Question: What initiates the protagonist’s quest? Why must he change?
In the book “The curious incident of the dog in the night time” by Mark Haddon, the protagonist Christopher found his neighbor dog dead with a fork in it. This started the quest for the 15 year old because of the fact that he love dogs and was planning to use this as a template for the mystery book that he planned on writing. Now he must change in order to finish or continue this quest because of the fact that he has autism and as far as the story goes, it doesn’t seem like he really knows that he have it. Also in my opinion I find that he’s still naive to the world as he really loves dog and wanted whoever it was that killed the Mrs Shears dog to be put in jail which to be honest isn’t really that much of a big deal. Furthermore as the story progresses I feel like he should know that not everything is always going to work out the way he wanted it to, because he wants to be in control of the things around him as seen with the way he reacted when the police officer try to take his watch in pg 13. The reason why I feel like he should know this, is because maybe the person that actually killed the dog might not be thrown in jail like he wanted, or that the dog was killed by someone he knows and that he might be sad from it.
The supporting characters help the protagonist, Christopher, gain knowledge about the world by attempting to explain things to him in a way that he understands/accepts. Christopher has made it clear that he likes to have a systematic way of thinking, he always wants things to make sense to him and he has trouble reacting properly. One example of a supporting character that does this is Siobhan. She works at Christopher’s school and is always there for him in terms of trying to teach him about right versus wrong. On page 29, Christopher says, “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.” Christopher appreciates the way she is specific with him, as opposed to people who are vague with their commands, which confuses him easily. Christopher also mentions the way that Siobhan drew out pictures for him that illustrated people’s facial expressions, which helps him easily tell emotions from one another. He says, “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying.” She illustrates things for him in a language that works for him so he can have an overall easier time. The way Siobhan explains things is one of the main ways he is able to learn important lessons about life, like patience or how to deal with anger.
What initiates the protagonist to go on the quest is the fact that he found his neighbors dead dog while walking around. He was also accused for killing the dog, which raised the question on who did do it. Christopher did appreciate dogs because he liked them more than people as their emotions were easier to understand. “I also said that I cared about dogs because they were faithful and honest…” (pg.6) He wanted to know why someone would do such a thing and when Sioban told him he had to write a mystery novel he decided his idea was to write about finding who killed the dog. As it was something more personal that he actually had some understanding of. “I also started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me.” (pg.5) So basically he liked animals and he had a personal connection to what happened and the idea of writing this novel allowed intrigued him into finding out what happened to the dog.
He must change because he actually needs have a full conversation to gain some understanding on what may have happened to the dog. He has to be able to be determined and make connections between everything he has found. But he also needs to have some good attitude to have a good conversation with others. Be able to prove that he can handle himself and finish this mystery for his story.
What role do adult characters play? In "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime", adults play a pretty big role in guiding Christopher towards his quest. The three adults who play the biggest role are Father, Christopher’s dad, Siobhan, Christopher’s aid, and Mrs. Shears, the owner of the dog that got murdered. They are mentioned frequently, and are driving factors towards Christopher investigating the death of Wellington, the dog that got died. Christopher’s dad plays in integral role in not only Christopher’s quest, but in his life in general. While he is protective of Christopher, he at times comes off as cold and indifferent to Christopher’s struggles. This is because he doesn’t baby Christopher like he could. He doesn’t treats him as a helpless individual, even though sometimes Christopher comes off that way. He frequently gets frustrated with him. For example, when they are driving home after Christopher gets arrested, Christopher makes this comment about his father’s previous actions, “I could tell that he was angry because he was shouting, and I didn’t want to make him angry so I didn’t say anything until we got home.” Usually, when parents have autistic or developmentally challenged kids they treat them different than they would other kids. They operate gently, doing everything they can to avoid upsetting their kid. This is not seen with Christopher’s dad. It is refreshing to see him still trying to protect Christopher, but not to the point where he is babying him. He wants Christopher to be ready for the world outside of their house, and that is healthy. It is an interesting choice, and inspires curiosity as to why the author chose to write the father like that. It is interesting in general why the author chooses to write Christopher the way he does. He doesn’t specifically identify that Christopher has autism. Also, no one in Christopher’s life appears to treat him differently because he’s, well, different from them. Everyone treats him as an equal and expects him to act as other people do. It’s good for Christopher, and teaches him a lot about the world. Although at times he doesn’t understand or like the way the world and the people in it work, he tries his best to cope, and doesn’t let it hold him back. This attributes to his smartness, because when he doesn’t understand something about the world, he asks questions and demonstrates curiosity for learning more. There are many adults in Christopher’s life, that both help and hurt him, and due to their presence, he decides to figure out who killed the dog, thus initiating his quest.
In ‘The curious incident of the dog in the night time’ by Mark Haddon I think adults play a big part in this book so far. I think this because in the book Christopher the main character has autism, and often finds himself in a lot of situation where he can't get himself out of. His father is someone who I think has to get use to the way his son carries himself. For example, on page 16 it states “...He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan, I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means he loves me.” This illustrates that for Christopher his father is someone where he feels safe and protected and he knows that he is someone to lean on. Adults in most books are usually characters that are always there for their children and no matter what show their affection and how much they care with their actions. Another example of how adults play a big role is on page 20 when Christopher's father is giving advice to Christopher by saying “Just leave it alone, just try and keep your nose out of other people’s business”. This suggest that Christopher has someone who looks out for him, like most adults look out for children, in most books adults are always known for knowing best when it comes to children and giving them advice on what to do; and in this book Christopher’s father is the one that knows best for his son because he knows him well enough to make decisions for him other than Christopher trying to do things on his own with no one guiding him.
Question: How do supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge about the self or world? The supporting character Siobhan, helps the protagonist Christopher learn about the world and about himself every time they speak. Siobhan helps him learn people’s emotions through faces, that he couldn’t figure out himself. This tactic would usually help Christopher whenever he would speak to someone. This practice also would help him realize more about himself, seeing how he’s different from others because he has to pull out a piece of paper every time that he wants to know how a person feels. This practice that Siobhan is supporting Christopher also helps him notice how a victim In the crime he is trying to solve felt through out it. In the book Christopher said that Mrs. Shears, the owner of the dead dog was feeling very angry, she expressed this by cursing at Christopher too. Christopher having a connection with dogs since he can understand their faces-because they only usually have three confused, happy and sad, unlike people he thought-was very hurt when he found out the dog had died, and Siobhan had helped him through it. Another time Siobhan helps the protagonist gain knowledge about himself and the world was when, she taught him not to express himself with violence. Christopher had gotten into a fight with a girl named Sarah and punched her. Siobhan then gave Christopher helpful advice that said he must never hit a girl even if they hit you first. Then Siobhan would follow up with a strategy that could help him avoid punching the girl. Christopher liked this very much because he believes that Siobhan understands, because he tells her exactly what Christopher does wrong and what he’s not allowed to do. Another time where Siobhan gave advice to the protagonist gaining his knowledge about himself and the world, was when Christopher pushed someone off the swings. Siobhan then helped out and told him to never act before asking, that he must ask someone if they have finished with the swings and wait until they are finished. Throughout the pages I have so far read Siobhan is a big help, and positive aspect of Christopher’s life.
