the curious incident of the dog in the night time reviewcurious... · • first, christopher...

Dramatic Structure

• We know what you're thinking: "Chapter 2? What happened to Chapter 1?"• But there is no Chapter 1. This book begins with Chapter 2. "But why?" you ask. We'll

get to that, we assure you. "This is weird and confusing," you insist. And so we give you a nice cup of hot cocoa and tell you to relax, and just keep reading.

• Okay, so, Chapter 2. It's seven minutes after midnight and there's a dead dog lying on someone's front lawn, with a garden fork sticking out of its side.

• This is certainly a curious incident, finding this dog here in the night-time, wouldn't you say?

• But wait, that's just the first paragraph.• Next, the narrator leans down beside the dog, and finds that it's still warm. The narrator

knows this dog – his name is (or was) Wellington, and he belongs to his neighbor, Mrs. Shears.

• The narrator pets the dog and wonders who killed him, and why. Curious, indeed.• Finally, the narrator introduces himself: "My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I

know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7057" (3.1).

• Then he shows us some pictures of faces (happy faces, sad faces, angry faces) that a woman called Siobhan showed him some years before.

• He explains that he has a difficult time differentiating between them.• ("Hey, What happened to Chapter 4?" Shh, just give us one minute – everything will

become clear.)• Christopher pulls the pitchfork out of Wellington's side and gives the dog a hug. He says

he likes dogs because it's easy to know what they're thinking, and they only have four moods. Sounds easy enough.

• Just then Mrs. Shears, Christopher's neighbor and Wellington's owner, comes running out of her house, screaming. She accuses Christopher of killing the dog, and just keeps screaming.

• Christopher is frightened by her screams: he places his hands over his ears, rolls into a ball, and lies down on the grass.

• "This is a murder mystery novel," Christopher announces (7.1).• Siobhan had told him to write something he would like to read himself, and he likes

murder mystery novels (particularly the Sherlock Holmes ones). So there you have it.• Siobhan says that murder mysteries are usually about the murder of a person, and it

would be pretty unusual to write one about a dog.• But Christopher quickly offers up a few reasons why writing about the dog is okay: (1) he

likes dogs; (2) he wants to write about something that really happened to him, because he has a hard time imagining things; and (3) he doesn't know any people who have been murdered. Pretty sound reasoning, right?

• He also mentions that some dogs are "more clever and more interesting" than some people – particularly the ones in his class (7.8). Ouch!

• Now we're back in Mrs. Shears' yard, and the police have just arrived. Christopher likes the police, because they "have uniforms and numbers and you know what they are meant to be doing" (11.1).

• In other words, their consistency and order make him feel safe. (Read more about order and safety in our "Themes" section.)

• One policeman leads Mrs. Shears into her house and the other one walks over to talk to Christopher. (Remember, he's still crouched on the ground, with his face in the grass.)

• They don't have such an easy time talking.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night TimeMark Haddon

http://www.shmoop.com/sherlock-holmes/


http://shmoop.com/curious-incident/themes.html

http://shmoop.com/curious-incident/themes.html

• First, Christopher answers the policeman's questions very literally, and the cop is confused. (For example, he asks what Christopher was doing in the garden. Christopher answers honestly that he was holding the dog, but the policeman just wanted to know why he was in the garden in the first place.)

• Then the policeman starts asking questions very quickly (like "Did you kill the dog?" and "Is this your fork?") and Christopher gets a little freaked out and overwhelmed (11.17, 11.19). We would be, too. Not cool, Mr. Policeman.

• To make himself feel better, Christopher lies back down on the grass and starts groaning, which he finds very calming. (He compares the groaning to white noise.)

• The policeman tries to pick Christopher up off the ground. Christopher doesn't like this one bit, and so… he hits him.

• Here we get another step back into the mind of the narrator. Christopher tells us that this book won't include any jokes because he doesn't understand them.

• He particularly dislikes puns and sentences with multiple meanings because it makes him feel like a lot of people are all talking at once. Sounds like Shmoop's family dinners.

• The policeman tells Christopher he's being arrested for assault. When he hears this, he feels much calmer, because it's the kind of thing cops say on TV.

• The policeman puts him into the back of his police car, and Christopher looks out the window up at the stars. He takes this opportunity to tell us a little about the universe. It turns out he likes scientific facts, because they are things "you can work out in your own mind [...] without having to ask anyone" (17.13).

• Finally the big mystery of the chapter numbers is revealed! It's all about – wait for it – prime numbers. Christopher loves 'em.

• When Christopher arrives at the police station, they make him empty his pockets, and he describes in detail what he had with him

• They try to take his watch, but he screams, so they let him keep it.• Then they ask him if he has any family. Short answer? Yes. Long answer? Everything

Christopher says: he tells them about his father and his uncles and his grandparents and, well, way more information than they need to know.

• He also tells them (and us) that his mother is dead.• They ask for his father's phone number, and put Christopher into a cell. While he's in

there, Christopher figures out the volume of air present in the cell, and also works out what would be the best way to escape (if he were in a story, that is). Those are some major math chops he has.

• He also wonders if Mrs. Shears told the police that he killed her dog. If she did, he figures she'll go to prison when they find out she was lying.

• Now Christopher tells us a little about why he finds people confusing. And from the way he says it, it makes us wonder why we don't find people every bit as confusing as he does.

• (For example: "Siobhan also says that if you close your mouth and breathe out loudly through your nose it can mean that you are relaxed, or that you are bored, or that you are angry and it all depends on how much air comes out of your nose and how fast and what shape your mouth is in when you do it and how you are sitting and what you said just before and hundreds of other things which are too complicated to work out in a few seconds" [29.4]. See what we mean?)

• At around 1:00AM, Christopher's father arrives at the police station and from his cell, Christopher can hear him start yelling at everyone. Soon enough, a policeman brings his dad over to his cell.

• He and his father do this thing where his dad holds up his right hand and Christopher holds up his left hand and they each spread their fingers and then touch their fingertips together. (Try it out!)

• They do this instead of hugging, because Christopher doesn't like to be touched. It's a sweet gesture, and it's how Christopher knows that his dad loves him.


• Now it's time for some questioning. The policeman asks Christopher if he meant to hit the policeman. Christopher says yes, he did. The policeman refines his question, asking if he meant to hurt the policeman. This time, Christopher says no – he just wanted the guy to stop touching him.

• And now for the big question: did Christopher kill the dog? He says that he didn't, but the policeman doesn't seem to believe him so he asks if Christopher is telling the truth. Our kid-narrator says yes: he always tells the truth.

• The policeman gives Christopher a warning, and Christopher asks if it will be printed on a piece of paper that he can keep.

