FRQs

In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon employs a detached yet logical tone and imagery in order to convey Christopher’s autism acting a double-edged sword, ultimately illustrating that individuals with gifts, whether physically or mentally, struggle fitting into society.

Haddon utilizes a detached yet logical tone when he discovers the murder of Wellington: the neighbor’s dog. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time begins with Christopher finding Wellington, his neighbor's dog, dead with a pitch fork through him in their front yard. Rather than Christopher initially being frightened by the murder, he immediately applies his logical skills as a “detective” when searching who murdered Wellington and what their motive was. All emotions that would be apparent in a large majority of individuals are pushed to the side. Because Christopher’s autism forces him to think logically rather than emotionally, he disregards any emotions when dealing with the murder of Wellington. Consequently, this detaches Christopher from society as he operates on a completely different basis from most individuals. Mrs. Shears, Wellington’s owner, is extremely disturbed emotionally that Christopher is deeply analyzing the crime scene and the police that eventually show up to scrutinize the crime scene arrest Christopher. They all treat Christopher as if there is something wrong with him. Therefore, when individuals feel a disconnect from others, they will struggle finding their place within society. Moreover, a detached yet logical tone is put to use when Christopher discovers that his Father murdered Wellington. When Christopher discovers that his Father murdered Wellington, Christopher believes he has to flee the house to escape his murderous Father. Because Christoper is apparent of his Father being a murderer, he believes that he will also be murdered. Since Christopher’s autism blinds him from reality within certain aspects, he doesn’t understand the emotional side of why his Father murdered Wellington. His Father murdered Wellington purely out of spite. Christopher’s Mother left him as a child for Mr. Shears as a result of an affair. Christopher’s Father and Mrs. Shears were now placed into an awkward situation as both of their spouses had left them. While they did try to kindle a romantic relationship between themselves, this miserably failed as Mrs.Shears was struggling to move on and love him. As a result, Christopher’s Father murders Wellington in annoyance that Mrs.Shears can’t love him. Thus, when individuals can’t wrap their heads around the truth due to certain gifts within themselves, they don’t fit within society.

Additionally, Haddon employs a detached yet logical tone alongside imagery. Haddon applies imagery when Christopher is within an overpopulated store. Because Christopher has autism, he is easily overstimulated by overpopulated areas. Imagery in the case of the store aids the audience in understanding Christopher’s oversimulation as Christopher has a mental breakdown within the store due to what’s happening around him. The loud, obnoxious voices of parents, the screaming of babies, the numerous colors all cause him to begin throwing a tantrum within the middle of the store. Consequently, the individuals within the store begin throwing annoyed glances towards Christopher and Christopher’s mother rushes him out of the store out of embarrassment. No one understands why Christopher acted the way he did as they don’t understand the severe level of overstimulation Christopher just faced. Therefore, individuals that face differing issues than a large majority of society struggle to fit into society as society can’t understand why they act the way they do. Likewise, imagery is used when Christopher is placed into jail when tempering with the murder of Wellington. As a way to distract himself during moments of distress, Christopher often will challenge himself mentally by repeating patterns of digits, such as counting up by 8. The audience better understands these complex patterns through Haddon’s imagery. Because Christopher being placed into jail stresses him out, he resorts to a frequent safety net in his numerical patterns. Through imagery, the audience understands how Christopher precisely goes through his process of patterns.  This process helps alleviate him. Since a large majority of individuals don’t resort to discovering patterns to distract themselves from larger individuals, individuals don’t understand why Christopher follows these patterns. Individuals may view Christopher’s means of calming himself down as “strange” or “peculiar.” Thus, when individuals with different methods from a large portion of society apply them to their lives, they don’t fit in.

All in all, in the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher’s autism acts as both a curse and a blessing. Through a detached yet logical tone and imagery, Christopher finds it difficult to discover his place within society. Christopher feels and thinks differently than others in society. When individuals find it difficult to relate to others on personal aspects, there is instantly a bridge placed between them and this bridge is difficult to cross. Gifts defy and limit individuals in their social lives. However, once this bridge is crossed, the truth in which individuals may not differ from others as much as they truly think is revealed. 

