The focus of your commentary tonight is up to you. What seems most important for the class to think about, now that we've concluded our reading of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime? You might review your annotations, your notebook responses, and the EQs we created for initiation stories to find a central focus for your commentary. Or you might think about a question you'd like to explore in the final paper, and get your initial perspective down now, as a "rehearsal" of the more detailed thinking you'll do in the essay.
Remember that your goal is to write commentary that your peers will want to respond to, since you'll all choose one classmate to write back to later this week. Please refer to the checklist on the class website to make sure you meet the requirements of the assignment.
Please make sure your commentary is between 200 and 250 words total. This will require you to develop only ONE main idea, clearly and concisely.
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ReplyDeleteAshley Kwong
ReplyDeleteCommentary : STEAL focus:
In, “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time,” Mark Haddon portrays Christopher’s relationship with his father and Wellington, and how it affects him emotionally. We can see that throughout the text, on page 114-115, as Christopher reads the letters from his mother, he realized that mother was alive, and father was lying to him. Father tried explaining to Christopher, however Christopher refused to talk or listen to him. Adding on, on page 120, father told Christopher that he killed Wellington. This made Christopher feel less safe when he’s around with his father. Christopher felt that his father was untrusted, and he decided to go to London to find his mother. Based on Christopher’s relationship, we can justify that Christopher doesn’t trust father, because he killed Wellington and he seems to demonstrate a strong relationship with Wellington. We can see that Christopher has a strong relationship toward dogs than humans, because in the beginning of the text, he was willing to hug Wellington, but he doesn’t like hugging humans. Adding on, on page 219, father gave Christopher a dog to show his apology to Christopher, and how he’s a trustworthy person, and this made Christopher forgive his father. As Christopher received the dog, it made him feel happy, which demonstrates how much he truly love dogs. In conclusion, based on my interpretation, I can see that Christopher seems to develop a relationship towards Wellington and his father differently.
I agree with your portrayal of Christopher’s broken relationship with his father, but maybe you can try and tie it into how him and his Father's relationship towards the end of the book helped Christopher grow. At the beginning of the book Christopher showed signs of being a dependent and reliant person by socializing with the people in his neighborhood to try and figure out who killed Wellington. After Christopher's father confessed to hiding his mother's letters and killing Wellington, we as readers start to see Christopher become more independent. By the end of the book Christopher's refusal to talk to his Father, and the having the ability to travel to an unknown place like London on his own conveys his change into an independent person.
Delete
DeleteI agree with your point saying that Christopher’s relationship with his father has affected him emotionally. Another instance that shows this is on page 197 when his father is trying to ask for Christopher’s forgiveness and spreads his fingers letting Christopher know that his dad loves him, but Christopher refuses to accept it and do the same motion back to him. This reveals how their relationship was broken and ruined. This also demonstrates how he is afraid of his father and doesnt want to be emotionally or physically in contact with his father. In this commentary, you can also add how Christopher’s relationship with his father made him grow or became independent.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with your portrayal of Christopher’s broken relationship with his father, but maybe you can try and tie it into how him and his Father's relationship towards the end of the book helped Christopher grow. At the beginning of the book Christopher showed signs of being a dependent and reliant person by socializing with the people in his neighborhood to try and figure out who killed Wellington. After Christopher's father confessed to hiding his mother's letters and killing Wellington, we as readers start to see Christopher become more independent. By the end of the book Christopher's refusal to talk to his Father, and the having the ability to travel to an unknown place like London on his own conveys his change into an independent person.
DeleteVictoria Todd-Henry
ReplyDelete11C
10-26-15
In the Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night Time Mark Haddon displays Christopher's problem solving skills and emotions in a hectic situation. When Christopher arrived in London the signs he initially saw looked normal but due to his mind racing all of the signs looked like a hacker trying to hack a software program. People are trying to help Christopher throughout the story especially when he arrives in London on page 184 a lady approaches Christopher with the intent to help him but instead he says, " Stand further away," because I didn't like her being close.And I said," I've got a Swiss Army knife and it has a saw blade and it could cut someone's fingers off," he relies on his knife as a self defense mechanism but he doesn't understand that not everyone has bad intentions whenever a stranger goes up to him and this is how he can push people away, I understand him where he doesn't like people in his personal space but there isn't anything that can be done about that. Christopher has an interesting ability that he's able to solve problems in a stressful situation while someone else would get flustered and can't process what is happening around them, on page 188 and 189, this is where Christopher purchases a book to try and navigate his way with using minimal social contact, " And it took me a long time to find chapter road because it wasn't on page 58. It was back on page 42"..." I looked around and it was dark and there were lots of bright lights and I hadn't been outside for a long time.. I kept my eyelids close together and I just looked at the shape of the roads then I knew which roads were Station Approach and Oak Lane," this display's Christopher's independence and his ability to solve a problem without making himself look like he's stressed out he closed his eyes to try and keep his composure.