• They leave the room, pick up the things that had been taken from Christopher's pockets, and he and his father drive home.

• And that's the story of Christopher's stint in the slammer.• Now Christopher explains why he never lies – it isn't because he doesn't want to, it's just

that he doesn't know how.• A lie, he explains, is something that didn't really happen. And when he tries to think

about something that didn't really happen, he starts thinking about all the infinite possibilities for things that didn't really happen. And it makes him feel "shaky and scared" (37.4).

• We'd love to borrow this kid's imagination for an afternoon.• Anyway, this is why Christopher doesn't like novels (boo!). And it's also how we know

everything in this book is true.• On the drive home, Christopher apologizes to his dad for making him pick him up at the

police station, but he says he didn't kill the dog. His father believes him.• Christopher brings up the idea of finding out who killed the dog, but his dad tells him to

stay out of other people's business.• When Christopher persists, his dad gets angry and starts banging the steering wheel

with his fist.• Finally, they get home: Christopher gives a carrot to his pet rat Toby and plays a

computer game. Normal late-night stuff.• At 2:00AM, he goes downstairs and finds his father is drinking whiskey, watching

television, and crying.• Christopher asks if he's sad about Wellington's less than happy fate. His father replies

with this very curious response: "He looked at me for a long time and sucked air in through his nose. Then he said, 'Yes, Christopher, you could say that. You could very well say that'" (41.22).

• This chapter is the story of how Christopher's mother died two years ago. Here's the first part of that flashback:

• Christopher arrives home from school one day and, when no one answers the door, he lets himself in with a key that's hidden outside.

• His dad gets home, but neither of them knows where Christopher's mom is. After making some phone calls, his father says he has to leave the house for a while.

• And boy does he mean a while: he's gone for a long time. Finally, he comes back and tells Christopher, "I'm afraid you won't be seeing your mother for a while" (43.7). It turns out she's in the hospital.

• Christopher starts asking a lot of questions – because it's his mother and he wants to know what's wrong with her, of course, but also because he likes hospitals.

• We learn that there's a problem with his mom's heart.• Christopher wants to bring her some food, because hospital food is gross. (He's right

about that!) His father says he'll pick some things up for her at the grocery store and bring them to her along with the get well card Christopher is planning on making.

• Okay, now we're back in the present (you know, the whole curious incident present). Christopher takes the bus to school the next morning.

• They pass four red cars in a row, which means it is a "Good Day," so Christopher decides not to be sad about Wellington anymore.


• Our narrator then explains the difference between a "Good Day" and a "Quite Good Day" and a "Super Good Day" (which are, of course, all awesome); and a "Black Day" ("a day when I don't speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks" [47.2]).

• Long story short: the quality of the day depends on which cars he sees while he's riding the bus. Red cars are good; yellow cars are bad.

• The school psychologist once told him that it's random and illogical being so affected by cars like that (and particularly strange because Christopher is otherwise a very logical guy). But Christopher argues that it's no more illogical to be affected by red and yellow cars than it is to be affected by the weather – to be happy if it's sunny and sad if it's cloudy. Touché!

• Christopher then offers up some more examples of so-called "normal" behavior being illogical, and his own "unusual" behavior being really quite normal.

• He recalls the school psychologist asking some other things, like whether it makes him feel safe to always have things in a nice order (answer: yes) and whether he doesn't like it when things change (answer: he wouldn't mind changing if he were changing into an astronaut).

• Christopher says he probably won't become an astronaut, but he's definitely going to go to university (as they call it in the UK) to study Mathematics or Physics.

• After that little digression, we hear more about his Good Day. Because it's a Good Day, he decides to try to figure out who killed Wellington, "because a Good Day is a day for projects and planning things" (47.15). Naturally.

• Siobhan (his teacher) says that it's is a story-writing day, so maybe he should write a story about the night he found Wellington.

• "And that is when I started writing this" (47.17).• Let's flash back to the flashback.• Christopher's mother dies two weeks later. He never got to see her in the hospital, but

his father had been in to see her, and brought her the card Christopher made for her.• His dad says she died of a heart attack, which surprises Christopher because she was

only thirty-eight years old and very healthy.• He asks what kind of heart attack it was, but his father tells him that it's not the time to

ask questions like that.• Mrs. Shears (Wellington's owner, remember her?) comes over to cook them dinner and

she consoles Christopher's father. Nice lady, it seems.• Christopher acknowledges the fact that his father told him not to keep thinking about

who killed Wellington, but too bad: he's going to do it anyway.• He says that when people tell you to do something, it can be confusing because they

often use metaphors or just aren't specific enough. (For example, instead of a sign reading "KEEP OFF THE GRASS," he would prefer a sign reading "KEEP OFF ALL THE GRASS IN THIS PARK" [59.2], so it's clear that he can walk on other areas of grass in the world.)

• His teacher Siobhan understands, and always gives him very specific instructions, but no one else does. And anyway, most people break rules themselves (especially Christopher's father).

• So Christopher always decides for himself what he's going to do: right now, that means finding out who killed Wellington.

• That night, he goes to Mrs. Shears' house and tells her that he didn't kill Wellington: but he wants to know if she knows who did it.

• She shuts the door in his face. So much for appreciating his fine detective skills.• When he's sure she isn't watching him, he goes around to her garden shed. It's locked,

so he peeks in through the window, and he sees a pitchfork that looks just like the one that killed Wellington.

• He figures it's unlikely that Mrs. Shears killed her own dog (considering how upset she was about the whole thing), so that leaves three options: (1) she left the shed unlocked,


(2) she left the fork lying out, or (3) the dog was killed by someone who had the key to the shed.

• Mrs. Shears comes outside and threatens to call the police again, so Christopher goes home. He feeds his rat Toby and feels happy about being a detective.

• Time for another brief return to the flashback.• Christopher's teacher Mrs. Forbes tells him that his mother went to heaven after she

died, but he doesn't think heaven exists.• He once asked a priest where heaven is and was told, "It's not in our universe. It's

another kind of place altogether" (61.3).• Since it's impossible for anything to be outside of the universe, Christopher concludes

that heaven cannot exist, and that "people believe in heaven because they don't like the idea of dying" (61.6). Well, then.

• Christopher thinks that when people die, they just die, and they're either buried and decompose or are burned and turned into ash.

• His mom was cremated, so sometimes he looks into the sky and imagines that the molecules of her body are floating over the earth and coming down as rain or snow.

• Christopher sets out to do some more detective work. He decides to ask his neighbors if they might know something about who killed Wellington.

• Usually he doesn't like talking to strangers – not because it's dangerous, but because he just doesn't like people he doesn't know.

