Mark Haddon is the author of the hit novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. While this book has received substantial praise and earned Haddon various awards, such as the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Prize, the novel has also been heavily criticized. These critics argue that the novel bases Asperger’s syndrome off of stereotypes, doesn’t understand the emotions of an individual with this condition, and is mundane.
Critics state that the novel bases Asperger’s syndrome off of stereotypes. In fact, Mark Haddon originally claimed that “he did not know he was writing a book describing an Aspergers person” as pointed out by Ellen Moody, a literary critic. He portrayed Christopher, the protagonist, as an individual with Aspergers syndrome based on stereotypes. Moody explains that the book was “intentionally written this way” and dramatized the stereotypical features of one with Aspergers. Ellen Moody has Asperger’s syndrome and notes that the novel holds inaccurate concepts, similar to other sources such as a false report of autism displayed on Fox News, one that negatively portrayed Asperger’s syndrome. Likewise, Robert Cooper, another literary critic, has Asperger’s syndrome similarly to Ellen Moody. Cooper felt “uneasy” when the novel was published. Haddon singlehandedly struggles with defining what conditions Christopher really has. There is a crucial difference between Asperger’s syndrome and severe autism. While Haddon (at least initially) claimed that the novel was about an individual with Asperger’s syndrome, this novel instead is about an individual who has severe autism. Christopher is incorrectly depicted as dangerous and displays odd behavior throughout the book, such as when he lied down on the ground and began to moan when large crowds of people overwhelmed him. These are not characteristics that an individual with Asperger’s would portray, but rather an individual with severe autism. Haddon himself acknowledges that he wishes he could go back and alter the description of the book. After reading criticisms of the novel from those with Asperger’s syndrome, he now has come to the understanding that Christopher conveys traits unlike those with the syndrome.
Critics attack Haddon for portraying Chirstopher as without real emotions. Ellen Moody points out that when Christopher discovers the dead body of the neighbor’s dog, Wellington, instead of reacting emotionally, he rather focuses on the logistics of the murder and wants to get to the bottom of it. He begins to try to connect the pieces of the murder scene together and is too inquisitive, which leads to his arrest as he refuses to stop touching Wellington’s corpse. Rather than actually caring about the death of a living creature, he wants to behave as a detective and discover who the murderer is. Moody explains how this theory of the individual having no emotions put forth by Haddon is wrong. Moody explains that while there is a disconnect neurologically, she still experiences emotions, sometimes even more extremely than an average individual would. Rather than feeling no emotion at all, she struggles connecting and expressing her emotions alongside her words. She fears that whatever she may say in a high intensity moment may be socially unacceptable, opting for her to choose silence in most cases. Similarly, Elizabeth Bartmess, a literary critic, realizes that abuse is normalized within this novel as shown by Christopher not having any emotion to this abuse. Bartmess notes that this is “disturbing” because “it suggests that abuse and insults don’t harm autistic people, although they do, sometimes greatly.” For example, Christopher’s father insults and swears at him, yet Christopher has no negative reaction to this. He believes his father’s behavior is justifiable as a reaction to his own behavioral problems. Even when his father gives him bruises and his teacher Siobhan asks about them, he chooses to not talk about it. This is only one of the many examples that abuse has apparently had no emotional affect on Christopher. Even with his father lying to him about his mother’s death, his mother also hitting him and threatening to institutionalize him, and his mother blaming the issues she had with her marriage on Christopher, this has little to no emotional impact on Christopher. Other characters in the novel don’t believe Christopher when he informs them that his father had killed the dog and people name-calling him various nicknames such as “a prize specimen.” This abuse had been normalized and the only character that truly seemed to have been bothered about it was Siobhan who randomly disappeared later on in the novel. Haddon makes it appear that abuse doesn’t emotionally impact autistic people.
Haddon’s novel is mundane. A user on Teenink states that basing the story off an autistic child’s narration is an issue as the novel “will stray from chapters and may even devote entire chapters to frivolous and unrelated details.” The user claims that the plot of the novel is ordinary and "nothing new to the literary world.” The unrelated details within the mundane plot lead to the novel not being a page-turner. This may be because Haddon tried a different approach to this novel as he advertised it for both children and adult audiences instead as opposed to his usual adult audience. The user doesn’t recommend this novel as it failed to immerse them.
All in all, Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog-Time has received both praise and hatred for numerous reasons. While critics argue that the novel bases Asperger’s syndrome off of stereotypes, doesn’t understand the emotions of an individual with this condition, and is mundane, lovers of the novel may value the unique narrative point-of-view and enjoy the value of the journey Christopher makes where his independence and courage shine. It’s ultimately up to the reader to decide.