Thomas McMahon
ReplyDeleteMs. Mcginnis
English
10/26/15
11C
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: Analyzation
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, we can see that Christopher can be altered based merely on setting. The book primarily takes place in three different settings; the small town of Swindon, a train station, and London. Although he acts slightly differently each day, no matter what the setting, the severe differences come into play when Christopher changes settings.
We can see that in Swindon, Christopher acts the calmest. This is mostly because of the fact that not only did he grow up here, but since it’s a decently small town, it’s better suited to his autism. The reason it’s better suited is because since Chris is autistic, he can’t handle a lot of things at once. Swindon is a relatively small town, so he can handle it. He knows where everything is, so he can deal with it. However, this changes once he moves into a different setting for the first time, which is the train station. In the train station, he shows extreme signs of general uneasiness. This is displayed prominently on page 145, where he’s describing his experience at the train station. He states:
“And it was like standing on a cliff in a really strong wind because it made me feel giddy and sick because there were lots of people walking in and out the tunnel..”
Christopher clearly displays his uneasiness towards people throughout the book. But this is a prominent example of Chris’s social limits being tested, and that he can’t really deal with that well. In addition, Chris acts similarly when he moves to London. He displays similar behavior on page 188, where he’s studying a map. He states:
“And it took me a long time to find Chapter Road because it wasn’t on page 58.”
While this might not be as prominent, he still displayed similar behavior. Chris has displayed that he is very smart, being able to work out tasks like these very easily. However, because he was in an unfamiliar environment, he wasn’t sure what to do, even though it’s a pretty simple task.
ReplyDeleteBen Mulholland
11C
“the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”
Commentary: How is Christopher similar to a typical teenager?
Christopher is similar to any other teenager because his decisions are starting to be taken seriously by other adults. Christopher has already been making decision on his own which started with him doing detective work on who killed Wellington. His decisions at that point were put down by his father. However on page 195 a police officer took into account how Christopher felt: “And then he said, “Do you want to go back to Swindon to your father or do you want to stay here? And I said, “I want to stay here.’”
This depicts how Christopher’s decisions are starting to acknowledged as well as being taken into account. This is similar to most teenagers because most have never had their thoughts acknowledged. Adults almost always acknowledge other adults decisions. Continuing the trend teenagers, between child and adult, are starting to have their decision acknowledged. The police officer asking Christopher where he wants to live is one of the first time a random adult has acknowledged his decision which reflects other teens being taken seriously with their choices.
I agree with your point made on the argument that he is similar to a typical teenager. Christopher is indeed comparable to a typical teenager because of the choices he decides to make on his own and craves to acquire control of his own life. Throughout the book he shows taking initiative on his problems and thinks he knows the best option for himself. This is seen on page 122, when Christopher's father talks to him about killing Wellington and lying about his mother's death. He then determines he will live with his mother and will run away. This is alike to teenagers because many want to decide what they think is best for themselves and be in control of their lives. Many teenagers also run away from their problems or chose to leave because they think something is unfair. Another thing that makes Christopher comparable to a typical teenager is him being unable to trust in his father anymore. This is seen on page 122 as well and illustrates him incapable of trusting his father because of a mistake. Like many, teens are unable to trust their parents because of a past experience their parents have made to lose the faith of their children.
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ReplyDeleteJack Doyle
ReplyDelete11C
Ms. McGinnis
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time Commentary: STEAL
Over the course of the book Christopher's intelligence alters based on Christopher's familiarity with the setting he is in. Settings Christopher feels more comfortable in, allows him to exert his intelligence. On page 50 Christopher states “I think I would make a very good astronaut. To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I’m intelligent.” Christopher believes he would excel as an astronaut because he would be in a place that would comfort him. Christopher then contradicts his intelligence in a London train station, a place he is unfamiliar with. On page 182 Christopher says “And then I saw Toby, and he was also in the lower-down but where the rails were, and I knew he was Toby because he was white and he had a brown egg shape on his back. So I climbed down off the concrete. And he was eating a bit of rubbish that was an old sweet paper. And someone shouted, “Jesus. What are you doing?” The reaction from one of the people at the train station conveys that Christopher is unaware of the magnitude of this action. When Christopher leaves a place that he is familiar with he is unable to think logically, and starts behaving in ways that would only prove beneficial in certain places he is used to like school or at his house in Swindon.