What role do adult characters play? In this environment that Christopher lives in, he’s mostly surrounded by adults. He’s surrounded by his father, his teachers, his neighbors and strangers. Because Christopher is very observant and logical, he views adults in many different ways. He mostly, however, learns from them as much as he learns from his surroundings. An example would be his father, who has shown Christopher nothing but patience and love, even when he disobeys or fails to understand something. Being a single parent, Christopher's father must try very hard to keep his son and his bond healthy. On pages 48-50 we see their dinner scene where Christopher and his father interact with one another. While it seems to be like a normal dinner, something that would happen daily, their conversation makes me think otherwise. Sometimes Christopher is able to quickly address someone who is speaking to him but it’s very easy for him to get confused and misunderstand, which is why his father shows patience, but to an extent. “And father said; Ok, Christopher. I am going to say this for the last and final time, I will not tell you again. Look at me when I’m talking to you, for God’s sake…” Christopher’s father has ran out of patience with him, but he still attempts to help his son in the end. This shows us that there are some adults that do intend to help Christopher, some just find it difficult to do so. The role of adults in “The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Nighttime” is somewhat comparable to the role they play in real life. Some aim to help, others don’t.
How do supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge about themselves or the world?
In the novel “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time” the author Mark Haddon uses supporting characters to help the main protagonist Christopher gain better knowledge about himself and how he focus on his main goals. With Chris already having the disability of autism, he’s already in need of support of others to help him get through in life. Chris’s Father and his friend Siobhan are great example of those supporting characters, especially Siobhan. Siobhan so far in the novel is Chris’s closest friend. Chris can rely on her for any clarification that he may need in school or something that he might be having trouble with. Haddon illustrates an example of this on page 29. Chris is talking about the difficulty he has understanding when people talk in metaphors and when people break the rules of the world sometimes. He mentions that Siobhan always understands and lets him know what’s right “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is I am not allowed to do and I like this.” The quote illustrates that support that Christopher is gaining from Siobhan as the author illustrated that he likes it when Siobhan clarifies things up for him. With his disability it’s sometimes hard for him to understand what he’s being told because his brain has a hard time processing what it is that it wants him to do.
Question: What Role Do Adult Characters Play in the Story?
Throughout “the curious incident of the dog in the night time,” adult characters play a vital role in guiding Christopher through everyday life. Mark Haddon does a genuine job in displaying how the adults in Christopher’s life have had varying effects on his development as a person. Christopher often has trouble communicating with others at a normal pace because of his autism diagnosis. Christopher’s father is the most integral adult figure in Christopher’s life because that is who Christopher spends the most time with, considering his mother died two years ago. Christopher’s father is very harsh towards his son because he becomes annoyed easily while teaching Christopher the life lessons that will keep him out of harm’s way. Father said, “I am going to make you promise, Christopher. You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.” (Page 50) Christopher’s father has to be very direct with Christopher because of his inability to process information as quickly as most people do. While Christopher’s father’s intent is to guide his son in the best way possible, he comes across as harsh at times, often screaming at Christopher when he doesn’t cooperate. Siobhan and Mrs. Shears are two other significant adult figures in Christopher’s life. Siobhan is a guidance counselor at Christopher’s school, who helped Christopher learn what other people were thinking by sketching facial expressions for Christopher to interpret. Christopher enjoys spending time with Siobhan because she helps him progress academically by using methods that are supportive of Christopher’s autism. Mrs. Shears is a next door neighbor who spends a significant amount of time with Christopher and his father since her husband left her. Recently, Christopher’s father told him that Mrs. Shears is no longer a friend. This was intriguing because there was no explanation as to why Mrs. Shears was no longer associated with Christopher’s father after being close friends with him. Mrs. Shears is a significant character because Christopher is obsessed with finding out who killed her dog, despite his father’s warnings to stay out of other people’s business.
Question Chosen: What role do the adult characters play? In the book, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”, there is an apparent lack of child characters. Although Christopher does mention some kids, the adult characters are the only ones that recur and play a vital role in the story. Since Christopher has a raised level of intelligence and is unable to connect with his fellow rowdy classmates, he feels more of a kinship for adults. Siobhan, especially, is shown to have a close relationship with Christopher. For instance, Christopher states that Siobahn “understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.” This clearly implies that Christopher connects more with Siobhan, because she makes an effort to understand and explain things to him more than everyone else. Christopher’s Father, on the other hand, talks to Christopher as if his son were not autistic and thus processes things differently than other people do. For example, Christopher references one time when his father said “Christopher, if you do not behave I swear I shall knock the living daylights out of you.” It’s not a matter of Christopher’s choosing to misbehave; it’s simply that he is unable to function without his little quirks, which, while under normal circumstances might be construed as rude or disrespectful, are in reality just a part of who Christopher is. To sum up, it appears that the adult characters play a major role in the story- acting as the two types of people Christopher is liable to encounter in life (Siobhan represents those who will be understanding and patient with him, while his Father represents those lacking those qualities, when dealing with autistic people). Having some knowledge about initiation stories, I can predict that eventually these two types of people are going to appear in the book as characters that Christopher will encounter throughout the duration of his quest (in fact, they already have, if one considers his neighbors). Furthermore, he most likely will have to draw on these two relationships in order to deal with said new people.
Beth Moed-Nelson 10/16/15 the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, commentary: What might prevent the protagonist from changing/growing? So far in the book we know Christopher is fifteen years old and has Autism. He is very logical and intellectual. Christopher loves mysteries and wants to write a mystery novel about the dog he found dead in his neighbor's garden. His father as well as the police want him to stop his investigation involving it because it will get him in trouble. But Christopher can't comprehend that it doesn't involve him and there will be serious consequences. The author illustrates how Christopher's mind works by writing “I asked Mr.Wise if he knew who had killed Wellington on Thursday night. He said, ‘Bloody hell, policemen really are getting younger aren't they.’ Then he laughed. I do not like people laughing at me, so I turned and walked away.” (page 38). Christopher doesn't realize that the man is joking around with him, not making fun of him. He doesn't understand human emotion, therefore, his thinking may be logically rational but not emotionally rational. Christopher’s trouble with interacting with others leads him to fear anyone touching him,. Christopher is so uncomfortable with a person touching him that he'd go as far as punching them. Christopher does this when a policeman tries to help him off the ground, “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.”(page 8). This quote from the text is significant because it illustrates how guarded Christopher is and he will lash out at a policeman with such high authority, without considering the consequences. Christopher struggles with the effects Autism puts on him. It can't be easy for Christopher to have a different mindset when interacting with people. He thinks a certain way and believes that his way of thinking is the logical way of thinking. Being more emotionally intellectually may come harder to him. And emotion is what guides someone to learn more about themselves and grow as a person. So his autism may prevent him from growing or changing by the end of the book.
Question: What initiates the protagonist’s quest? Why must he change?
So far in the book Christopher seems to be this very outgoing and curious boy who feels a need to analyze everything thoroughly no matter how simple it may be. In the story we learn that Ms.Sheers dog, Wellington was stabbed by a pitchfork in the very beginning of the story. This mysterious death causes Christopher to become interested in finding the culprit. The moment when Christopher found Wellington dead and decided to pick him up initiated the quest because this moment caused Ms.Sheers to think that Chris was the culprit even though he just got to the scene, and led her to call the cops where Chris was taken to jail because he hit the cop out of fear. Although this is the quest the story is centered on, the true meaning behind his quest is most likely for him to develop feelings or understand how others feel. We see this because he has a hard time grasping the concept of basic things such as sadness and jokes.
