In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the protagonist, Christopher Boone, narrates the story to the readers in a meticulously thorough way. The readers are impelled to see the world from Christopher’s perspective and from the very first page it becomes clear that Christopher’s perspective not only allows the readers to empathize with him, but also provides the opportunity to really view life from a completely different frame of mind. ” This novel is considered to be told in first-person, but even the way that Haddon does it is not standard.
As you read it’s difficult to place oneself in the story, but instead the readers find themselves enlightened by the inescapable way Haddon seemingly writes the novel from inside of Christopher’s mind. Even though there is a saying: “When you’ve met one person with autism… you’ve met one person with autism,” I think Christopher’s character fits the textbook definition of high functioning autism because he struggles understanding nonverbal communication, dislikes being touched as has a habit of fixating on things to the point they become obsessions.
People with Autism Spectrum disorder often struggle with visual communication or picking up the natural unspoken language that unconsciously is so important in conversation. In the very first chapter Christopher’s character displays such difficulty when he is presented with four simple smiley faces that express different generic emotions. “Then she drew some other pictures but I was unable to say what these meant,” (Haddon 2-3) According to, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 6 Jan. 2018 “has difficulty recognizing nonverbal cues, such as interpreting other people’s facial expressions, body postures or tone of voice,” Is one common sign to look for when diagnosing someone with autism spectrum disorder. Another example Christopher self acknowledges throughout the book is his trouble with understanding figures of speech like, “He was the apple of her eye, because imagining an apple in someone’s eye doesn’t have anything to do with liking someone a lot,”(Haddon 15).
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While Christopher and his father seemingly have an understanding that looks like an emotional connections. Christopher does not even accept hugs from his own father. A symptom of someone with autism spectrum disorder noted by the, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, is to, resists cuddling and holding, and seems to prefer playing alone, retreating into his or her own world.” Christopher does not find solace in a consoling hug, but prefers a simple handshake where the only physical intimate touch is through fingertips. If a child has an aversion to the touch by one’s own parent it is no surprise when a policeman takes hold of his arm and lifts him onto his feet that Christopher doesn’t like that and explains his following reaction, “and this is why I hit him, (Haddon 8).
Also corresponding with the example symptoms of autism diagnosing criteria given by the, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, is how Christopher is not only content being alone, it’s actually his preference in his life. Christopher emphasizes that when listing what he thinks are the main qualifications of what makes a very good astronaut, “To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I’m intelligent. You also have to understand how machines work and I’m good at understanding how machines work. You also have to be someone who would like being on their own in a tiny space-craft thousands and thousands of miles away from the surface of the earth and not panic or get claustrophobia or homesick or insane. And I like really little spaces, so long as there is no one else in them with me.” (Haddon 50).
Christopher is so obsessed with his dislike of the color yellow that it becomes a predominate thing in his life that effects situations throughout every aspect of his life. Christopher list a very long list of yellow things why he thinks it is only logically to avoid any and every thing that is the color yellow all together. The examples Christopher list are, “Yellow 1. Custard 2. Bananas 3. Double Yellow Lines 4. Yellow Fever (which is a disease from tropical America and West Africa which causes a high fever, acute nephritis, jaundice and hemorrhages, and it is caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of a mosquito called Aëdes aegypti, which used to be called Stegomyia fasciata; and nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys) 5. Yellow Flowers (because I get hay fever from flower pollen, which is one of 3 sorts of hay fever, and the others are from grass pollen and fungus pollen, and it makes me feel ill) 6. Sweetcorn (because it comes out in your poo and you don’t digest it so you are not really meant to eat it, like grass or leaves.” (Haddon 105). As you can his obsession coincides with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research when describing a common sign of autism spectrum disorder as, “Fixates on an object or activity with abnormal intensity or focus.”
In conclusion I think that Christopher would be able to integrate himself into society in the future alongside frequent, if not daily assistance from someone who is neurologically typical. Christopher is a mastermind with mathematics and physics so I do not think that a well-paying job wouldn’t be an issue for him because those are strengths that are very versatile in any type of occupation. However Christopher’s weakness in understanding how the world works outside of quantum physics could be such a challenge that he wouldn’t even get past the initial job interview. I do feel that Christopher can learn the rules more like a machine than a human being by the way he knows lying is wrong in his mind, but not necessarily morally. So as long as Christopher has some guidance in his later years, I think he could be a successfully member of society and the world could benefit from his different level, out of the box thinking.