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” follows the life of a teenage boy with autism named Christopher. Immediately he is faced with a problem which soon consumes him + he becomes obsessed with solving the mystery. When Christopher is overwhelmed by the crowded train station he calms himself down by doing a math problem + blocking out the action. The stress of being a new environment brought him into a 2 ½ hour trance which caused him to completely forget his surroundings. When a police officer comes to check-in on Christopher he provides a sense of comfort + familiarity due to his predictable nature. This moment can be connected back to the beginning of the book when Christopher first had an encounter with a police officer; the reader can infer that there is a direct relationship between the interaction at the beginning of the book and the one on page 148. A deeper look into this moment shows a connection back to Swindon because at both times Christopher was calmed by the authority figure. Christopher recognizes and feels safe when he is reminded of his hometown. Although he completely rejects his father and the idea of going back to him, Christopher treasures the memories he has of Swindon and his father. This idea can be seen on page 171 when Christopher is reminded of his parents when a stranger fans out his hand. “...and held up both his hands with his fingers stretched out in a fan, like he wanted me to stretch my fingers out in a fan and touch his fingers because he wanted to say he loved me, but he did it with both hands, not one like mother and father...” This gesture suggests that Christopher is holding onto memories of his past that connect him back to his home.
ReplyDeleteBy reading this commentary it makes me pose a new question, how does Christopher's relationship with his dad affect the choices he makes later on in the book?
DeleteIn the book Christopher and his dad have a relationship built on trust. Christopher tells the readers that he nor his father have ever lied to each other, which later on implies that’s why they have a strong bond. Unfortunately things start to change when Christopher’s dad reveals a secret he has been omitting for quite a while. Haddon notes, “I killed Wellington, Christopher. I wondered if this was a joke, because I don’t understand jokes…” (pg. 120). This suggests that Christopher didn’t know that his father murdered wellington due to him wondering if it were a joke or not. On the next few pages we see Christopher do something rebellious, “I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him...” (pg.122). This implies that at the time Christopher did not have a good relationship with his dad. We see this when he decides to run away because he is scared his dad will hurt him like he hurt wellington. Furthermore when Christopher’s relationship with his dad become unstable he does rebellious things in order to feel safe.
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ReplyDeleteMonat Cespedes
ReplyDeletethe curious incident of the dog in the night-time commentary
In the novel the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon, portrays an idea that family is very important, and they will always be there to support you, but at the end of the day there imput may not always be the best way to show a growth in yourself. He portrays this idea through the relationship between Christopher and his father. The reason that I feel this way is because of the way that he portrays their relationship. At the end of the day they have a father and son relationship, so his father is always there to guide him and support him and love him unconditionally, but I just feel in this case it doesn’t really help Christopher situation.
I understand that Christopher is autistic and he has special needs and he sees life in a different way. For example he doesn’t like to be touched, he doesn’t like the color yellow, and he lets the number and colors of cars determine what kind of day he will have. I just feel that one reason that Christopher is so involved in himself and likes everything to be perfect so he’ll never have surprises in his life is because his father never exposed him to a different type of lifestyle. He always gave him what he wanted, just to make him happy but I feel in a way that he should have helped Christopher realize that not everyone will always want to make him happy. I feel like he needed to help him face reality. For instance on page 16 it states how Christopher and his father do this special handshake to make everything more comfortable for Christopher. The father works around his necessities, and his happiness to make his son happy but in the end he isn’t really helping his son. For example “ 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 don not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me”. So his father wants to give him a hug but he does this instead because it makes Christopher more comfortable but I feel that the father is too easy on Christopher and he doesn’t expose him to the real world, because at the end of day his father isn’t going to be there for him all the time, there are going to be moments and Christopher is on his own and needs to work through his issues or get out of his comfort zone. I don’t feel that the father should be tough on him or anything like that I just would have liked to see a different side of the father were he exposed Christopher to different things and didn’t always give him what he wanted when he wanted it. I feel like it would have caused Christopher he learn about balance because he would realize that everyone is different. Adding in to the fact that Christopher has two different parents who are different from each other and handle things differently. For instance on page 108 it states in the letter that the mother wrote to Christopher that they were both different and handled things differently. About that one day that she made Christopher food and he didn’t want it so she got upset because he was worried that he wasn’t eating so she threw the food across the table and Christopher got mad and grabbed the chopping board and threw it at her feet. Then after it stated how the father reacted. “He blamed me for getting cross with you. And he said that I should just give you what you wanted, even if it was just a plate of lettuce or a strawberry milkshake”. Based on this I feel that the father just tries to work everything around of the better of his son but by the way he is helping him it isn’t really helping him in the long run.
