Summer Reading

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Characters in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time:

Christopher: The main character of the book. Christopher is autistic, in this book it really shows how autistic kids think and act around people. Christopher thinks very straight forward. He is superior in math. 15 years old. When scared or overwhelmed, Christopher practices math until he feels safe. Takes things really seriously. Really dislikes the colors yellow or brown.

Wellington- Mrs Shears’s black poodle. Was found stabbed by a garden fork in Mrs Shears’s backyard.

Christopher’s Father: Divorced. An only father of an autistic child. Has a bad temper and tends to get mad at Christopher a lot.

Christopher’s Mother: Christopher’s mother also has a very bad temper. Did not handle Christopher’s autism very well. Her son had thought she was not alive.

Siobhan: Christopher’s special needs teacher. Siobhan help Christopher and is someone Christopher can talk to.

Mrs Shears: Christopher’s neighbor. She owns a black poodle. Was once one of Christopher’s families friends. Used to come over and cook at Christopher’s house.

Mr Shears: Mr Shears does not seem very fond of Christopher and his father. Used to be friends with Mrs Shears but ran away with Christopher’s mother.

Mrs Alexander: One of Christopher’s neighbors. An older woman, she doesn’t seem to scare Christopher as much as other strangers do.

 

Settings:

Setting 1- Christopher’s Father’s House: In Swindon, England. A small house on Randolph Street. This is the floor plan of Randolph Street.

Setting 2- The Train Station: The Train Station is in the middle of the city of Swindon, England. There are a lot of flashing lights, loud noises and lots of people. The Train Station was a lot to take in for Christopher.

Setting 3- Christopher’s Mother House: In London, England. A tiny apartment building on a noisy street in the city.

 

Themes:

Independence: Christopher is striving to be independent but, he can’t because his disability is holding him back. Christopher can’t process information like most people but, thinks very logically. He can’t be independent because he always needs adult supervision. For example, when Christopher was in the Train Station, he was scared and couldn’t find the way around the Train Station. Another example was when Christopher jumped into the train tracks to find his pet rat, Toby. If there were no adults there he would’ve been ran over by the train.

Order: Christopher is really organized and has to have things in order. He has a order of cars if he sees a certain numbers of cars or color of cars it means good or back luck.

Difference: Christopher’s brain does not process the way our brains process. He has autism which makes him see the world differently than “Normal People.” It is not a bad thing the way he thinks, it’s just different. America defines a “Normal Person” as a white, male, like diverse people are different too.

 

Conflicts:

Conflict 1: Christopher found out that his father killed Wellington. Christopher’s father killed Wellington because he got in a big fight with Mrs Shears and got very mad her. He did this out of his anger.

Conflict 2: Christopher found out that his mother was not dead. He found a huge pile of letters in a shoe box hidden in Christopher’s father’s room. All the letters were addressed from, 451 Chapter Road, London NW2 5NG, 0208 887 8907 – Page 104 Christopher’s father was really mad at Christopher’s mother so he told Christopher that she was dead. He didn’t want Christopher to know she was alive.

 

Symbols:

The dog symbolizes loss because Christopher has lost his mother which was a really big part of Christopher’s life. He also kind of lost his family because his mother and father were separated.

Math and maps symbolize order, it keeps him motivated and optimistic

The math test symbolizes success and Christopher’s talent.

 

Extra Notes:

• I really liked how the main character was autistic and how the book was written in his perspective.
• The setting was in Swindon, England.
• Some of the themes in this book are, independence, order, loss.
• Order: Christopher is really organized and has to have things in order. He has a order of cars if he sees a certain numbers of cars or color of cars it means good or back luck.
• Independence: Christopher is striving to be independent but, he can’t because his disability is holding him back.
• Symbols:
• Dog symbolizes loss.
• Math and maps symbolize order, what keeps him motivated and optimistic.
• Math test symbolizes success and his talent.
• Conflicts were: Christopher’s mom was missing, he didn’t know where she was.
• Christopher’s neighbor’s dog was dead, who killed it?
• Christopher’s mom is missing, he finds out that she had been writing him letters, his mom had ran away to London with his neighbor’s husband, Christopher goes to London on the train by himself.

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