How do supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge about self and the world?
One of the main people that Christopher listens to and, in a way, admires is Siobhan. Siobhan plays a big part in Chris’ life, she is his educator, counselor, and one of his only friends. She even plays the part of his mother. Siobhan is a councilor at his school and he spends a lot of his time in school with her. There are a lot of instances in the story where he is unsure what to do and Siobhan is there to help him understand the situation. On page 29 Chris describes how Siobhan is helpful to him, “Siobhan understands…. She once said, “You must never punch Sarah or hit her in any way, Christopher. Even if she hits you first… move away from her and count from 1-50…” This quote reveals that Siobhan understands how Chris feels and tries her best to make him behave well and feel happy. His father also plays a big part in Chris’ life although it seems like, Chris trusts Siobhan more. It is his father who takes Chris around to zoos and to entertain his son. But it seems as if Chris feels even more comfortable with Siobhan than he is with his father. It is Siobhan who teaches Chris what is right and what is wrong, how to behave when around people. His father is just a caregiver, and the only time Chris sees his father is after school during dinner. Chris either watches TV or goes to his room afterward. It is really hard for people to help Chris, because of his lack for emotional empathy. For his father it is extremely hard, but he tries and so does his other friend, Siobhan.
What initiates the antagonist's quest? What must he change?
In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher is initiated into his quest when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, dead in their yard with a fork penetrating through it. Christopher decides to investigate to find out who killed Wellington out of his love and understanding for dogs. "I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk" (Pg.4). Christopher understands dogs more than he understands humans, which means that he has a special attachment to dogs, driving him to wanting to find out who murdered Wellington.
Christopher has mentioned that he can't engage in chatting with others, yet, that is going to have to change with Christopher if he wants to determine who the murderer is. We can already see this start to happen when he speaks to Mrs. Alexander the first time. "And I was about to turn and walk away when she said, "I have a grandson your age." I tried to do the chatting by saying, "My age is 15 years and 3 months and 3 days." And she said, "Well, almost your age" (Pg.40). We can see that Christopher is making the effort to have a conversation with Mrs. Alexander, which indicates that eventually, this will result in the maturity of Christopher when he overcomes his struggles.
What initiates the protagonist’s quest? Why must he change?
Christopher is an extremely intelligent character, but because of his Autism, his thought process is much more complex which gives him the need for simplicity. Because of this, I have noticed that his father chooses to shelter him rather than tell him the truth. Honesty is a very important thing in Christopher’s life because he cannot understand what lying really is. He takes everything literally and unfortunately, his father feels like keeping him in the dark will be beneficial. An example of this can be seen when Christopher is questioning his father about the death of his mother. His father says it was a heart attack, but Christopher knew his mother was healthy woman and pressed for more information. On page 27, it says, “Father said that he didn’t know what kind of heart attack she had and now wasn’t the moment to be asking questions like that. I said that it was probably an aneurysm”. This demonstrates how Christopher’s father rather not deal with telling his son the truth when it comes to difficult situations, although it is clear Christopher knows something is not right. In the end, he came to his own conclusion because he knows he will not get answers from his father. I thought this helped lead him to his quest because since the mystery of his mother’s death went unsolved, he can’t let the mystery of Wellington go unsolved either. I think finding out what happened to Wellington is a way for Christopher to redeem himself and make it up to his absent mother.
The adults in the novel help the protagonist gain the information that he needs to function in the society he lives in. By trying to give him the skills that he needs to easily comprehend and accept the things that he is approached with. He has a hard time comprehending things or dealing with things if they are not in a specific order which the adults in the novel try and help maintain in his life. On page 29 Christopher compares how other adults direction and the way he comprehends them compares to how Siobhan explains his directions easily for him to understand.“Siobhan understands.When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.”Siobhan is the facilitator of Christopher that helps him understand what was right and what was wrong of him to do. She gives him a layer of stability that he needs to carry on throughout the story seemingly helping him navigate through his life.This suggest that Christopher needs this stability and this exactness in his life in order for him to function with no room for interpretation. He has a hard time understanding the directions of others and comprehending the information that others give him which is displayed throughout the book with other speaking to other adults. Another important adult figure within Christopher's life is his father who helps handle the behaviour issues that he has and also along with Siobhan helps him navigate through his life. His father tries hard to him adjust and be treated like a normal teenager his age not making him feel handicapped by his disability and makes sure that no one treats him any differently than anyone else. He also fights to empower Christopher I his interest and makes sure he has access to all the opportunities that he can. On Page 45 we see Christopher's father fight for Christopher's right to gain the best education he can and gain the same opportunities that other kids get to experience. “And she said if I sat an A level I would have to have a member of the staff looking after me on my own in a separate room. And Father said he would pay some £50 to do it after school and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And she said she’d go away and think about it. And the next week she rang Father at home and told him that I could take the A level and the Reverend Peters would be what is called the invigilator.” This suggest that Christopher's father feels as though Christopher should not be treated any different that others kids for simply his learning disability. Christopher's father's role throughout the novel is to guarantee Christopher's future and make sure that he is given all the opportunities that he is able to have within his power. His father role is to make sure Christopher lives comfortably and is not excluded or left out of anything.
How did supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge, either about themselves or the world around them?
Christopher is often shown to gain information on things he understands through Siobhan, a supporting character that is mentioned numerous times throughout the book. Often times, Siobhan tells Christopher the right thing to do in various situations, often serving as a voice of reason for him. On page 3, Christopher says, “Then she drew some other pictures, but I was unable to say what these meant. I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant.” This quote seems to demonstrate that Siobhan is someone that is there to give Christopher the support he needs. It’s clear that by drawing him these pictures of all of these different emotions, she’s attempting to teach him something about the world around him, especially something that he cannot understand as well as others. I think that this can also demonstrate Siobhan’s patience when it comes to her trying to enhance his knowledge, which she does a lot. Even when Christopher finds himself unable to grab onto certain concepts she teaches him, she continues to help and support him. On page 15, Christopher explains, “Siobhan also says that if you close your mouth and breathe out loudly through your nose, it can mean that you are relaxed, or that you are bored, or that you are angry, and it all depends on how much air comes out of your nose and how fast and what shape your mouth is when you do it and how you are sitting and what you said just before and hundreds of other things which are too complicated to work out in a few seconds.” This illustrates the fact that despite Christopher’s inability to grasp certain concepts that Siobhan teaches him, she still takes the time to give him this knowledge, which emphasizes her patience and her overall effect on Christopher’s life as this sort of mentor figure. Other characters besides Siobhan have been shown to influence Christopher’s knowledge as well, though not always in that same mentor role that she plays in his life. Characters such as Father help Christopher gain knowledge; mainly Father since he plays such a big role in Christopher’s life. On page 21, Christopher says, “‘I wonder if the police will find out who killed him and punish the person.’ Then Father banged the steering wheel with his fist and the car weaved a little bit across the dotted line in the middle of the road and he shouted, ‘I said leave it, for God’s sake.’” This quote seems to demonstrate Father’s approach to giving Christopher knowledge, which appears to be harsher compared to Siobhan’s approach. Father seems to be a supporter that tells Christopher how he’s supposed to act and why he should act that way, though he can sometimes come across as impatient or irritable in the process. Despite his outburst of anger, I think that Father truly has patience for Christopher, though he sometimes finds difficulty in trying to demonstrate it in the way that Siobhan might.