I do agree with you on the fact that author Mark Haddon illustrates an idea of family is important through Christopher and his dad and even his own mother. But, I disagree with you on the fact of it not helping Christopher. Actually I think it helps him a whole lot more since, Christopher only has his father at the start. He was lied to about his Mother being alive. The only one around to actually comfort Christopher through the beginning of the book where his dependance was the strongest was his father. And it helped Chris through many things such as the incident with the police officer and him getting the chance to take the high grade math test. Even, when he showed more independence on his way to find his mother and live with her he felt more safe and secure when someone was their looking over him because his father was always their to hold his hand through a tough situation. When the officer had left Christopher had to imagine the situation he was in as if it was a PC game to distract him. Honestly, Christopher always needs someone to be around him that he feels safe and secure around and so far his goto was his Father.
DeleteI do agree with your point about the father and son relationship and they should stick together no matter what but events in the story proved otherwise where it went from Christopher trusting his father regardless of whatever happens to him feeling betrayed by his father due to his actions. His fathers parenting skills is far different than what his mother tried to do with Christopher from when he was younger but his father thought that giving into his behavior that he wouldn't have to deal with an argument, and I think that Christopher caught on to that from earlier on in his life that's why I think he was able to quicker go to his father with things because he knows that he's always going to be there for him no matter what the situation, and I agree with both Monats and Alex's point where the father makes Christopher feel secure.
DeleteI agree about the importance of family but I don’t believe that Christopher’s father wasn’t actually helping Christopher. Although the father lied to Christopher about his mother’s death and confessed that he killed Wellington, Christopher’s father has always been there for him. Christopher’s mother left Christopher because she could handle his autism and thought that he would be fine with his father since, he knew how to handle Christopher and is more patient with him than she is. Although in the beginning of the book Christopher couldn’t mature he was with his father, Christopher still had to rely on him because he can’t do everything on his own.
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ReplyDeleteIn “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” Mark Haddon uses the effect of the reveal of Christopher’s father’s actions and lies on Christopher to demonstrate how his Father allowed him to grow. Throughout the book, Christopher is forced to face the cruel things his father has hidden from him such as killing Wellington and saying his mother was dead. This caused Christopher to go out and travel to his mother in a place he’s never been to through a train station crowded with strangers (things that he is afraid of.) While some may say that these actions made Christopher to be more frightened of the outside world and face his behavioral problems, Christopher getting out of his comfort zone has allowed him to get rid of his fears. After his father gives him a dog and Christopher finds out he got an A grade on his A level maths, he feels that he is now capable of doing anything. On pages 220 - 221, Christopher states “...I am going to university in another town. And it doesn’t have to be London because I don’t like London and there are universities in lots of places… And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of ‘Who Killed Wellington?’ and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.” Christopher exclaims that throughout solving the mystery of who killed Wellington and his scary journey to finding his mother, he is finally able to let go of his fears of the world around him he never knew about. All of the things he’s done that’s changed him wouldn’t have happened without the father lying about his mother and killing Wellington. This demonstrates that with the father’s actions driving Christopher to find the killer of Wellington and find his mother, he was able to let go of his fears of the vast unknown in the world around him and move forward in life.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn the book “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time,” Mark Haddon illustrates the relationship between Christopher and his father. Haddon shows us the effects of their relationship. On page 99 , Christopher reads the rest of the letters from his mother. These letters indicate that Christopher’s mother was not actually dead but she was alive. These letters also indicate that Christopher’s father was lying to him. These letters can be seen as a symbol of broken trust or a symbol of an unstable relationship. They represent all the lies within this relationship. Christopher’s father tries to explain why he has hid the letters from him but Christopher remains silent. Him being unresponsive and silent represents the broken bond him and his father now have.
Earlier on page 83, Christopher tells us how his father loves him. Christopher says “loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble,and looking after them, and telling them the truth.” He also says “Father loves me because he always tell me the truth.” As we can see these quotes indicate that Christopher and his father had an unbreakable bond before he found out about the letter. They also suggest that Christopher thinks that his father does not love him anymore because he lied to him. Christopher no longer trusts his father which demonstrates how quickly Chris changes his mind about someone over one incident. I can conclude that when there is a problem that targets Chris he is very aware and takes action. He is not aware of the stress and anger he causes everyone else. He can not process that his father was only trying to protect him because he is hurt.
