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Critical Review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is an interesting book written by Mark Haddon about a young boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, that manages to discover the scandal between his parents and the murderer of a dog named Wellington. The boy is called Christopher, and he is the discoverer of the dog’s body. He finds out eventually that his mom is still alive, and has been sending him letters every single week since the day he thought she had died. He becomes incredibly frightened of his father, who had created such a big lie that he thought he could no longer trust him. He decides to travel to his mother, and boards a train with policemen attempting to stop him several times along the way. His father tries to earn his trust back and Christopher gets the highest grade possible on an incredibly difficult test, becoming optimistic about his future. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is an interesting story that teaches us about the importance of growing up, how the family situation can affect many people, and educates us about autism, specifically Asperger’s Syndrome.


Growing up is something that everyone will go through in order to become more mature and responsible. It’s the process which one must go through to age and become more knowledgeable and manage to learn and strengthen themselves both physically and mentally. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Christopher had always been protected from much of the world, and didn’t have any real-world experience. He thought of the world mainly through math and diagrams. However, as he grew up, he learned more and started creating rules by how he should behave based on what he knew about the world. The murder of Wellington caused a shift in his life, and started revealing to him many things about his own family that he managed to deal with through becoming a detective and learning more. As he grew up, he became more mature and dealt with his autism better, managing to score an incredible grade on a challenging test. He traveled a long distance using just his wits and the help of some others, and managed to find his mother. Growing up allows us to become more intelligent and skilled at our natural talents, and allows us to become less burdened by other obstacles. The process of growing up is incredibly important because of how it boosts our productivity and benefits us.


Every family has its problems, but these problems can be magnified and transferred on to others over time as the problems worsen and become more severe. The family situation includes every member of the family, and they benefit from each other but can also worsen based on how their family reacts and acts. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Christopher’s parents each had their own problems. His father had anger issues, and was prone to violent fits if Christopher misunderstood him and sometimes hurt Christopher. His mother could not deal with Christopher, and abandoned him and forced his father to take care of him alone. Their difficulties with emotional management passed down to their son, Christopher, and he needed their support and a safe environment even more because of this. However, he was not able to get this as his parents were too busy with their own problems. The situation of our families are very impactful on our own state and can help us feel better and deal with our problems. Our families can impact the mood of our environment by acting and behaving in specific ways that change how we feel.


Autism is a neurological disorder that can affect how some people behave or learn and many people have some form of it. Asperger’s Syndrome is a special form of autism that specifically includes challenges relating to others, repetitive behavior, and also extremely targeted interests. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Christopher had Asperger’s Syndrome, which caused him to become incredibly talented at math, taking a high-level test, and getting the highest grade on it, but he also hated the colors yellow and brown, and he had some difficulties communicating with others and understanding what they meant. For example, he could never understand what many faces meant as emojis, and how to interpret many things about specific situations. His family was not very supportive or understanding. His mother just couldn’t deal with some of Christopher’s problems, and left, and his father was prone to reacting violently if Christopher’s problems showed. We need to spread understanding and knowledge towards autism and other mental disorders to help make people feel more welcome and understood. Autism is something that we need to be more tolerant and accepting towards in order to increase happiness and benefits.


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a compelling and fascinating book that teaches us many important themes. It teaches us the importance of growing up because it allows us to act more mature and take responsibility during times of stress, how the situation of our own families can impact ourselves through their actions, and how forms of autism, like Asperger’s Syndrome, should be treated tolerantly in order to help reduce the amount of problems it may create. It shows us how growing up benefits us by helping us learn more and become more knowledgeable through making us more experienced, allowing us to support others and benefit everyone. It teaches us how our family can benefit and hurt us through how they respond to our actions, but it is still their duty to be there for us and support us so that we may improve. Finally, it also shows how autism can affect many children and how we should treat it with understanding and compassion, as it can be debilitating and frustrating. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a riveting book that delves into complex and advanced themes and explains them well.


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