In the short story “The Wilderness” in the collection of short stories “Dogs and Monsters,” Mark Haddon employs Tegan’s longing for her deceased brother and frustration with being lied to in order to convey her desire to seek revenge for the attempted genetic mutations upon her at the compound, ultimately illustrating individuals feel empowerment through revenge.

Mark Haddon utilizes Tegan’s longing for her deceased brother to demonstrate how individuals feel empowerment through revenge. While revenge may not be deemed as morally right, it undoubtedly makes individuals feel better about themselves. The short story begins with Tegan getting into an extreme predicament when she crashes her bike and becomes severely injured within the middle of the wilderness. Tegan was attempting to traverse the state on her bike in the memory of her deceased brother; yet, this proves to be challenging as she was suddenly injured. Feeling as if all of her bones were broken and having no means of support or a way to move on, Tegan laid there for days feeling defeated and willing to die due to starvation. However, just before the brink of death, a strange man picked her up and relocated her to a compound in the middle of nowhere within the wilderness. Because Tegan longed for her deceased brother to such an extreme degree, she ended up severely injuring herself which almost led to her death. Consequently, when this strange man brings her to this compound, she realizes that she has become imprisoned. The workers at the compound won’t provide her with any information on where she is or how to leave. She was kidnapped and lost her sense of identity along with empowerment. Therefore, individuals who lose their sense of identity and empowerment will attempt to gain it back through revenge. Similarly, Tegan’s deceased brother’s memory motivates her to escape. Throughout the entirety of the period whilst Tegan was abducted, she reflects back on what her brother would be thinking and doing if he was in her current position. Because Tegan longs for her brother, she adjusts her mindset to think more like him. Rather than giving up, she knows that he would fight to escape and would urge her to do the same if he was still with her. Since the memories of her deceased brother fuel her, she is motivated to not only escape, but to help all the others within the camp who need it. She escapes with plans to return and help others escape as well. Thus, revenge provides individuals with a sense of empowerment as they feel as if they are making a difference.

Likewise, not only does Haddon put to use Tegan’s longing for her deceased brother, but he also employs Tegan’s frustration with being lied to. When individuals feel as if they have been previously wronged, they will want to reciprocate the wrongness that was done to them back at the perpetrator. Tegan’s frustration with being lied to ever since the strange man picked her up out of the forest enrages her. Because she doesn’t know the truth, she creates a fake persona for herself and goes along with the bit, acting oblivious through it all. If the organization who kidnapped her won’t provide her with reliable information, she won’t provide them with any back. Consequently, she realizes the darkness to this imprisonment when she discovers the other animals and women within the compound who have been genetically mutated. She now understands that the same treatment the animals and women received must be occurring to her and comprehends the crucialness of escaping her awful situation. Thus, individuals who feel as if they or others have been wronged will want to reciprocate the pain they felt back upon their perpetrators. Additionally, Tegan isn’t only frustrated with the compound lying to her, but also to all of the other women similarly imprisoned within the compound. When Tegan successfully escapes the compound and unites with another group of escapees, she immediately begins planning to break back into the compound to rescue the other women. Because Tegan was lied to herself, she better understands what these women have wrongfully gone through. She relates to them on a less severe scale as she hasn’t had as worse procedures implemented upon her as these other women. Since she feels sorrow for herself alongside these other women, she wants to enact revenge upon the compound by freeing the trapped women. She wants to take back a part of herself and these other women's true identities before they were taken away from their rightful homes. Thus, individuals who feel as if they have lost a part of themselves will crave revenge to feel a sense of empowerment.

All in all, Mark Haddon utilizes Tegan’s longing for her deceased brother and the frustration with being lied to to ultimately demonstrate how individuals feel empowerment through revenge. When individuals feel as if they have been wronged, they will want to enact revenge to feel better about themselves and the situation. If they were denied the opportunity to do something, they will seek that opportunity no matter what it takes. While it may not be morally correct, it is human nature. Human nature will always triumph over logic.