I agree with your point that Christopher no longer trusts his father because he lied to him breaking the bond they had. But I feel as if Christopher demonstrates hypocrisy because he as well lies to his father. This is seen on page 79 when Christopher says, “And I said, ‘I have been out.’ This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth.” This indicates that Christopher is trying to justify lying to his father.
DeleteChris stated on page 83 that “...loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble,and looking after them, and telling them the truth.” This can lead to the question of if Christopher lies to his father does he still love him? Christopher did lie which contradicts his characteristics of loving someone.
Doris Gasic
ReplyDeleteMs. McGinnis
English-11C
26 October 2015
Essential Question: How has the protagonist changed over the course of the story?
In the “curious incident of the dog in the night-time,” written by Mark Haddon, the main protagonist has changed vastly from the beginning of the book to the end. The narrator, Christopher Boone, is a teenage boy who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder. Christopher does not adapt to things as well as normal teenagers do, these are one of the factors that make him different than the rest.
In the book Christopher clearly states that he despises things that are yellow. This fact immediately tells us that Christopher thinks like a child. While some teenagers may not like the color yellow they still use it if they have to, meanwhile Christopher doesn’t even consider to apply the color yellow to his lifestyle. This tells us that Christopher rarely likes to contemplate new things. We can this on page 67 where his father tells him that he will heat up some Indian food that is yellow. Christopher states, “I like Indian food because it has a strong taste. But Gobi Aloo Sag is yellow, so I put red food coloring into it before I eat it.” This suggests that so far Christopher has not changed throughout the book. It also tells us that he seems to have no motivation to change. If he doesn’t have motivation to change then he won’t consider new things.
As the book progresses we see Christopher evolve into a completely different person. In the book, Christopher goes to the train station in order to find his mother. On page 153 we clearly see how Christopher has evolved when the conductor hands him a yellow ticket. Haddon notes, “And then he gave me a little yellow and orange ticket and £8 in coins and I put it all in my pocket with my knife. And I didn’t like the ticket being half yellow but I had to keep it because it was my train ticket.” This indicates that although Christopher did not like the color of his train ticket he still kept it because he needed it to get to his mother. By Christopher keeping the ticket it implies that he cares for his mother and will do anything to find her even if it means to hold a yellow ticket in his hand. This proves that Christopher's mother was his motivation to keep the ticket around. Thus, Christopher has evolved throughout the book since he considered holding the yellow ticket and not complaining too much about it.
I agree with your statement as to how Christopher begins to change throughout the course of the novel. He also changes by becoming more mature throughout the book. In the beginning, on page 7, it states, "I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that Father calls groaning. I make this noise when there is too much information coming into my head from the outside world. This demonstrates how in the beginning, Christopher still acts like a child because, he starts to groan when there's too much information going into his brain and he isn't able to handle too much. We can illustrate that Christopher still hasn't matured yet during the book. Towards the middle to the end of the book, we see Christopher becoming more mature, when he's on his trip to London to find his mother, as seen on page 158, where it states, "There were lots of people on the train, and I didn't like that, because I don't like people I don't know and I hate it even more if I am stuck in a room with lots of people I don't know, and a train is like a room and you can't get out of it when it's moving." This demonstrates that Christopher has progressed a lot throughout the text. He doesn't seem to show anger as much as during the beginning of the book, where he would scream or groan. Now, we see Christopher becoming more of an adult as he is able to handle his anger and not let it all out.
DeleteJourdon Strobe
ReplyDeleteEnglish
Ms. Mcginnis
10/26/15
In the “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”, Mark Haddon portrays Christopher’s character growth through typical teenage experiences and concerns. Towards the final quarter of the book, Christopher heads to London to live with his mother for he cannot stand his father anymore. Reason being that father killed Wellington, Christopher is concerned and afraid of his father which causes him to hide from police and catch a train to his mother’s flat. Haddon shows the teenage experience of parents arguing and eventually being unfaithful through the point of view of mother in a letter. This can be seen through a chunk of the letter on page 109 when mother states “And it made me so sad because it was like you didn’t really need me at all. And somehow that was even worse than you and me arguing all the time because it was like I was invisible. And I think that was when I realized you and your father were probably better off if I wasn’t living in the house”. The quote illustrates the moment mother took it upon herself to abandon her family. This expresses a typical teenage experience that happens in the story as well as the real world.
