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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is primarily an example of a mystery novel, a genre of fiction in which the central character investigates and solves a mysterious crime, usually a murder. In mystery novels, the investigator is singularly motivated to solve the crime by considering all possible suspects with reasonable motives. Christopher Boone explicitly tells the reader in Chapter 7: “This is a murder mystery novel…In a murder mystery novel someone has to work out who the murderer is and then catch them.” Like many mystery novels, the story opens with the discovery of a gruesome death. In the first chapter, Christopher finds Mrs. Shears’ dog, Wellington, dead in the front yard with a garden fork stuck through his body. Christopher decides to investigate Wellington’s mysterious death, despite his father’s constant objections. Although Christopher is a child with a unique developmental disorder, he shares many qualities with the archetypical, savant-like detective characters of the mystery fiction genre, such as Sherlock Holmes. Christopher admires detectives like Holmes who disregard supernatural explanations for odd occurrences, and similar to Holmes, Christopher is logical, intelligent, and observant, but struggles to connect with others and understand their emotions. Unlike other mystery novels in which the crime is resolved at the end, Christopher solves the mystery halfway through the novel, when his father admits to both killing Wellington and lying about Christopher’s mother’s death. Instead of building continual suspense and intrigue—as is typical of the mystery novel genre—the second half of the novel follows the repercussions Christopher’s discovery has on his life, health, and relationships.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is considered a bildungsroman because it follows Christopher’s transition from childhood to independence, telling the story of his development as he navigates new obstacles and builds confidence in his own abilities. Bildungsromans are a subgenre of coming-of-age stories, and their focus is on the growth of a young protagonist. From the very beginning, Haddon establishes that Christopher’s life is profoundly shaped by his unique developmental disorder, even though his condition is never labeled. Christopher lacks knowledge of the world and struggles to build relationships, preferring to dwell on mathematics, Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and other specific fixations. He lives completely unaware of the messy connections between his mother, father, Mr. Shears, and Mrs. Shears. Upon learning that his mother is still alive and that his father killed Wellington, Christopher’s trust shatters, and these revelations spur him on a journey to London in which he faces numerous fears: large crowds, physical touch, loud noises, unfamiliar routines. While Christopher mightily struggles with his personal limitations, he successfully arrives at his mother’s flat, and by novel’s end, he also writes a book and passes his A-level mathematics exam. Christopher concludes that from now on, he “can do anything.” While Christopher doesn’t necessarily reach maturity—as is typical of the bildungsroman genre—and doesn’t vastly improve his relational skills, he does gain knowledge about the world and feels more prepared to face his looming adulthood, which are marked signs of growth from the novel’s beginning.
Nevertheless, this novel became so prominent that it has been one of popular culture’s introductions to the autism spectrum. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was adapted into a play that has been praised for promoting acceptance of difference – Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization, congratulated the play for its Tony wins in 2015. Many in the autism community believe that the novel and the play helped spread more awareness of autism spectrum disorders to more people. I hope that we can all work together toward spreading a better understanding of what autism is about and increase support in our communities.
In this piece, Serena Shim, sister of someone on the spectrum, discusses the novel that caused so much controversy in the autism community.
It is unique that the chapters are numbered by prime numbers in order to tie in with Christopher’s character. I also thoroughly enjoyed looking at the interesting illustrations and diagrams that were in the novel. Yet, I am disappointed that novels like these, along with the media, have popularized many stereotypes that people with autism have to overcome.
Even though this novel does not directly reference autism, the book’s back cover originally described Christopher as someone with Asperger’s. Mark Haddon also admitted on a blog post that he did not do any research on autism, which is why there has been so much criticism towards the book. This may not have been the first fiction piece written on Asperger’s, but I believe it was the first novel to achieve widespread notice. I remember when I first read this novel my freshman year of high school; it was my, as well as many other peers’, introduction to the term Asperger’s.
There has been an increasing prevalence of characters with Asperger’s on TV shows and films. There are many media portrayals that are misrepresentative. A common stereotype is that people with autism have a special talent. Savant syndrome is a condition in which someone with mental disabilities demonstrates an ability, like memory, that is significantly above average. Despite the fact that savants only make up about 10% of the autistic population, there are many shows and films such as Rain Man and The Good Doctor that depict those on the autism spectrum to have savant syndrome. This creates a huge misunderstanding of certain aspects of autism. In other words, the discomfort of breakdowns, sensory dysfunction, speech challenges, and repetitive behaviors like flapping or rocking are rarely seen in the media.