• But, just in case, he always carries his Swiss Army knife in his pocket.• He makes a map of his street, and starts knocking on doors, but no one knows anything

at the first few houses he checks.• Then he goes to the house of a woman called Mrs. Alexander who's super friendly: she

says she recognizes Christopher from seeing him go to school every day.• Christopher is a little confused because she's "doing what is called chatting where

people say things to each other which aren't questions and answers and aren't connected" (67.67). We hear you, Chris.

• She invites him inside for tea, but he says he doesn't go into other people's houses. Oh, and he only drinks orange squash. Mrs. Alexander says she'll bring some outside then, but while she's inside, Christopher starts getting worried that maybe she's calling the police. So he leaves.

• On his way back home, he comes up with a way to figure out who might have killed Wellington. He just needs to figure out who would want to make Mrs. Shears upset.

• Hmmm. Christopher only knows one person who doesn't like Mrs. Shears, and that's – wait for it – Mr. Shears. Aha.

• Mr. Shears left his wife two years ago and never came back. (That's partly why Mrs. Shears cooked for him and his father after Christopher's mother died: she was lonely and needed company.)

• (He also mentions that sometimes Mrs. Shears slept over at their house, and kept things tidy in the kitchen.)

• Christopher doesn't know much about why couples get divorced, but he figures it's because they hate each other. And if Mr. Shears really hates Mrs. Shears, he might have come back to the house to kill her dog. You know, to make her cry.

• He decides Mr. Shears is his Prime Suspect.• Christopher says that all the other students at his school are stupid. He knows he

shouldn't call them stupid: it's better to say they have learning disabilities.• But that doesn't make sense because everyone in the world has learning disabilities –

after all, learning stuff is hard.• He's going to prove that he's not stupid, though, when he takes his A levels (sort of the

UK equivalent of the SAT in the US) next month and gets an A – which, by the way, no one from his school has ever done before.

• It wasn't easy convincing the school to let him take the exam: his father even had to come in and argue on his behalf.


http://www.a-levels.co.uk/

http://www.a-levels.co.uk/

• Christopher repeats that the full plan is as follows: take his A levels, go to university, and get some awesome high-paying job in Math and Physics.

• Then he can either pay someone to take care of him, or maybe even meet a woman to will marry him – that way, he doesn't have to be alone.

• Christopher decides to go into flashback mode again.• His mother and father used to argue a lot, and sometimes he wondered if they might get

divorced.• He says most of their problems came from the stress of taking care of him. He used to

be much harder to take care of when he was younger, evidently: he smashed things, refused to eat or drink, and screamed when he was confused.

• Yeah, it used to be pretty bad.• Back in the present, Christopher gets home from his investigative word and his father is

sitting at the kitchen table.• Christopher has to tell a "white lie": he says he's been "out" (79.3).• Unfortunately, his cover is blown: Mrs. Shears just called and told him that Christopher

was snooping around in her yard again.• His dad pretty angry, since he specifically told Christopher "to keep [his] nose out of

other people's business" (79.10) – obviously this doesn't include poking around someone else's property.

• Christopher tries to reason with him – after all, Mr. Shears is his Prime Suspect. This doesn't go over very well with Dad: he totally flips out, banging the table and yelling that he never wants to hear Mr. Shears' name mentioned in his house. That guy is evil.

• Yikes.• Christopher says he knows he shouldn't mess around in other people's business, but

Mrs. Shears is a friend.• Not anymore, his father tells him. And anyway, Dad is really losing his patience at this

point, so he very specifically tells Christopher a few things he's not allowed to do: namely, go around asking people about the dog, and anything involving "this ridiculous bloody detective game" (79.23).

• His father makes him promise. So promise, he does.• Christopher wants to tell us why he thinks he'd make a good astronaut and it turns out

he has a lot of very good reasons. He's really quite convincing.• He says he'd still go (into space, that is) even if they wouldn't let him bring Toby with him.• The next day, Christopher goes to school and tells Siobhan that he won't be able to

finish the book, because his dad made him promise to stop detecting.• She's okay with that – the book is really good as is, and not all books have nice tidy

conclusions to their mysteries anyway (perhaps that's what makes them mysterious).• They have a brief conversation about Mr. and Mrs. Shears, but Siobhan can't offer

Christopher any help because she doesn't know the couple.• Each of the next two days, Christopher sees four yellow cars in a row on the way to

school. You know what that means: Black Days.• Not to worry: the day after those Black Days, Christopher sees five red cars in a row. It's

a Super Good Day so he knows something good is going to happen.• After school, he goes to a store and runs into Mrs. Alexander. Maybe talking to her is the

special thing that's going to happen on his Super Good Day.• Christopher does "some reasoning": his father made him promise not to do five specific

things, and talking to Mrs. Alexander was not one of those specific things. So he figures it's okay to ask her about Mr. Shears.

• Mrs. Alexander is hesitant to answer his questions, though. Christopher doesn't understand why, and he asks if Mr. Shears killed his (Christopher's) mother. (Answer: of course not.)

• Christopher tells her that his mother had a heart attack and died, and Mrs. Alexander is shocked and surprised to hear this.


• Then she says something else curious: "So you don't know?" (97.68). Christopher doesn't know what the heck she's talking about – and neither do we.

• She says she really shouldn't be telling him anything, but suggests they take a walk together.

• Christopher is nervous (because she's a stranger, after all) and excited (because she might know something about who killed Wellington).

• Mrs. Alexander makes Christopher promise that he won't tell his father that she told him anything. He promises, so she spills the beans.

• It turns out that, before she died, his mother "very good friends" with Mr. Shears (97.80). Eventually Christopher realizes she means that the two were having an affair.

• He asks if this is why Mr. Shears left Mrs. Shears, and Mrs. Alexander says that it probably is.

• Christopher isn't taking this well: he's frightened and says he's going home.• Here's another digressive (and fun) chapter, in which Christopher tells us about the

Monty Hall problem.• You can read more about it in our handy link above, but for our purposes now, suffice it

to say it's an example of conventional wisdom not being correct, and answers not always being so straightforward.

• This definitely sounds like something Christopher could get behind.• When Christopher gets home, his father's friend Rhodri is there.• He goes outside in the garden and looks up at the sky.• Now Christopher tells us about his favorite book, a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle called The Hound of the Baskervilles.• We won't bother summarizing the book here (though we highly recommend you read it

yourself!), since Christopher is mostly telling us about it to explain the difference between clues and red herrings (which are like fake clues).

• Christopher writes some more in his book and then brings it into school so Siobhan can help him make corrections.

• When she reads the bit about his mother and Mr. Shears, she's understandably shocked.

• She asks Christopher if this news made him sad. (No.) Is he sure? (Yes.)• Siobhan explains that sometimes people don't like to admit they're sad, or don't even

realize they're sad. And even when he insists he's not sad, she tells him she's available to talk if he wants.