I agree with this and I wanna build off of the point that Jourdon makes. He says that Christopher goes through typical teenage experiences and you can even see more of this on page 139 where it says. "And I had forgotten to remember where it was, and this was frightening because I was lost and because I do not forget things. And normally I would make a map in my head and I would follow the map." Christopher is lost in his new surroundings and this can relate to anybody who has been lost in a place they don't know a lot about which can relate to any teenager also. It implies that Christopher goes through typical teenage concerns
DeleteMichael Ramsay
ReplyDelete10/26/15
11C
Christopher throughout the story has been showing growth towards becoming an “adult”. He shows independence during his journey to find his mother but there are still times Christopher needs to feel a sense of security. On page 213 we see Christopher show signs of dependency when he needs his mother to stay with him because he has a fear of his dad approaching him. “And that night, just after I got home, Father came back to the house and I screamed but Mother said she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me…”This suggest that by Christopher having his mother baby him and making him feel safe it contradicts the point that Christopher is independent and has learned to be more responsible throughout the story. Every time Christopher seems to take a step to being an “adult”, he always back tracks and finds his way being dependent on others for his security.
This type of dependent behavior is also seen on page 153 when he felt scared because he was alone again in search of the policeman to be dependent on. “And then there was no one else in front of the window and I said to the man behind the window, ‘I want to go to London,’ I turned and I hadn’t been frightened when I was with the policeman but I turned round and I saw that he had gone now and I was scared again…” This demonstrates the dependency Christopher has on other people to get him out of certain situations. He showed independence when he was finding his way to London but little parts of the story like this show Christopher may not be maturing into an “adult”. Policemen are meant to make people feel secure but Christopher has to realize if he wants to change he has to be more independent and find out solutions by himself.
I agree that Christopher is continuously getting babied by those who are around him. To expand this is also seen on page 3 when Siobhan is drawing out the expressions for Christopher to understand them. "...Then she drew some other pictures but I was unable to say what these meant." He is depending on other people to help him get through what he should already know.
DeleteThis is also seen on page 16 after Christopher is in the cell waiting for his father to pick him up after being arrested. " He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out like a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other." This illustrates that Christopher still needs this sense of security. By touching his fathers hand, it gives him a calm and relaxed feeling in which shows that he is dependent. Along with this, the father having to pick him up demonstrates that Christopher needs his father in order to get him out of trouble.
I agree with you that Christopher has shown growth towards becoming an adult. I also agree that he does show independence during his journey to find his mother. all his life, christopher has been dependant on others but now he makes his own decisions. On page 116 Christopher says "He was sleep, that means I could get out of the house if i was really quiet." this quote illustrates how he makes the decision to go live with his mother. He says "He was sleep, that means I could get out of the house if i was really quiet." Christopher learns to grow because he has now accepted life's unpredictability which helps him make independent decisions
DeleteReynaldo Alamo
ReplyDelete11C
English
What is the Catalyst for change or who?
Christopher over the course of this book has obviously changed because of what he has been through throughout the book, but the thing that I believe changed him the most was when he found out that his father had lied to him his whole life. This can be seen on page 112.
“Then I had stopped reading the letter because I felt sick. Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time. And Father had lied about this. I tried really hard to think if there was any other explanation but I couldn’t think of one.”
Christopher realized that his father was lying to him his whole life about what happened to his mom and this changed him the most because it starts the beginning of the distrust he has with his father. Throughout the rest of the book he does not like to talk to his father or believe anything he says because of this moment which is a big change in his life. This also starts many other changes like searching for his mother and where she was because she was actually live this whole time and not dead like he thought which was also a very big change in his life and I believe that this all started because of this incident in his life.
I agree with your point that Christopher's father is the catalyst for change but not for the same reasons. I don't think Christopher finding out about his mother being alive was what made him initially dislike his father, although it was a start. I think that when father admitted to killing Wellington because he didn't want to keep secrets from Christopher anymore was the moment he created this huge catalyst in Christopher's life that someone so close to him could deceive him and be the answer to the detective investigation he set his heart out to solve. In my opinion, Christopher thinking that if father killed Wellington then he could also kill him ended the relationship between him and his father.
DeleteLisa Lebedinets
ReplyDelete11C
10/26/15
When finishing "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime" by Mark Haddon I noticed how there are many instances where Chris has just focused on himself. He does his actions without really giving anyone else any thought or mind. One of these instances would be on page 92 when Chris continues his search for his book that his father took from him. "Which meant that the only room left to detect in was Father's bedroom. I didn't know whether I should look in there because he had told me before not to mess with anything in his room...So I told myself I would not mess with things in his room. I would move them and then I would move them back." When noting this page it really showed how Chris is very determined to do what he wants, he finds these loop holes that let him feel like he isn't guilty. The last two sentences was Chris telling himself that if he just moves things back to how they were, then his father won't find out that he 1. Went looking through the fathers belongings for the book the father didn't want Chris to have, and 2. that Chris went against what his father requested of him. Chris wants things to go his way, and with how his mind set works he always seems to persuade himself that what he's doing is fine. That if the person he promised something to doesn't know what actually happened then Chris can do what he see's fit.
