The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night: Character Development and Gender Roles

This English assignment analyzes the character development of Christopher and the portrayal of gender roles in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon. It discusses the two key moments in the book and its themes.

Running head: ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT 1
The curious incident of the dog in the night
Name
Tutor

ENGLISH ASSIGNMENTS 2
The curious incident of the dog in the night
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a novel by Mark Haddon which
makes the readers see through the eyes of Christopher. Christopher is the narrator, who is
suffering from Asperger's syndrome and he is only fifteen years of age.
How the main character changes throughout the novel
The main character in the novel is Christopher who changes a lot from the beginning to
the end of the novel. When the novel starts Christopher, who is the narrator, is 15 years old, he
has Asperger's syndrome, which complicates his relationships with other people, and it's not
uncommon for people with his condition. He is deprived of emotional interpretation and
emotional abilities, because of e of his condition. When the book starts he only talks to the
people he trusts, he is shy and protects himself. The book describes this by stating "It takes me a
long time to get used to people, I don't know, for example when there is a new staff member I
take long before I talk to them until I know it's safe" He is not capable of telling lies and him
does not like being touched (Haddon, 2007).
Christopher's change happens when he gets a stack of letters his "dead" mother has been
writing to him when he was trying to get the book his father confiscated from him. Towards the
end of the novel, we see a happy ending where he finds his mother, and he mends his
relationship with his father. In the end, he also becomes more expressive of his emotions, and
most people can be able to understand him (Burks-Abbott, 2007). There is a constant desire to
assert himself and becomes more confident in his abilities, pursuing his desires like going to
college. He writes a book which is a massive accomplishment to him, and his A-level makes him

ENGLISH ASSIGNMENTS 3
feel good and starts planning to go to college. He shows self-reliance, as he makes his way to the
world by traveling alone to London. He has changed a lot and become a more decent person.
Roles of men and women portrayed in the novel
The men are portrayed to be dominant having higher abilities compared to women. The
story is narrated from Christopher's perspective and how he views the world. The book does not
speak about Christopher but is narrated from Christopher's point of view, which is a dominant
critique form (Fryer, 2016). The author manages to show people about Christopher's experiences,
and not from an expert's opinion. The author shows that "normal" is a social construct and it is
more of a reflection of the society than the physical and mental attributes of a person. We also
see how Christopher's father dominates his mother on how he will be raised. He is the one who
ends up staying with Christopher and keeps him away from his mother by lying she was dead. It
is only until he discovers the letters, is when he reunites with the mother. Men are portrayed as
dominant and intelligent; we see Christopher only like mathematics and subjects with similar
sequences. He views himself metaphorically as a computer. Women like Christopher's mother,
seem not to have a lot of say when it comes to raising their children, and they are dominated
over. Christopher also trusts Sloban because she is nurturing and it is like women as opposed to
Rodger Shear, whom Christopher does not trust and ends up investigating him. Men are less
nurturing as we see when Christopher says “we do this when sometimes father wants to hug me,
but I don’t like hugging people’ (31.5).
Two key moments in the book
The first critical moment is when the Dog is killed, Christopher becomes curious and
starts investigating who killed the Dog. He starts questioning people, and his teacher advises him

ENGLISH ASSIGNMENTS 4
to write a book. When his father confiscates his book, he finds his "dead" mother's letters and
this changes his life. The second key moment in the book is when Christopher discovers the
letters, his life changes forever, and he goes to London to see his mother, it's the begging of his
assertiveness and self-reliance, and change to be a better person (Haddon, 2007).
Conclusion
Christopher presents the readers with an extension of social problems which are
somehow also connected to mathematics. He is displayed as a genius introvert who is able to get
over his hardships ultimately and is more ready to face the challenges of the world. It shows
development and coming of –age (Murray, 2006).

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References
Burks-Abbott, G. (2007). 16 Mark haddon’s Popularity and Other Curious Incidents in My life
as an Autistic. Autism and representation, 289.
Fryer, L. (2016). An introduction to audio description: A practical guide. Routledge.
Haddon, M. (2007). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. National Geographic
Books.
Murray, S. (2006). Autism and the contemporary sentimental: Fiction and the narrative
fascination of the present. Literature and Medicine, 25(1), 24-45.