• Christopher has a photographic memory and he tells us now what that's like. For one thing, it allows him to recall pretty vivid memories of his mother.

• He also uses his photographic memory when he meets someone, to figure out if he's met them before.

• And one last thing: it helps him remember how to act in certain situations, recalling how he acted in the past. Makes sense to us.

• He compares these images in his mind to what the rest of us might call "imagination."• Christopher gets home from school, and his father is still at work, so he goes about his

business: he puts his school things on the kitchen table (including his detective book), makes himself a milkshake, and starts watching a video about life in the ocean.

• His father comes home and finds the book on the kitchen table. This isn't going to end well.

• He's really pissed, and Christopher tries to explain that technically he didn't disobey him, having tiptoed around the specific things his father said not to do.

• Before he can finish, his father cuts him off: "Don't give me that bullocks, you little shit. You knew exactly what you were bloody doing. I've read the book, remember" (127.18). That's pretty harsh.

• After some more yelling, he grabs Christopher roughly by the arm, something he's never done before. (Christopher says his mother used to hit him sometimes, but his father is more patient than she was.)


http://montyhallproblem.com/

http://montyhallproblem.com/



• Christopher doesn't like being grabbed, so he starts hitting his father. And then he blacks out.

• When he wakes up, he's sitting on the carpet: there's blood on his hand and the side of his head hurts.

• Christopher's father is standing a few feet away. His shirt is torn, the detecting book is bent in half, and he's breathing heavily.

• His father walks outside and puts the book into the garbage can, then comes back in and says he needs a drink. He gets himself a beer.

• In this chapter, Christopher explains why he hates the colors yellow and brown. (You know, Shmoop prefers purple and green anyway.)

• We're back to the post-hit moment with Christopher and his dad. Christopher's father apologizes for hitting him, and cleans out the cut on Christopher's cheek. To show that he's really, really sorry, he even takes Christopher to the zoo.

• Christopher takes this opportunity to list his favorite animals.• At the zoo café, father and son have a little heart-to-heart. Christopher's father tells him

that he loves him and he's sorry that sometimes he gets so angry. He's only like that because he loves Christopher so much: he worries about him and doesn't want him to get hurt.

• He asks Christopher if he understands what he's saying, but Christopher isn't quite sure.• So he asks if Christopher at least understands that he loves him. Christopher knows that

loving someone means that you help them and look after them and tell them the truth. These are all things his father does for him, so he says yes.

• And, to end the chapter, Christopher draws a map of the zoo.• In this chapter, Christopher tells us about The Case of the Cottingley Fairies.• In 1917, two young cousins claimed they played with fairies by a stream. They took

photos of themselves with the fairies, and many people (including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who penned the Sherlock Holmes tales) believed they were real.

• But, in the end, they were – alas! – revealed to be a hoax.• Christopher concludes that "Occam's razor," - a theory that says the simplest

explanation is the right one – must be correct.• On Monday, Christopher goes back to school.• Siobhan asks why he has a bruise on his face, and he tells her what happened. They

talk about it for a while and then Siobhan asks if he's scared to go home again. Christopher says he isn't, and so they drop the subject.

• When he gets home from school that day, Christopher starts looking for his book. It isn't in the garbage can, so he looks all around the house. Eventually he's looked everywhere but his father's bedroom.

• He's very careful not to move anything, or else his father will know he was snooping around in there, which clearly won't make their situation any better.

• Finally, underneath a toolkit at the bottom of the cupboard, inside an old shirt box, he finds his book. Ta-da!

• At that moment, he hears his father's van pull up outside the house.• Christopher knows he has to think fast. He figures that his dad probably won't throw the

book away, so he doesn't have to worry about losing it.• He'll start another book, and maybe get this one back one day when his father is less

angry.• Right when he hears the car door slam outside, he sees an envelope with his name,

"Christopher Boone," written on the front.• Then he sees there's a whole big stack of envelopes, all addressed to him. And the

handwriting is all the same, with the letter I dotted with circles instead of dots.• There are only three people he knows who draw circles above the letter I like that:

Siobhan, another teacher, and his mother.• He quickly takes one envelope from the stack and puts everything else back in the

cupboard. This kid's a quick thinker.


http://www.randi.org/library/cottingley/

http://www.randi.org/library/cottingley/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm

• When his father calls his name, he doesn't answer: Christopher doesn't want him to know he's in his room. Instead takes the envelope into his room and hides it under the mattress before heading downstairs.

• His father makes him dinner and they're very nice to each other while they eat – it's really quite sweet.

• Then Christopher goes back to his room, shuts the door, and takes out the envelope.• He wonders whether it's okay for him to open it: on the one hand, he took it from his

father's room; on the other hand, it's addressed to him (not his dad).• He opens it, and reads it.• The author apologizes for not having written in so long, but she's been very busy. She

writes about her new job working as a secretary in a factory, and about the new flat she and someone called Roger have moved into in London.

• She says she realizes that Christopher is probably still angry with her, but she would love to hear from him.

• And – here's the kicker – it's signed, "Your Mum."• Gasp!• Although we're starting to put the pieces together, Christopher is still confused, since his

mother never worked as a secretary in a factory, and never lived in London.• He looks at the postmark on the envelope, and sees that it was sent eighteen months

after his mother died.• Okay, now he's really, really confused.• At that moment, his father walks in and tells him that one of his favorite TV shows is on,

if he wants to come down and watch it.• Christopher stays in his room and tries to figure out what in the world is going on.• Then he gets really excited, because now he has two mysteries to solve. Sherlock

Holmes, here we come!• Christopher decides that the next time his father is out of the house, he'll read the other

letters. But for now, he goes downstairs to watch TV. We totally approve.• In this chapter, Christopher writes about some other unsolved mysteries, like people

believing in ghosts.• He also writes about a different kind of mystery – the fluctuating population of frogs in

the pond near his school – but he uses mathematics to explain that one.• Six days later, when his father goes out, Christopher finally has another opportunity to go

back to read the other letters.• There are forty-three letters in all. He picks one at random and starts reading it.• His mother recalls a time two Christmases ago when Christopher got a new train set as

a gift, and refused to go to bed because he didn't want to stop playing with it. Nice memory.

• How about another one? This time, his mother tries to explain why she left Christopher and his father. She admits she wasn't a very good mother and that Christopher's father is much more patient than she is.

• Then she recalls a time when she and Christopher went Christmas shopping. Christopher had a meltdown in a store and shouted and smashed things, and eventually they had to walk home because Christopher refused to get on the bus.

• She tried talking to his father but she had a tough time making him understand her struggles. Eventually, things got so strained that they stopped talking altogether.

