Characterization in The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nighttime

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night time is a book narrated on the viewpoint of an intelligent young boy who was considered to be suffering from spectrum autism disorder.The story occurs in Swindon, England, and London. He had different views from other people, primarily because of his condition. The story began with the death of his neighbor's dog; later, the narrative developed into an exploration about his household and especially his mother whom, for two years, he believed died of a heart attack. The narrator views every individual in his story differently through their actions, thoughts, how they respond, and narrator's assumptions.

In chapter 2, the main character is an exceptional boy called Christopher; he is the narrator of the story. Christoper is a fifteen years old boy who lives with his father in England. According to the narrator, in the beginning of the book, his mother died two years before the occurrence. He is the most complicated persona of all the other characters and does not like talking to outsiders. He is bright and a math genius, he describes a different phenomenon in maths. Christopher knows all the countries in the globe, capital, and all the prime numbers up to 7,057. He narrates his story, with all chapters being in prime numbers. Although the narrator is super brilliant, also pretty insensitive, especially to people around him; says insensitive things to his classmates. The narrator likes being independent; he even decided that he want to be an astronaut because he prefers being in small places and will not have to socialize with other people.

The Second persona is Ed Boone, who is Christoper's father. In the book, it is clear that Ed cared for his son because he provided all the necessities a father would. In chapter 43 in the narrative, Ed Boone emerges as a caring and loving parent who have to deal with the stress of raising a child with special conditions. Ed Boone was dishonest; the narrator clearly states that his father was dishonest when he found out that his mother did not die of a heart attack, as his father claimed. In chapter 157, Christopher narrates and realizes that his mother have been alive all along. When his father notices that Christopher have found out the truth, he starts explaining to him why he did it by justifying his actions.

The third persona is Judy Boone, the narrator's mother. In the beginning of the book, Christoper thinks that his mother died two years ago. Judy was unfaithful to her husband; she had an affair with Mr shears, their neighbor. When Christopher realized that his mother was still alive and living in London, he decides to run away from home. Judy is caring; he arrives in London, she welcomes him and assures him that she will take care of him. It is through Judy that we see what it means to care for someone with social disorders. In chapter 227 of the novel, she is very patient with her son, especially when he smashed things in the stores. Judy is very emotional and knew that Christopher did not like being touched, but she begged him to touch his hand, considering it was long since the last time they saw each other.

The fourth character is Mrs. Shears, neighbor to the narrator. The narrator starts the book with the death of Mrs. Shears's dog. When Mrs Shears sees Christopher holding her dead dog, she starts shouting and cursing him, accusing Christopher of killing the dog and demanding to know what Christopher have done to the dog. She calls the authorities on Christopher, and they questioned him implying that he killed the dog due to the implications that he might have killed Mrs Shears dog. In chapter 61 Mrs. Shears is agitated and full of anger when the narrator goes to tell her that he will investigate who killed her dog; she asks him to leave her property and threatens to call the authorities.

The other character is Siobhan, who is one of Christopher's teachers. She is concerned and relates pretty well with the narrator. She influences Christopher to be polite and explaining to him the importance of socializing. In chapter 109, Siobhan asks Christopher about his bruises, where he answers that his father hurt him, she assures Christopher that she trusts him and that she knows he is telling the truth. The narrator seems to like Siobhan, which is not customary because he is anti-social and only relates to things he can explain. Siobhan being a special kids teacher, she understands the language of the narrator.

The last character is Mrs. Alexander; she was Christopher's neighbor. In chapter 67, the narrator started investigating the death of Wellington, and he decided to ask around and people who live along his street on what they saw regarding Mrs Shears dog. Mrs Alexander is caring and accommodating when the narrator went to ask her questions in regards to the death of Wellington; she offered Christopher some snacks, but he refused because he did not know what she was preparing. In chapter 149, the narrator decided to leave England; he slept on the shed because he feared his father would kill him. He considered staying with Mrs. Alexander but dismissed the thought because he took her as a stranger.

Every character differs from another. Christopher is the most complex of them, mainly because his views are different from other people. He is intelligent and tries to explain everything in maths. Unlike everyone else Christopher does not like being socially involved since he considers chatting as being irrelevant. Ed Boone was a caring and loving father. However, he admitted to the killing of Mrs. Shears's dog. The narrator thought that the only reason for people to separate is that one of them had sex with another person. The book started as an investigation of Wellington's death but later developed into an investigation of what happened to his family.