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime Chris dad plays a pretty big role in his life so far in the book, we see that he is one of the few people that Chris feels comfortable with. On page 16 it said “ I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me”.
This quote is showing that Chris’s dad is someone that loves him and that he has a big impact on Chris’s life. It also leads me to believe that Chris would be lost without his dad, and also that his dad is sacrificing so much for Chris in the moment before the quote we see Chris’s dad come into the police station at 1 in the morning demanding to see his son, that shows me that he sacrifices a lot for his son and that he loves him.
What role do adult characters play in the initiation? In the book. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, Christopher has a mental disorder which is autism spectrum disorder and that affects the way a person’s brain and body works. The adults in his life tries to help him. Siobhan for example is his guidance counselor and she is seen throughout the book assisting Christopher in anyway. Siobhan has a close relationship with Christopher and this is seen on page 29, “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.” This clearly shows that Siobhan is patient with Christopher in order to understand that he doesn’t like it when people aren’t specific with what they want Christopher to do. In addition, Siobhan takes time and effort to get to know Christopher so she can help and understand him. Christopher’s Father doesn’t treat Christopher like he has autism instead he treats him like a normal kid. For example on page 81, “Then he said, “Holy fucking Jesus, Christopher. How stupid are you?” Father didn’t even try to understand the situation before he started yelling at Christopher. Instead he straight-up called him stupid. Normally parents would try to understand the situation and find out the reason why their child rebelled against them but Christopher’s Father didn’t care for the reason. Father uses a harsher tone to teach Christopher compared to Siobhan. This shows that Siobhan has the patience to help Christopher while Father is the opposite and that is reflected by the way he associates with Christopher.
What might prevent the protagonist from changing/growing? What might prevent the protagonist from changing is his mental conditions. The main character, Christopher has autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the way a person’s brain and body works. People who have Autism have difficulty communicating with other people, making friends, or following directions. Christopher has the same exact problem. He doesn’t know when someone is trying to help him get him out of situations that he unknowingly gets himself in. In the beginning of the novel, Christopher finds a dead dog and decides to hug it. He then was caught hugging the dead dog by its owner and it is immediate to assumed that he killed the dog. When the police come they started asking him if he killed the dog or not and he is confused on why their suspicious of him. On page 7 it states "He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly.". He was so overwhelmed by what was going on that he didn't understand what was going on. He then started to get very upset that even the police officer noticed it. Then not knowing what else to do, he hits the police officer. Then when they ask him if he hit the police officer they were trying to get him out of being arrested but he didn't understand what they were trying to do. On page 17 it states "Did you mean to hit the policeman?"... He squeezed his face and said 'But you didn't mean to hit the policeman?'" Because Christopher still has his child innocence he is unable to lie and he keeps responding yes much to the disapointment of the police officer. That's what might prevent the protagonists from changing/growing because of his mental conditions.
October 16, 2015 What might prevent the protagonist from changing/ growing? Since Christopher is a 15 year old teenager everyone around him tends to treat him like a child and don’t take him seriously. Despite his age and the fact that he has autism, Christopher is smarter than he seems, he has his own way of processing information and he’s very logical. Christopher’s physical quest is finding out who killed Wellington, although his father and most of the adults in his life tell him not to. “‘Christopher, you have to stay out of trouble, OK?’” (page 20) It’s understandable why his father doesn’t want him looking for who killed Wellington since he just got arrested for killing the dog although he didn’t. His father isn’t explaining him why he can’t investigate, he’s just telling him he can’t like parents do when talking to children. His father and the police don’t want Christopher looking for who killed Wellington because it could get him into more trouble. Even when Christopher goes around the neighborhood to ask about Wellington’s death, the adults he talks to don’t take him seriously. “I said, ‘Do you know who killed Wellington?’ She didn’t answer my question. She just said, ‘Goodbye, Christopher,’ and closed the door.” (page 30) This lady sees Christopher as a child when he asks questions and therefore doesn’t take him seriously even though he isn’t acting like a child. Most of the people Christopher talks to don’t take him seriously and either don’t answer his questions or try to talk to him like a child. His age and the fact that people don’t take him seriously might prevent Christopher from changing.
What is the protagonist's quest? Why must he change? Christopher’s quest is to find who killed Ms. Shears dog, Wellington, and along the way take some risks that probably wouldn’t be expected of him to do. Implying that Christopher likes not only order but the truth. And though he promised his father that he wouldn't put himself in other people's business, he believes whoever killed Wellington should be brought to justice. On page 28-29 Christopher says, “I decided I was going to find out who killed Wellington even though father had told me to stay out of other people’s business… And this is because when people tell you what to do it is usually confusing and does not make sense.” Illustrating that Christopher cares for Wellington and that it is a must that Christopher changes because he know that in order to find out who killed Wellington, he has to step out of his comfort zone and be brave. But also because when Christopher’s father says to stay out of other people’s business he doesn’t understand what he means. For example Christopher continues to say on page 29, “... and his job is going into other people’s houses and fixing their boilers and their heating. And all of these things are other people’s business.” Implying that he doesn’t understand people’s logic when they say things like that, making him still want to pursue the situation because he believes that's what's best, not incorporating what others say because it doesn’t make sense to him.
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, the adult characters are portrayed as Christopher's caregivers. Specific people like his dad, Siobhan, and his guidance counselor are intended to be seen in that light, but even people like his neighbors and strangers feel the need to govern over him and his actions. When Christopher was going on his investigation trying to figure out who killed Wellington, he encountered some neighbors who he had never even met before. “And I explained that I couldn’t ask my father because the investigation was a secret because he had told me to stay out of other people’s business. ‘Well, maybe he has a point, Christopher.’” Even though this woman knew nothing about Christopher, and she just met him 5 minutes ago, she felt the need to give him advice and “care” for him.
Angel Cornejo 11/16/15
ReplyDeleteWhat Might Prevent the Protagonist From Changing/ Growing?
There are a few obstacles that Christopher has to face in his quest to find out who killed the dog. One major obstacle that he has to overcome is the other individuals around him. In order for him to find out who killed the dog he needs to have cooperation from people but that is simply not happening. One reason for this might be his age. He is 15 years old and his youth plays a big issue. Christopher is not respected by others and because of this don’t take him seriously. “She didn't answer my question. She just said goodbye, Christopher, and closed the door.” (Page 30) Finding out who the dog killer is will play a big role in Christopher’s change to adulthood. His lack of understanding when it comes to emotions has a big impact on how he treats others around him and how he responds to certain situations. Because of this, it can have bad consequences. “The policemen took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” (Page 8) Christopher did not understand the situation and acted in an inappropriate way. The policemen then proceeded to call Christopher a “little shit.” This is a very disrespectful thing to call someone but since Christopher is young, the officer was able to get away with it. When Christopher hit the police officer he got himself in trouble and as a result got a lecture from his father. Events like these affect Christopher in many ways, sometimes they may be good or sometimes they may be bad. Whichever way the consequence lean toward, it will always help Christopher learn from his mistakes and help him grow into adulthood.