• This is when she started spending more time with Roger, evidently. Roger told her that he and Eileen weren't in love with each other – he was lonely, too.

• Is anyone else wondering why she's spilling all this out to her long-distance son?• In any case, she continues on to write that she and Roger fell in love. Roger suggested

they run away together, but she said she could never leave Christopher.• But then one day, she and Christopher had a big argument, in which they both threw

things and she ended up with a few broken toes.• This led to another big argument with Christopher's father.


• Since his mom couldn't walk for a while, Christopher's father had to take care of him alone. And according to this letter, Christopher seemed to be much happier around his dad.

• And so she decided that everyone would be better off if she simply wasn't around after all.

• Hmmm.• Roger applied for a job transfer, and the two of them moved to London.• She wanted to say good-bye, but Christopher's father was incredibly angry after she left,

and told her she could never come back to see him.• Almost over, we promise. She just repeats how sorry she is, and says that she never

ever meant to hurt him.• She concludes the letter by writing how much she thinks about him. She wonders how

he's doing, and asks him to please write or call.• (Considering he never got the letters, he clearly didn't do that.)• On to a third letter. In this one, Christopher's mother writes about her new job and she

asks him if he likes the present that she and Roger sent him.• Finally, he opens a fourth one. He starts to read about his mother's trip to the dentist, but

he can't finish it because he starts to feel sick.• He realizes the truth: "Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother

had been alive all the time. And Father had lied about this" (157.19).• He tries to think of another explanation, but can't come up with any other possibility.• That's a tough one to swallow.• He starts feeling dizzy, and his stomach hurts. He gets into his father's bed, curls into a

ball and passes out. When he wakes up, there's vomit on the sheets and his father is calling his name.

• As he hears his name being called, he can see it written out in his mother's handwriting on the envelopes.

• At first, his father is angry that Christopher has been going through his stuff. But then he notices the letters, and realizes that Christopher knows the truth: that's a way bigger deal than just snooping.

• He freaks out a little bit, and then he starts crying and says, "I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie [...] It was so complicated. So difficult " (157.38, 42).

• Then he takes Christopher into the bath to clean him up. And even though he's being touched, Christopher is okay with it.

• Let's dive into another brief flashback, from when Christopher first started going to school:

• His teacher sits down with him and takes out a tube of Smarties (not the American kind!).• She asks him what he thinks is inside the tube. Um, Smarties?• But when she turns the tube upside-down, a small red pencil comes out. Whoa.• Then she asks him what Christopher's mother would think was in the tube if she came in

the room right now. Christopher says that she would think there was a pencil inside.• In the present, he explains that this is because, when he was younger, he "didn't

understand about other people having minds" (164.8).• One more quick dip into the flashback: the teacher explains to Christopher's parents that

he would always have difficulty with this sort of thinking.• Okay, back to the present. That kind of stuff doesn't trip him up anymore. Now he thinks

about it like a puzzle, trying to figure out what other people know.• Christopher spends some time comparing human minds to computers, and human

minds to animal minds: he says that most people think humans are different from computers because humans have emotions, but really "feelings are just having a picture on the screen in your head of what is going to happen tomorrow or next year, or what might have happened instead of what did happen, and if it is a happy picture they smile and if it is a sad picture they cry" (163.20).


http://www.smarties.co.uk/home/

http://www.smarties.co.uk/home/

• We never thought about it like that.• Christopher's father gets him all cleaned up and asks if he's had anything to eat today.

He doesn't respond.• His father leaves the room, and Christopher just sits on the bed, staring at his knees.• He "doubles 2s" (that is, does 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 in his head) and gets to 33,554,432. (!)

He says usually he gets much farther, but right now his "brain [isn't] working very well" (167.10).

• Eventually Christopher's father comes back and says he wants Christopher to know that he can trust him. He knows he messed up, but it's not easy telling the truth all the time, and he's really doing his best.

• He promises he's going to tell the truth from now on – about everything, always.• Then he tells him that he was the one who killed Wellington, the dog.• ?!• Christopher thinks he's just kidding, but he's not. His new truth streak is the real deal.• Christopher's father explains, very slowly and painfully, that when his mother left, he and

Mrs. Shears started spending time together, and he was really hoping that they would become a couple, and that she would move in with them.

• Instead, he and Mrs. Shears ended up arguing a lot. She said some mean things about Christopher and in the end seemed to love her dog (Wellington) more than she cared about either of them.

• So, one night, after he and Mrs. Shears had an argument, he saw the darn dog in the yard and just snapped.

• He says he couldn't help himself, and that he and Christopher really aren't so different.• He apologizes again, very sincerely.• This is the point when Christopher realizes he isn't joking. This is definitely a lot to take

in all at once. This was his whole mystery, after all.• His father stands up, takes a deep breath, and walks out of the room. Christopher stays

seated on the bed.• He sees Toby in his cage, staring through the bars.• Christopher decides he has to get out of the house. He very logically concludes: "Father

had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn't trust him, even though he had said, 'Trust me,' because he had told a lie about a big thing" (167.30).

• He decides to wait until his father is asleep before he tries to escape, though.• At 1:20AM, he still hasn't heard his father come upstairs to bed and he wonders if maybe

he's fallen asleep downstairs. Or, perhaps he's hiding, waiting to kill Christopher. Uh oh.• He opens the saw blade on his Swiss Army knife so he can defend himself, just in case

his father attacks him. He tip-toes downstairs and sees that his father is asleep on the couch (not waiting to kill him, it seems).

• Christopher is really scared, and wonders if he's going to have a heart attack.• He puts on warm clothes, takes his special food box, and gets Toby's cage from upstairs.

Then he walks out the back door into the backyard.• He thinks of going into the shed (because it would be warmer) but is pretty sure his

father would look for him there. So he crams himself into a narrow space between the shed and a fence, lying down next to some junk.

• That can't be comfortable, but a kid's gotta do what a kid's gotta do.• He eats some food, and wonders what to do next. We're wondering, too.• From where he's sitting, Christopher can see the constellation Orion.• He writes about how silly constellations are, because people just make up pictures by

pretending the stars are connected. If you think about it, Orion could be made to look like a dinosaur or a coffee maker or a lady with an umbrella.

• Or the Shmoop logo?


• Christopher looks at the sky for a long time and thinks about how big and far away stars are (we know, right?). He also thinks about how small we humans are, and how our problems are not nearly as important as we think they are. This kid is deep.

• He sleeps pretty badly: it's cold and he's uncomfortable and Toby makes a lot of noise scratching around in his cage.

• In the morning, his father comes out to look for him, so he covers himself with a plastic tarp to hide, and takes out his Swiss Army knife just in case he needs to defend himself.