Kathleen Quiroz
ReplyDeleteMs.Mcginnis
English
10/26/15
11C
In the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Mark Haddon demonstrates Christopher's contradictory traits about him in moments of the book. He tries to show Christopher's intelligence as well showing Christopher's lack of insight on other things. His intelligence is seen on page 146-147 where he exhibits his knowledge of a math problem called Conway's Soldiers and is able to solve it as well saying:
"The maths problem I did was called Conway's Soldiers. And in Conway's Soldier's you have a chessboard that continues infinitely in all directions and every square below a horizontal line has a colored tile on it...and I know what the answer is because however you move the colored tiles you will never get a colored tile more than 4 squares above the starting horizontal line."
However the author's claim is refuted on page 148-149 when Christopher speaks with the officer in the train station:
"Are you all right, young man?"
I looked at him and thought for a bit so that I would answer the question correctly and said I said, "No."... I wondered whether I should tell him that Father killed Wellington and whether he would arrest Father...And he said, "So you don't live with your mother? And I said, "No. But I'm going to."
Christopher is seen lacking insight because he does not understand the problems that could arise from reveling his information and purpose of his travel to the police officer, inhibiting his journey to live with his mother and everything he's planned for.
Your post make wonder what does this contradiction in Christopher’s intelligence and insight affect Christopher’s feelings for others? I find that these contradicting traits have no affect on Christopher’s feelings for others. This can be seen on page 112 after Christopher has read multiple letters from his mother. Christopher says “It was like the room was swinging from side to side, as if it was at the top of a really tall building and the building was swinging backward and forward in a strong wind” This demonstrates how Christopher is feeling a sense of betrayal or lose in the discovery of that his mother is alive. Despite his ignorance in some situations and intellect in others, Christopher still feels compassion and care for his mother.
Delete10/26/15
ReplyDeleteQuestion: How far does the protagonist dive into the adult world, a lot or a little and why?
After the completion of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon it is clear how Hadden put Christopher into several situations in which it makes him make a decision in which he needs to leave his own comfort zone. Haddon does this across the entire book, putting Christopher into these odd situations but then Christopher analyzing the situation and doing things in which as a reader in the beginning of the book we would not expect of Christopher. The main action that I think was the defining step or push into the adult world for christopher was when he had left his father and went to find his mother in London. It was completely different from what anything that Haddon had conveyed prior in the text. Following the events that happened in the book, a lot of the leaving om comfort for Christopher was because he was investigating the case of the dead dog Wellington. This, causing him to become more social with the population around him due to the necessity that he had to solve the case at hand. These moments that he had to do this were not the defining leap because these were more like getting his feet wet. Something that was there to push him over the line into the adult world. I think that the moment he left to see his mom is when Christopher officially toppled over through the portal into the adult world and he is finally discovering who he actually is as a person.
I agree with this point that suggests throughout the book, Christopher is seen delving into the adult world by making decisions for himself, no matter the fears he may confront in the process. Not only is this seen by the reveal of the father killing Wellington which caused Christopher to go find and live with his mother on his own, but also in the beginning of the book where Christopher sets off to start his investigation in the murder of Wellington by confronting the strangers in the houses around him on his own. On page 34 - 35, Christopher states “I do not like talking to strangers… If a strange man touched me I would hit him… So talking to the other people in our street was brave. But if you are going to do detective work you have to be brave, so I had no choice.” In this moment, Christopher makes a decision to go out and talk to his neighbors whom he considers strangers on his own for his investigation on the murder of Wellington, despite the fact he is frightened by strangers. This suggests that throughout the book, Christopher seems to delve a lot more into the adult world as he becomes more independent.
DeleteIn the “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time" Christopher throughout the book he develops to some an adult despite the fact that his autistic. Christopher life was a routine since he practically knew how is day was going to turn out. His father basically willing to do anything in order for Christopher to be happy and calm him down. "And I remember that night I just cried and cried and cried and your father was really nice about it at first and he made you supper and he put you to bed and he said these things happen and it would be OK. But I said I couldn't take it anymore and eventually he got really cross he even told me I was being stupid and said I should pull myself together and I hit, which was wrong, but I was so upset" pg107. Christopher's father pulls himself together since he knows that Christopher can be hard to handle but still try's to do his best to make Christopher happy. The father basically makes Christopher comfortable but doesn't let him step out of his comfort zone since it's the same daily routine. When Christopher found out about his mother wasn't actually dead and it was a lie that his father made up, and when his father confessed that he killed Washington. Christopher begins to step out of his comfort zone by leaving his father and go to London to find his mother and going to the train station knowing that Christopher doesn't like many people around him. Christopher had to confront things that he was uncomfortable about in order to achieve what he wanted.