Question: What initiates the protagonist’s quest? Why must he change?
ReplyDeleteIn the book “The curious incident of the dog in the night time” by Mark Haddon, the protagonist Christopher found his neighbor dog dead with a fork in it. This started the quest for the 15 year old because of the fact that he love dogs and was planning to use this as a template for the mystery book that he planned on writing. Now he must change in order to finish or continue this quest because of the fact that he has autism and as far as the story goes, it doesn’t seem like he really knows that he have it. Also in my opinion I find that he’s still naive to the world as he really loves dog and wanted whoever it was that killed the Mrs Shears dog to be put in jail which to be honest isn’t really that much of a big deal. Furthermore as the story progresses I feel like he should know that not everything is always going to work out the way he wanted it to, because he wants to be in control of the things around him as seen with the way he reacted when the police officer try to take his watch in pg 13. The reason why I feel like he should know this, is because maybe the person that actually killed the dog might not be thrown in jail like he wanted, or that the dog was killed by someone he knows and that he might be sad from it.
The supporting characters help the protagonist, Christopher, gain knowledge about the world by attempting to explain things to him in a way that he understands/accepts. Christopher has made it clear that he likes to have a systematic way of thinking, he always wants things to make sense to him and he has trouble reacting properly. One example of a supporting character that does this is Siobhan. She works at Christopher’s school and is always there for him in terms of trying to teach him about right versus wrong. On page 29, Christopher says, “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.” Christopher appreciates the way she is specific with him, as opposed to people who are vague with their commands, which confuses him easily. Christopher also mentions the way that Siobhan drew out pictures for him that illustrated people’s facial expressions, which helps him easily tell emotions from one another. He says, “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying.” She illustrates things for him in a language that works for him so he can have an overall easier time. The way Siobhan explains things is one of the main ways he is able to learn important lessons about life, like patience or how to deal with anger.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWhat initiates the protagonist to go on the quest is the fact that he found his neighbors dead dog while walking around. He was also accused for killing the dog, which raised the question on who did do it. Christopher did appreciate dogs because he liked them more than people as their emotions were easier to understand. “I also said that I cared about dogs because they were faithful and honest…” (pg.6) He wanted to know why someone would do such a thing and when Sioban told him he had to write a mystery novel he decided his idea was to write about finding who killed the dog. As it was something more personal that he actually had some understanding of. “I also started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me.” (pg.5) So basically he liked animals and he had a personal connection to what happened and the idea of writing this novel allowed intrigued him into finding out what happened to the dog.
He must change because he actually needs have a full conversation to gain some understanding on what may have happened to the dog. He has to be able to be determined and make connections between everything he has found. But he also needs to have some good attitude to have a good conversation with others. Be able to prove that he can handle himself and finish this mystery for his story.
What role do adult characters play?
ReplyDeleteIn "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime", adults play a pretty big role in guiding Christopher towards his quest. The three adults who play the biggest role are Father, Christopher’s dad, Siobhan, Christopher’s aid, and Mrs. Shears, the owner of the dog that got murdered. They are mentioned frequently, and are driving factors towards Christopher investigating the death of Wellington, the dog that got died. Christopher’s dad plays in integral role in not only Christopher’s quest, but in his life in general. While he is protective of Christopher, he at times comes off as cold and indifferent to Christopher’s struggles. This is because he doesn’t baby Christopher like he could. He doesn’t treats him as a helpless individual, even though sometimes Christopher comes off that way. He frequently gets frustrated with him. For example, when they are driving home after Christopher gets arrested, Christopher makes this comment about his father’s previous actions, “I could tell that he was angry because he was shouting, and I didn’t want to make him angry so I didn’t say anything until we got home.” Usually, when parents have autistic or developmentally challenged kids they treat them different than they would other kids. They operate gently, doing everything they can to avoid upsetting their kid. This is not seen with Christopher’s dad. It is refreshing to see him still trying to protect Christopher, but not to the point where he is babying him. He wants Christopher to be ready for the world outside of their house, and that is healthy. It is an interesting choice, and inspires curiosity as to why the author chose to write the father like that. It is interesting in general why the author chooses to write Christopher the way he does. He doesn’t specifically identify that Christopher has autism. Also, no one in Christopher’s life appears to treat him differently because he’s, well, different from them. Everyone treats him as an equal and expects him to act as other people do. It’s good for Christopher, and teaches him a lot about the world. Although at times he doesn’t understand or like the way the world and the people in it work, he tries his best to cope, and doesn’t let it hold him back. This attributes to his smartness, because when he doesn’t understand something about the world, he asks questions and demonstrates curiosity for learning more. There are many adults in Christopher’s life, that both help and hurt him, and due to their presence, he decides to figure out who killed the dog, thus initiating his quest.
In ‘The curious incident of the dog in the night time’ by Mark Haddon I think adults play a big part in this book so far. I think this because in the book Christopher the main character has autism, and often finds himself in a lot of situation where he can't get himself out of. His father is someone who I think has to get use to the way his son carries himself. For example, on page 16 it states “...He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan, I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means he loves me.” This illustrates that for Christopher his father is someone where he feels safe and protected and he knows that he is someone to lean on. Adults in most books are usually characters that are always there for their children and no matter what show their affection and how much they care with their actions. Another example of how adults play a big role is on page 20 when Christopher's father is giving advice to Christopher by saying “Just leave it alone, just try and keep your nose out of other people’s business”. This suggest that Christopher has someone who looks out for him, like most adults look out for children, in most books adults are always known for knowing best when it comes to children and giving them advice on what to do; and in this book Christopher’s father is the one that knows best for his son because he knows him well enough to make decisions for him other than Christopher trying to do things on his own with no one guiding him.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: How do supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge about the self or world?
ReplyDeleteThe supporting character Siobhan, helps the protagonist Christopher learn about the world and about himself every time they speak. Siobhan helps him learn people’s emotions through faces, that he couldn’t figure out himself. This tactic would usually help Christopher whenever he would speak to someone. This practice also would help him realize more about himself, seeing how he’s different from others because he has to pull out a piece of paper every time that he wants to know how a person feels. This practice that Siobhan is supporting Christopher also helps him notice how a victim In the crime he is trying to solve felt through out it. In the book Christopher said that Mrs. Shears, the owner of the dead dog was feeling very angry, she expressed this by cursing at Christopher too. Christopher having a connection with dogs since he can understand their faces-because they only usually have three confused, happy and sad, unlike people he thought-was very hurt when he found out the dog had died, and Siobhan had helped him through it. Another time Siobhan helps the protagonist gain knowledge about himself and the world was when, she taught him not to express himself with violence. Christopher had gotten into a fight with a girl named Sarah and punched her. Siobhan then gave Christopher helpful advice that said he must never hit a girl even if they hit you first. Then Siobhan would follow up with a strategy that could help him avoid punching the girl. Christopher liked this very much because he believes that Siobhan understands, because he tells her exactly what Christopher does wrong and what he’s not allowed to do. Another time where Siobhan gave advice to the protagonist gaining his knowledge about himself and the world, was when Christopher pushed someone off the swings. Siobhan then helped out and told him to never act before asking, that he must ask someone if they have finished with the swings and wait until they are finished. Throughout the pages I have so far read Siobhan is a big help, and positive aspect of Christopher’s life.