• His father comes to the shed but can't find him (Chris nailed his hiding place, apparently) so he goes back inside and eventually gets in his van and drives away.

• Christopher decides to go live with Mrs. Shears, figuring that when he tells her that he knows who killed Wellington, she'll be so happy she'll want him to stay there.

• He knocks on her door, but there's no answer. Shoot – he needs a back-up plan.• First, he thinks of all the things he can't do, like go home or live with Siobhan or Mrs.

Alexander.• The one thing he can do, it seems, is go live with his mother.• Hmmm.• He has her address, but she lives in London, and he's never been there before.• The thought of going somewhere on his own is really scary, but the thought of going

back home with his dog-killing dad is even scarier.• So he makes a diagram of his options and, by process of elimination, decides that going

to live his mother is really his best bet.• All this makes him think about how he'll never really become an astronaut because he

would have to live thousands of miles from home – talk about scary.• Then, standing there in the street, he comes up with a plan. Things are starting to look

up.• He walks to Mrs. Alexander's house and asks her to take care of Toby for him because

he's going to London to live with his mother.• After some questions, Christopher reveals that he thought his mother was dead, but

really his father had been lying to him.• Oh, and his father is the one who killed Wellington. This sure is a lot of disclosure for one

afternoon.• You can probably imagine the expression on Mrs. Alexander's face as she hears this.• She tries to get Christopher to come inside and call his father, assuming there must be

some mistake.• No can do, Mrs. A. Instead, Christopher runs back to his house.• The door is locked, so he picks up a brick and smashes a window, opening the door that

way. Yikes.• He gets his school bag and throws some food in it, but then he notices his father's cell

phone and wallet are on the table.• For a moment he freezes, thinking his father must be home. But then he remembers that

his van wasn't parked outside, so he can't be home.• Here's what that means: (1) he's safe, and (2) his father must have forgotten his wallet

when he left earlier.• Christopher takes his dad's bank card out of the wallet: he knows the pin code and can

use it to get some money to go to London. This is getting sneaky.• He's planning on asking Siobhan at school how to get to the train station. While he's

walking, he realizes that his fear of being in a new place and his fear of being near his father are inversely proportional.

• What does that mean? Well, when one fear gets bigger, the other gets smaller (and his overall fear remains constant).

• When Christopher arrives at school, he sees his father's van is parked outside. He doesn't take this well; in fact, it makes him vomit. He wants to curl into a ball and groan again, but knows if he does this, his father will find him. So he takes some deep breaths, counting the breaths – and squaring the numbers, naturally.


• He decides to ask someone else for directions to the train station, and he takes out the saw blade of his Swiss Army knife again – you know, just in case.

• It turns out the train station is just down the street, so he follows a bus which is heading in that direction.

• Unfortunately, he gets a little lost. Usually, he says, he would just picture a map in his head and use that to find the train station. But his brain isn't working so well this time around.

• He sorts out a very efficient method of wandering until he finds the station. He focuses really hard on his internal map so he can ignore everyone and everything around him.

• And guess what? Success! He finally arrives at the train station, and goes inside.• Christopher describes how, unlike most people, he sees everything. He can't just glance

around and focus on certain things and ignore others – it all registers with him.• Everyone else, it turns out, is "lazy" and "almost blind" (181.3, 181.15). Thanks, Chris –

how kind!• In any case, this is why Christopher is so easily overwhelmed by new places.• He even compares himself to a computer doing way too many calculations at once.• When he's in a new place with lots of people around, he closes his eyes and covers his

ears – kind of like rebooting a computer.• Okay, so Christopher's standing in the train station, and he's totally overwhelmed, just as

he predicted.• He's dizzy and nauseous, and feels like he's standing on the edge of a cliff. He's having

a really hard time thinking straight with all this, and he just wants to go home.• He finds a table in a corner, closes his eyes, and tries to do some math problems to calm

down. (That's Shmoop's favorite calming trick, too…)• When he opens his eyes again, there's a policeman standing above him. It turns out

Christopher has been sitting there for two and a half hours now. Time flies when you're doing math.

• Christopher wonders if he should tell the policeman about his father killing Wellington.• Instead, he tells him that he's going to see his mother in London, but doesn't know how

to get there.• The policeman helps him use his father's bank card to get some money – thank

goodness for the help. Christopher doesn't even know that "quid" is slang for "pounds," (kind of like "buck" and "dollar").

• Christopher leaves the policeman and goes to buy his train ticket. But it turns out that isn't so easy either.

• The man behind the window tells him where to go to catch his train. Christopher is still feeling terribly uneasy, so he imagines a red line along the floor that he can follow to the train, and says "left, right, left, right" quietly to himself, to try and calm down (191.104).

• A couple of people bump into him on his way to the train and he barks at them like a dog.

• Finally, he finds the train, gets on it, and, well, he's on his way to London.• Christopher likes timetables. In this chapter, he shows us a sample timetable of a typical

day at home, and boy is it detailed.• He describes a timetable as being like "a map of time," helping to keep you from getting

"lost in time" (193.4, 9).• There are a lot of people on the train. Ugh, no one likes a crowded train – especially

Christopher.• Suddenly, he hears someone call his name: it's the policeman from the station. He's

breathing heavily, having just run to catch the train before it left.• He says Christopher's father is at the station, looking for him.• Uh oh.• Christopher realizes he's going to take him back to his father, which is totally scary and

confusing. After all, policemen are supposed to do good things and Christopher's father is clearly bad. (He killed a dog – hello!)


• So Christopher tries to run away and he screams when the policeman grabs him. Then Christopher breaks the news: he tells him his father killed a dog with a garden fork. Well, then.

• The policeman says they can talk about that once they get back to the station, but it's too late. The train pulls away. The policeman curses, and uses his walkie-talkie to ask for someone to meet them with a car at the next train station.

• Christopher looks out the window as the train flies through town. There's so much stuff zooming by that it makes his head hurt.

• He closes his eyes and counts and groans and does quadratic equations in his head. (Remember those from algebra?)

• Christopher needs to use the bathroom, but he doesn't realize that there's a bathroom on the train. So he holds it for seventeen minutes.

• While he's waiting, he pees in his pants a little. The policeman notices and tells him to go to the toilet (after explaining that there are often toilets on trains).

• Christopher goes into the toilet, but it's way gross: there's even poop on the seat. Gross, indeed.

• Christopher closes his eyes and pees and it goes on the seat, on the floor, and pretty much everywhere else – he was closing his eyes, after all.

• Walking out from the toilet, he notices there are some shelves for luggage. He thinks it would make him feel better if he climbed onto the shelves, because being in enclosed areas always makes him feel safe.

• He pulls a piece of luggage in front of him to make it all dark and cozy and does some more quadratic equations in his head, for good measure.