ReplyDeleteClaudia Puentes
ReplyDelete10/26/15
11C
In “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon, Christopher's understanding of a persons emotions continues to lack by the end of the text. Not only does Christopher not understand his own emotions but he does not comprehend that his actions impact people that care about him. On page 108 Christopher is reading the letters that his mother had wrote to him and he reads about how he and his mother had gotten into an argument. The father had blamed Christopher's mother for the argument. “And afterward, at home, your father and I had a huge argument. He blamed me for getting cross with you. And he said I should just give you what you wanted, even if it was a plate of lettuce or strawberry milkshake. And I said I was just trying to get you to eat something healthy. And he said you couldn't help it. And I said well I couldn't help it either and I just lost my rag” the mother continues to reflect and explain her mistakes when living with Christopher and the father. Christopher lost his temper and soon after did not understand that what his parents were doing for him or for the better hence eating healthy. Christopher did not understand that his father was very stressed out with Christopher outbursts to not receiving what he wanted. Continuing to page 219 Christopher's father buys Christopher a dog, and the father again apologizes and says that he never meant to hurt his son. “Then he came back through and gave me the dog. And he said, “He's two months old. And he's a Golden Retriever.” And the dog sat in my lap and I stroked it. And no one said anything for a while. Then father said, “Christopher, I would never, ever do anything to hurt you. Then no one said anything.” Christopher still continues to lack the understanding of how apologetic his father is being. By Christopher not responding he shows a lack of interest in his father's apology. Due to the fact that this is not the father's first apology, there is no well explanation that can explain why Christopher is still acting the way that he is. Christopher's understanding of emotion does not strengthen throughout the course of the text. He begins to understand his own emotion when he is hurt by his father's lies but does not comprehend the reasoning and impact it may have on the future.
Danny Ramirez
ReplyDeleteMs.Mcginnis
10/26/17
English
In the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” the main protagonist Christopher is not like most teenagers. Christopher is autistic. This makes Christopher follow daily routine strictly and not talk to strangers but as the story progresses we see Christopher breaks out of his shell and regular habits and does things he would never regularly do. His father tells Chris that his mother died but later find out she moved away to London which makes Chris want to go and find his mother. On his journey he avoids his father and goes out of his small town and tries to get to his mother, who is in London. We see that at first Christopher is overwhelmed by the new areas he comes across,we can see on pg 148 when Chris says “Great Western and cold beers and lagers and CAUTION WET FLOOR and Your 50p will keep a premature baby alive for 1.8 seconds and transforming raven and Refreshingly Different and IT'S DELICIOUS IT'S CREAMY AND IT'S ONLY 1.30 HOT CHOC DELUXE…” revealing that all these new signs he has to read because he has to understand everything that's going on around him and since this is all new stuff there is so much to take in at once but at the same moment he's growing out of his norm because if this were to happen in the beginning of the book Chris would have gotten on the floor with his hands on his ears and would start to moan, or as he says “pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL and shutting down programs and turning the computer off and rebooting so that I can remember what I am doing and where I am meant to be going.” suggesting that since he doesn’t do this he has grown out of having to do this action to recover from the information overload and is able to refocus on his mission without making a scene.
Question: How has the protagonist change over the course of the text?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the entire story you come to realize Chris is an autistic child so the way he thinks and acts shows that. He doesn't know that he is autistic or not he just thinks of himself and the things that he likes. For example towards the end of the book he constantly keeps asking his mother to take his a levels math test but she keeps telling him no because they are somewhere else they just got back they have to get organized and basically trying to figure things out. Christopher didn't realize what was going on all he wanted to do was to take his test and be over with it. This shows how he constantly just keeps stating in one topic till he finds out what it is. When Christopher also jumps on the tracks to go get his pet mouse he didn't think things through. He went down onto train tracks to go get his mouse. The train is coming and he just stood still. Christopher would've died if that random man did not go and save his life by pulling him out of the tracks. Christopher does not think things through that's why he could hurt himself.
I agree and disagree with your point. I think that yes there are several places where Christopher is in fact making the wrong choice such as picking up the dead dog or hitting the cop or hiding from the cop. But this then raises the question of, does it make Christopher grow as a person because the events I listed are more towards the beginning while yours are towards the middle or end. Is it a sign that Christopher is learning the "ropes" of life without a crutch?
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