What role do adult characters play?
ReplyDeleteIn this environment that Christopher lives in, he’s mostly surrounded by adults. He’s surrounded by his father, his teachers, his neighbors and strangers. Because Christopher is very observant and logical, he views adults in many different ways. He mostly, however, learns from them as much as he learns from his surroundings. An example would be his father, who has shown Christopher nothing but patience and love, even when he disobeys or fails to understand something. Being a single parent, Christopher's father must try very hard to keep his son and his bond healthy.
On pages 48-50 we see their dinner scene where Christopher and his father interact with one another. While it seems to be like a normal dinner, something that would happen daily, their conversation makes me think otherwise. Sometimes Christopher is able to quickly address someone who is speaking to him but it’s very easy for him to get confused and misunderstand, which is why his father shows patience, but to an extent. “And father said; Ok, Christopher. I am going to say this for the last and final time, I will not tell you again. Look at me when I’m talking to you, for God’s sake…” Christopher’s father has ran out of patience with him, but he still attempts to help his son in the end. This shows us that there are some adults that do intend to help Christopher, some just find it difficult to do so. The role of adults in “The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Nighttime” is somewhat comparable to the role they play in real life. Some aim to help, others don’t.
ReplyDeleteHow do supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge about themselves or the world?
In the novel “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time” the author Mark Haddon uses supporting characters to help the main protagonist Christopher gain better knowledge about himself and how he focus on his main goals. With Chris already having the disability of autism, he’s already in need of support of others to help him get through in life. Chris’s Father and his friend Siobhan are great example of those supporting characters, especially Siobhan. Siobhan so far in the novel is Chris’s closest friend. Chris can rely on her for any clarification that he may need in school or something that he might be having trouble with. Haddon illustrates an example of this on page 29. Chris is talking about the difficulty he has understanding when people talk in metaphors and when people break the rules of the world sometimes. He mentions that Siobhan always understands and lets him know what’s right “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is I am not allowed to do and I like this.” The quote illustrates that support that Christopher is gaining from Siobhan as the author illustrated that he likes it when Siobhan clarifies things up for him. With his disability it’s sometimes hard for him to understand what he’s being told because his brain has a hard time processing what it is that it wants him to do.
Benjamin Gordon
ReplyDeleteQuestion: What Role Do Adult Characters Play in the Story?
Throughout “the curious incident of the dog in the night time,” adult characters play a vital role in guiding Christopher through everyday life. Mark Haddon does a genuine job in displaying how the adults in Christopher’s life have had varying effects on his development as a person. Christopher often has trouble communicating with others at a normal pace because of his autism diagnosis. Christopher’s father is the most integral adult figure in Christopher’s life because that is who Christopher spends the most time with, considering his mother died two years ago. Christopher’s father is very harsh towards his son because he becomes annoyed easily while teaching Christopher the life lessons that will keep him out of harm’s way. Father said, “I am going to make you promise, Christopher. You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.” (Page 50) Christopher’s father has to be very direct with Christopher because of his inability to process information as quickly as most people do. While Christopher’s father’s intent is to guide his son in the best way possible, he comes across as harsh at times, often screaming at Christopher when he doesn’t cooperate.
Siobhan and Mrs. Shears are two other significant adult figures in Christopher’s life. Siobhan is a guidance counselor at Christopher’s school, who helped Christopher learn what other people were thinking by sketching facial expressions for Christopher to interpret. Christopher enjoys spending time with Siobhan because she helps him progress academically by using methods that are supportive of Christopher’s autism. Mrs. Shears is a next door neighbor who spends a significant amount of time with Christopher and his father since her husband left her. Recently, Christopher’s father told him that Mrs. Shears is no longer a friend. This was intriguing because there was no explanation as to why Mrs. Shears was no longer associated with Christopher’s father after being close friends with him. Mrs. Shears is a significant character because Christopher is obsessed with finding out who killed her dog, despite his father’s warnings to stay out of other people’s business.
Question Chosen: What role do the adult characters play?
ReplyDeleteIn the book, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”, there is an apparent lack of child characters. Although Christopher does mention some kids, the adult characters are the only ones that recur and play a vital role in the story. Since Christopher has a raised level of intelligence and is unable to connect with his fellow rowdy classmates, he feels more of a kinship for adults. Siobhan, especially, is shown to have a close relationship with Christopher. For instance, Christopher states that Siobahn “understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.” This clearly implies that Christopher connects more with Siobhan, because she makes an effort to understand and explain things to him more than everyone else.
Christopher’s Father, on the other hand, talks to Christopher as if his son were not autistic and thus processes things differently than other people do. For example, Christopher references one time when his father said “Christopher, if you do not behave I swear I shall knock the living daylights out of you.” It’s not a matter of Christopher’s choosing to misbehave; it’s simply that he is unable to function without his little quirks, which, while under normal circumstances might be construed as rude or disrespectful, are in reality just a part of who Christopher is. To sum up, it appears that the adult characters play a major role in the story- acting as the two types of people Christopher is liable to encounter in life (Siobhan represents those who will be understanding and patient with him, while his Father represents those lacking those qualities, when dealing with autistic people). Having some knowledge about initiation stories, I can predict that eventually these two types of people are going to appear in the book as characters that Christopher will encounter throughout the duration of his quest (in fact, they already have, if one considers his neighbors). Furthermore, he most likely will have to draw on these two relationships in order to deal with said new people.
Beth Moed-Nelson 10/16/15
ReplyDeletethe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, commentary:
What might prevent the protagonist from changing/growing?
So far in the book we know Christopher is fifteen years old and has Autism. He is very logical and intellectual. Christopher loves mysteries and wants to write a mystery novel about the dog he found dead in his neighbor's garden. His father as well as the police want him to stop his investigation involving it because it will get him in trouble. But Christopher can't comprehend that it doesn't involve him and there will be serious consequences. The author illustrates how Christopher's mind works by writing “I asked Mr.Wise if he knew who had killed Wellington on Thursday night. He said, ‘Bloody hell, policemen really are getting younger aren't they.’ Then he laughed. I do not like people laughing at me, so I turned and walked away.” (page 38). Christopher doesn't realize that the man is joking around with him, not making fun of him. He doesn't understand human emotion, therefore, his thinking may be logically rational but not emotionally rational.
Christopher’s trouble with interacting with others leads him to fear anyone touching him,. Christopher is so uncomfortable with a person touching him that he'd go as far as punching them. Christopher does this when a policeman tries to help him off the ground, “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.”(page 8). This quote from the text is significant because it illustrates how guarded Christopher is and he will lash out at a policeman with such high authority, without considering the consequences. Christopher struggles with the effects Autism puts on him. It can't be easy for Christopher to have a different mindset when interacting with people. He thinks a certain way and believes that his way of thinking is the logical way of thinking. Being more emotionally intellectually may come harder to him. And emotion is what guides someone to learn more about themselves and grow as a person. So his autism may prevent him from growing or changing by the end of the book.