• The train starts to slow down. The policeman comes looking for him, but once again, Christopher is pretty well hidden.

• Just then a lady comes to take her backpack off the shelves, and sees Christopher. She says that someone on the platform is looking for him, but doesn't give him away. Way to be discreet, lady.

• The doors close and the train starts moving again.• Whew.• Christopher doesn't believe in God.• Instead, he believes that the existence of life on earth is just an accident – a very rare

accident, but an accident nonetheless.• He writes that people who think that humans are better than other kinds of animals are

stupid.• Christopher stays hidden in the luggage racks. He wonders if they've already gone

through London, and if he should've gotten off by now.• The train stops four more times, and then finally it stops and doesn't start moving again.

So Christopher gets off the shelf and looks around. The policeman is gone, but so is his backpack, which had food, clean clothes, and math books in it. Bah.

• He sees another policeman, but he decides he doesn't like policemen so much anymore.• Christopher walks off the train, and again imagines a big red line on the floor for him to

follow.• Someone stops Christopher and tells him there's a policeman looking for him, and he

should wait there while he goes to get him.• But – surprise, surprise – Christopher keeps walking.• His chest hurts and he covers his ears with his hands. He's completely overwhelmed by

all the signs and billboards: the letters start to look like gibberish.• He's really scared by now so – as has become his custom – he opens up the saw blade

on his Swiss Army knife.• Someone comes up to ask if he's lost. But Christopher doesn't realize that the guy's

being friendly, and so he takes out the knife. Naturally, the guy is freaked out.• Christopher feels awful.


http://images.wikia.com/algebra/images/6/61/Quadratic_Formula.gif

http://images.wikia.com/algebra/images/6/61/Quadratic_Formula.gif

• Soon enough, he sees a sign that reads "Information," so he walks to a lady behind a window and asks if he's in London, and if she can tell him how to get to his mother's address.

• The lady tells him to take the Tube. Christopher doesn't understand, but she explains that she's talking about the subway (or, as it's called there, the Underground).

• As he walks through the station, Christopher is determined to succeed: "And I thought I can do this because I was doing really well and I was in London and I would find my mother" (211.47).

• At the end of the big room he comes to an escalator. This is the first time he's ever seen one, and it seems futuristic, so he takes the stairs instead.

• He ends up in another room in which people are using a machine to buy tickets.• He watches a bunch of people (forty-seven, to be exact) use the machine and

memorizes how they do it. He also watches how they walk through the turnstiles, including how they put their ticket inside and it comes out at the other end.

• Then he does it himself.• Someone shouts at him to hurry up so he barks back.• He sees a sign for the Bakerloo Line, which the lady told him to take. He also sees the

station where his mother lives: "Willesden Junction."• This time he has to take an escalator. It's scary, but he does it anyway.• Finally, he arrives at the train platform. It's narrow and very crowded and he doesn't like

it one bit.• Suddenly, there's a horrible, loud screeching noise – "like people fighting with

swords" (211.59) – and a rush of wind. Christopher closes his eyes and groans loudly to block out the noise, but it just keeps getting louder, and Christopher thinks that maybe the station is collapsing and he's going to die.

• Eventually it quiets down, and when he finally opens his eyes, he sees that there's a train right in front of him – that's what was making the crazy roaring sound.

• He also hears a strange moaning sound, "like a dog when it has hurt its paw," and realizes that he's making it himself (211.59).

• The train doors close and the train pulls away.• More people arrive on the platform and the same thing happens again: another train

pulls up, people get on, it pulls away. This happens a few more times.• Christopher feels sick and sweaty and scared: he just wants to go to sleep so he won't

hurt anymore.• In this chapter, Christopher describes the billboard on the far wall of the platform: it's an

advertisement for vacations in Malaysia. Sounds pretty nice.• Christopher keeps his eyes closed for a long time and he notices that the silences

between trains have become longer now.• Finally he looks at his watch and realizes he's been sitting on the bench for five hours.

Time really seems to fly for Chris.• He also notices that Toby is no longer in his pocket. Uh oh.• Christopher looks up and sees a small electronic sign showing when the next trains will

arrive. This makes him feel a little better, knowing "everything had an order and a plan" (227.6).

• He spots Toby down by the rails, with some regular subway mice. He climbs down to get him, but someone shouts to stop him.

• Christopher ignores the shouting, and tries to grab Toby. But the rat will have none of it.• As a train approaches, a man tries to grab Christopher off the tracks. (We're officially

freaking out now.)• Christopher is otherwise engaged: he grabs Toby with both hands and the oh-so-sweet

pet rat bites him on the thumb.• The man picks Christopher up off the tracks just as the train approaches. Whew. But

instead of being grateful, Christopher screams: when the man picked him up, it hurt his shoulder.


• The man yells at Christopher for going onto the tracks, but Christopher says he was just trying to catch his pet rat. Obvi.

• A woman asks if she can help him, and Christopher tells her that he has a Swiss Army knife that can cut a person's fingers off. Hmm. We're guessing this doesn't go over well.

• Eight more trains come and go, and then Christopher decides to finally get on the next one.

• It's noisy on the train and he keeps his eyes closed. Eventually, they arrive at Willesden Junction. That's his stop!

• He doesn't want to talk to any more strangers, knowing it only becomes more and more likely that he'll meet someone dangerous. But he needs help, so he walks up to a man in a shop and asks him how to get to his mother's address.

• The man tells him that he can buy one of the maps of London he sells in the store. Perfect.

• Christopher sits on the floor of the station and looks in the book of maps.• He figures out the way, and then walks all the way there: it takes twenty-seven minutes.

Whew. He made it.• He sits down on the ground in front of his mother's place and waits for her. In the

meantime, it starts raining and he gets really cold. (It's after 11:30PM at this point, after all.)

• Finally, he hears two people approaching – a woman's voice and a man's voice. It's his mother and – you guessed it! – Mr. Shears.

• Christopher stands up and says to his mom, "You weren't in, so I waited for you" (227.82).

• His mother throws her arms around him. Christopher of course doesn't like that so he pushes her away and falls down.

• She apologizes, saying that she forgot about the "no touching" thing. Instead, she holds her hand with her fingers spread.

• She asks him where his father is and Christopher says he thinks he's at home.• Then Christopher gives a brief summary of his trip (or, as we prefer to think of it, his wild

ride). With a little prodding, he also confesses that his father killed Wellington (who, of course, was Mr. Shears' dog, too, before he left his wife).

• They all go inside, and Christopher's mom runs a bath for him. To make himself feel safer, Christopher makes a mental map of their apartment.

• She gives Toby some food and water. Meanwhile, Christopher gets into the bath, which is warm and nice.