Jonathan Albarracin 10/18/15
ReplyDeleteQuestion: What initiates the protagonist’s quest? Why must he change?
So far in the book Christopher seems to be this very outgoing and curious boy who feels a need to analyze everything thoroughly no matter how simple it may be. In the story we learn that Ms.Sheers dog, Wellington was stabbed by a pitchfork in the very beginning of the story. This mysterious death causes Christopher to become interested in finding the culprit. The moment when Christopher found Wellington dead and decided to pick him up initiated the quest because this moment caused Ms.Sheers to think that Chris was the culprit even though he just got to the scene, and led her to call the cops where Chris was taken to jail because he hit the cop out of fear. Although this is the quest the story is centered on, the true meaning behind his quest is most likely for him to develop feelings or understand how others feel. We see this because he has a hard time grasping the concept of basic things such as sadness and jokes.
How do supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge about self and the world?
ReplyDeleteOne of the main people that Christopher listens to and, in a way, admires is Siobhan. Siobhan plays a big part in Chris’ life, she is his educator, counselor, and one of his only friends. She even plays the part of his mother. Siobhan is a councilor at his school and he spends a lot of his time in school with her. There are a lot of instances in the story where he is unsure what to do and Siobhan is there to help him understand the situation. On page 29 Chris describes how Siobhan is helpful to him, “Siobhan understands…. She once said, “You must never punch Sarah or hit her in any way, Christopher. Even if she hits you first… move away from her and count from 1-50…” This quote reveals that Siobhan understands how Chris feels and tries her best to make him behave well and feel happy.
His father also plays a big part in Chris’ life although it seems like, Chris trusts Siobhan more. It is his father who takes Chris around to zoos and to entertain his son. But it seems as if Chris feels even more comfortable with Siobhan than he is with his father. It is Siobhan who teaches Chris what is right and what is wrong, how to behave when around people. His father is just a caregiver, and the only time Chris sees his father is after school during dinner. Chris either watches TV or goes to his room afterward.
It is really hard for people to help Chris, because of his lack for emotional empathy. For his father it is extremely hard, but he tries and so does his other friend, Siobhan.
Tiffany Martinez
ReplyDeleteWhat initiates the antagonist's quest? What must he change?
In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher is initiated into his quest when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, dead in their yard with a fork penetrating through it. Christopher decides to investigate to find out who killed Wellington out of his love and understanding for dogs. "I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk" (Pg.4). Christopher understands dogs more than he understands humans, which means that he has a special attachment to dogs, driving him to wanting to find out who murdered Wellington.
Christopher has mentioned that he can't engage in chatting with others, yet, that is going to have to change with Christopher if he wants to determine who the murderer is. We can already see this start to happen when he speaks to Mrs. Alexander the first time. "And I was about to turn and walk away when she said, "I have a grandson your age."
I tried to do the chatting by saying, "My age is 15 years and 3 months and 3 days."
And she said, "Well, almost your age" (Pg.40). We can see that Christopher is making the effort to have a conversation with Mrs. Alexander, which indicates that eventually, this will result in the maturity of Christopher when he overcomes his struggles.
Protagonist*
DeleteKarolyn Mena
ReplyDeleteWhat initiates the protagonist’s quest? Why must he change?
Christopher is an extremely intelligent character, but because of his Autism, his thought process is much more complex which gives him the need for simplicity. Because of this, I have noticed that his father chooses to shelter him rather than tell him the truth. Honesty is a very important thing in Christopher’s life because he cannot understand what lying really is. He takes everything literally and unfortunately, his father feels like keeping him in the dark will be beneficial. An example of this can be seen when Christopher is questioning his father about the death of his mother. His father says it was a heart attack, but Christopher knew his mother was healthy woman and pressed for more information. On page 27, it says, “Father said that he didn’t know what kind of heart attack she had and now wasn’t the moment to be asking questions like that.
I said that it was probably an aneurysm”. This demonstrates how Christopher’s father rather not deal with telling his son the truth when it comes to difficult situations, although it is clear Christopher knows something is not right. In the end, he came to his own conclusion because he knows he will not get answers from his father. I thought this helped lead him to his quest because since the mystery of his mother’s death went unsolved, he can’t let the mystery of Wellington go unsolved either. I think finding out what happened to Wellington is a way for Christopher to redeem himself and make it up to his absent mother.
What role do adult characters play?
ReplyDeleteThe adults in the novel help the protagonist gain the information that he needs to function in the society he lives in. By trying to give him the skills that he needs to easily comprehend and accept the things that he is approached with. He has a hard time comprehending things or dealing with things if they are not in a specific order which the adults in the novel try and help maintain in his life. On page 29 Christopher compares how other adults direction and the way he comprehends them compares to how Siobhan explains his directions easily for him to understand.“Siobhan understands.When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.”Siobhan is the facilitator of Christopher that helps him understand what was right and what was wrong of him to do. She gives him a layer of stability that he needs to carry on throughout the story seemingly helping him navigate through his life.This suggest that Christopher needs this stability and this exactness in his life in order for him to function with no room for interpretation. He has a hard time understanding the directions of others and comprehending the information that others give him which is displayed throughout the book with other speaking to other adults.
Another important adult figure within Christopher's life is his father who helps handle the behaviour issues that he has and also along with Siobhan helps him navigate through his life. His father tries hard to him adjust and be treated like a normal teenager his age not making him feel handicapped by his disability and makes sure that no one treats him any differently than anyone else. He also fights to empower Christopher I his interest and makes sure he has access to all the opportunities that he can. On Page 45 we see Christopher's father fight for Christopher's right to gain the best education he can and gain the same opportunities that other kids get to experience. “And she said if I sat an A level I would have to have a member of the staff looking after me on my own in a separate room. And Father said he would pay some £50 to do it after school and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And she said she’d go away and think about it. And the next week she rang Father at home and told him that I could take the A level and the Reverend Peters would be what is called the invigilator.” This suggest that Christopher's father feels as though Christopher should not be treated any different that others kids for simply his learning disability. Christopher's father's role throughout the novel is to guarantee Christopher's future and make sure that he is given all the opportunities that he is able to have within his power. His father role is to make sure Christopher lives comfortably and is not excluded or left out of anything.
How did supporting characters help the protagonist gain knowledge, either about themselves or the world around them?
ReplyDeleteChristopher is often shown to gain information on things he understands through Siobhan, a supporting character that is mentioned numerous times throughout the book. Often times, Siobhan tells Christopher the right thing to do in various situations, often serving as a voice of reason for him. On page 3, Christopher says, “Then she drew some other pictures, but I was unable to say what these meant. I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant.” This quote seems to demonstrate that Siobhan is someone that is there to give Christopher the support he needs. It’s clear that by drawing him these pictures of all of these different emotions, she’s attempting to teach him something about the world around him, especially something that he cannot understand as well as others. I think that this can also demonstrate Siobhan’s patience when it comes to her trying to enhance his knowledge, which she does a lot. Even when Christopher finds himself unable to grab onto certain concepts she teaches him, she continues to help and support him. On page 15, Christopher explains, “Siobhan also says that if you close your mouth and breathe out loudly through your nose, it can mean that you are relaxed, or that you are bored, or that you are angry, and it all depends on how much air comes out of your nose and how fast and what shape your mouth is when you do it and how you are sitting and what you said just before and hundreds of other things which are too complicated to work out in a few seconds.” This illustrates the fact that despite Christopher’s inability to grasp certain concepts that Siobhan teaches him, she still takes the time to give him this knowledge, which emphasizes her patience and her overall effect on Christopher’s life as this sort of mentor figure.
Other characters besides Siobhan have been shown to influence Christopher’s knowledge as well, though not always in that same mentor role that she plays in his life. Characters such as Father help Christopher gain knowledge; mainly Father since he plays such a big role in Christopher’s life. On page 21, Christopher says, “‘I wonder if the police will find out who killed him and punish the person.’ Then Father banged the steering wheel with his fist and the car weaved a little bit across the dotted line in the middle of the road and he shouted, ‘I said leave it, for God’s sake.’” This quote seems to demonstrate Father’s approach to giving Christopher knowledge, which appears to be harsher compared to Siobhan’s approach. Father seems to be a supporter that tells Christopher how he’s supposed to act and why he should act that way, though he can sometimes come across as impatient or irritable in the process. Despite his outburst of anger, I think that Father truly has patience for Christopher, though he sometimes finds difficulty in trying to demonstrate it in the way that Siobhan might.
ReplyDeleteWhat role do adult characters play?
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime Chris dad plays a pretty big role in his life so far in the book, we see that he is one of the few people that Chris feels comfortable with. On page 16 it said “ I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me”.
This quote is showing that Chris’s dad is someone that loves him and that he has a big impact on Chris’s life. It also leads me to believe that Chris would be lost without his dad, and also that his dad is sacrificing so much for Chris in the moment before the quote we see Chris’s dad come into the police station at 1 in the morning demanding to see his son, that shows me that he sacrifices a lot for his son and that he loves him.
What role do adult characters play in the initiation?
ReplyDeleteIn the book. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, Christopher has a mental disorder which is autism spectrum disorder and that affects the way a person’s brain and body works. The adults in his life tries to help him. Siobhan for example is his guidance counselor and she is seen throughout the book assisting Christopher in anyway. Siobhan has a close relationship with Christopher and this is seen on page 29, “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.” This clearly shows that Siobhan is patient with Christopher in order to understand that he doesn’t like it when people aren’t specific with what they want Christopher to do. In addition, Siobhan takes time and effort to get to know Christopher so she can help and understand him.
Christopher’s Father doesn’t treat Christopher like he has autism instead he treats him like a normal kid. For example on page 81, “Then he said, “Holy fucking Jesus, Christopher. How stupid are you?” Father didn’t even try to understand the situation before he started yelling at Christopher. Instead he straight-up called him stupid. Normally parents would try to understand the situation and find out the reason why their child rebelled against them but Christopher’s Father didn’t care for the reason. Father uses a harsher tone to teach Christopher compared to Siobhan. This shows that Siobhan has the patience to help Christopher while Father is the opposite and that is reflected by the way he associates with Christopher.
Brian Asencio
ReplyDeleteEnglish
10/16/15
What might prevent the protagonist from changing/growing?
What might prevent the protagonist from changing is his mental conditions. The main character, Christopher has autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the way a person’s brain and body works. People who have Autism have difficulty communicating with other people, making friends, or following directions. Christopher has the same exact problem. He doesn’t know when someone is trying to help him get him out of situations that he unknowingly gets himself in. In the beginning of the novel, Christopher finds a dead dog and decides to hug it. He then was caught hugging the dead dog by its owner and it is immediate to assumed that he killed the dog. When the police come they started asking him if he killed the dog or not and he is confused on why their suspicious of him. On page 7 it states "He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly.". He was so overwhelmed by what was going on that he didn't understand what was going on. He then started to get very upset that even the police officer noticed it. Then not knowing what else to do, he hits the police officer. Then when they ask him if he hit the police officer they were trying to get him out of being arrested but he didn't understand what they were trying to do. On page 17 it states "Did you mean to hit the policeman?"... He squeezed his face and said 'But you didn't mean to hit the policeman?'" Because Christopher still has his child innocence he is unable to lie and he keeps responding yes much to the disapointment of the police officer. That's what might prevent the protagonists from changing/growing
because of his mental conditions.
October 16, 2015
ReplyDeleteWhat might prevent the protagonist from changing/ growing?
Since Christopher is a 15 year old teenager everyone around him tends to treat him like a child and don’t take him seriously. Despite his age and the fact that he has autism, Christopher is smarter than he seems, he has his own way of processing information and he’s very logical. Christopher’s physical quest is finding out who killed Wellington, although his father and most of the adults in his life tell him not to. “‘Christopher, you have to stay out of trouble, OK?’” (page 20) It’s understandable why his father doesn’t want him looking for who killed Wellington since he just got arrested for killing the dog although he didn’t. His father isn’t explaining him why he can’t investigate, he’s just telling him he can’t like parents do when talking to children. His father and the police don’t want Christopher looking for who killed Wellington because it could get him into more trouble. Even when Christopher goes around the neighborhood to ask about Wellington’s death, the adults he talks to don’t take him seriously. “I said, ‘Do you know who killed Wellington?’ She didn’t answer my question. She just said, ‘Goodbye, Christopher,’ and closed the door.” (page 30) This lady sees Christopher as a child when he asks questions and therefore doesn’t take him seriously even though he isn’t acting like a child. Most of the people Christopher talks to don’t take him seriously and either don’t answer his questions or try to talk to him like a child. His age and the fact that people don’t take him seriously might prevent Christopher from changing.
Raven:
ReplyDeleteWhat is the protagonist's quest? Why must he change?
Christopher’s quest is to find who killed Ms. Shears dog, Wellington, and along the way take some risks that probably wouldn’t be expected of him to do. Implying that Christopher likes not only order but the truth. And though he promised his father that he wouldn't put himself in other people's business, he believes whoever killed Wellington should be brought to justice. On page 28-29 Christopher says, “I decided I was going to find out who killed Wellington even though father had told me to stay out of other people’s business… And this is because when people tell you what to do it is usually confusing and does not make sense.” Illustrating that Christopher cares for Wellington and that it is a must that Christopher changes because he know that in order to find out who killed Wellington, he has to step out of his comfort zone and be brave. But also because when Christopher’s father says to stay out of other people’s business he doesn’t understand what he means. For example Christopher continues to say on page 29, “... and his job is going into other people’s houses and fixing their boilers and their heating. And all of these things are other people’s business.” Implying that he doesn’t understand people’s logic when they say things like that, making him still want to pursue the situation because he believes that's what's best, not incorporating what others say because it doesn’t make sense to him.
Mary:
ReplyDeleteIn The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, the adult characters are portrayed as Christopher's caregivers. Specific people like his dad, Siobhan, and his guidance counselor are intended to be seen in that light, but even people like his neighbors and strangers feel the need to govern over him and his actions. When Christopher was going on his investigation trying to figure out who killed Wellington, he encountered some neighbors who he had never even met before. “And I explained that I couldn’t ask my father because the investigation was a secret because he had told me to stay out of other people’s business. ‘Well, maybe he has a point, Christopher.’” Even though this woman knew nothing about Christopher, and she just met him 5 minutes ago, she felt the need to give him advice and “care” for him.