• Christopher's mother comes into the bathroom to talk some more. In particular, she wants to know why he never wrote her any letters.

• Christopher explains that his father told him that she was dead this whole time.• Wait for it –• Yep! She's every bit as horrified and saddened as you can imagine she would be.• She wants to hold Christopher's hand, but he won't let her, and she says that's okay.• Christopher gets out of the bath, puts on some of his mother's clothes, and heats himself

up some tomato soup.• A policeman shows up at the apartment, and says he has to speak with Christopher.• Christopher's mother argues, saying he's been through enough, but the policeman

insists.• The policeman asks Christopher why he ran away from home, and Christopher tells the

honest truth: because his father killed Wellington.• Then the policeman asks if he would like to go back to his father or stay with his mother.

It's his call.• Christopher wants to stay and his mom is fine with that: this makes Christopher really

happy.• Okay, then. The policeman says that if his father shows up, they can call the police.


• At 2:31am, Christopher wakes up because people are shouting. One of the voices is his father's. Uh oh.

• A big argument ensues between Christopher's mother, Christopher's father, and Mr. Shears.

• His mother is (obviously) really mad that his father told Christopher she was dead. But his father wants some recognition for having taken care of him all this time.

• His dad insists on speaking to him, so Christopher gets his Swiss Army knife ready. Again – just in case.

• Dad comes in the room and apologizes again and again… and again. He's crying.• Christopher is frightened and doesn't respond at all (but at least he doesn't stab him).• Mr. Shears calls the police and they come take his father away.• Christopher has a recurring dream in which a virus has killed almost everyone on earth.

(We think we've seen that movie…)• Sometimes it's a daydream, but tonight is one of the nights he dreams it while he's

asleep.• The virus isn't a normal virus, but one that's transmitted by "the meaning of something

an infected person says and the meaning of what they do with their faces when they say it" (229.2). (Okay, we take it back about the movie… this is way different.)

• Of course, Christopher would have no danger of catching such a virus.• Eventually (in his dream), the only people left on earth are the people like him. Each of

them likes to be alone, and Christopher can walk around freely and do whatever he wants.

• A nightmare to some, but a dream to Chris.• At breakfast the next morning, Mr. Shears and Christopher's mom get into a little tiff

about who long Christopher can stay with them. (Christopher, of course, hears the whole thing.)

• That day, she takes Christopher to go buy some clothes and a toothbrush, but there are too many people around. He starts screaming and she has to take him home.

• At home, Christopher hides in the spare room because he's scared of Mr. Shears.• When his mother comes home, Christopher tells her that he has to go back home (to his

dad's) to take his Math A levels next week. She'll have to take him, because he's scared of his father.

• She's very surprised – and impressed – but says it won't be possible to take him back.• Late that night, at around 2:00AM, Christopher can't sleep, so he goes for a walk

outside. He likes it because it's quieter than usual outside.• His mother comes running after him, totally freaked out, and makes him promise never

to leave the apartment again without her.• And now for something completely different: Christopher's mother loses her job.• When Christopher reminds her he has to go home to take his A levels, she tells him she

can't think about all that right now and that he should just lay off.• He realizes he might not be able to take the exam, and feels a terrible pain in his chest –

kind of like when the one he had when he was on the train platform.• The next morning, he stares out the window at the passing cars. He sees five red cars in

a row (which would mean it's a Good Day) and four yellow cars in a row (which would mean it's a Black Day) – very confusing. Since he can stare out the window as long as he wants, the system no longer works. Hmm.

• That afternoon, his mother tells him she called the school and arranged for him to take the Math A levels next year.

• Um, not cool, mom.• He starts screaming and his chest really hurts – he's really, very pissed. In fact, with all

this, Christopher stops eating.• The following day, he takes a radio and tunes it between two stations so all he can hear

is white noise. He turns it up really loud and puts it up to his head until it hurts enough that it drowns out the pain in his chest. Well, that's one strategy.


• Mr. Shears comes home drunk and wakes Christopher up to say things like, "You think you're so fucking clever, don't you? Don't you ever, ever think about other people for one second, eh?" (233.48).

• Christopher's mother wakes up and takes him away, apologizing to Christopher.• The next morning, she packs a couple of suitcases, and she and Christopher drive back

to Swindon.• Christopher says he doesn't want to live with his father and he also reminds her that

tomorrow is the day he's supposed to take his exam.• In response, his mother spills some heavy beans: she says the reason they're leaving is

that she's worried Mr. Shears might hurt her.• Smart lady to get the heck out of there.• Back in Swindon, his father comes home and he and Christopher's mom begin to argue.

That's Christopher's cue to go upstairs, groan, and bangs things to drown out all that noise.

• Christopher's mother comes up to apologize, saying she's trying to do the right thing.• But all Christopher cares about is taking his A levels. He compares the way he feels to

"pressing your thumbnail against a radiator when it's really hot and the pain starts and it makes you want to cry" (233.86).

• Christopher's mother makes him some dinner, but he doesn't eat it. He doesn't sleep that night either.

• The next day, Mrs. Shears sees Christopher with his mother, and she says some mean things to his mom. Man, adults are kind of cruel in this book, aren't they?

• Christopher's mother drives him to school, and meets Siobhan.• Christopher tells her he can't think straight because he hasn't been eating or sleeping.

But Siobhan says he can still take his Maths A levels if he wants.• He knows his brain really isn't working right, but he still wants to take the test.• During the exam, he has a really hard time thinking, and it makes him want to "hit

somebody or stab them" with his Swiss Army knife (233.107). Luckily, there's no one around to stab (someone really needs to confiscate this knife…).

• That night, at their house, Christopher screams when his father comes home, but his mother tells him he's safe.

• Christopher goes into the garden and stares at the sky. His father comes out, too, and stands there for a long time looking at Christopher. Finally, he punches the fence and leaves.

• The next day, he continues the A level test.• That night, a taxi pulls up to the house and Mr. Shears gets out, carrying a cardboard

box full of Christopher's mother's stuff. He throws it onto the lawn, gets into his car (the one that Christopher's mother had taken) and drives away.

• This is clearly not an amicable split• Sure enough, Christopher's mother runs after the car yelling obscenities.• Mrs. Shears watches this from her window: that's some definite schadenfreude.• The next day, Christopher finishes the exam. Immediately after he's done, his chest

doesn't hurt anymore and he can breathe again. Whew – that's some major post-test relief. But he still feels sick, because he's worried he didn't do very well on the exam.

• Christopher's father comes to the house to ask how things went on the exam. Christopher is still scared, but with some comfort from his mom, he tells him he's not sure how it went: his brain wasn't working right.

• His father says "Thank you," in a really sweet and emotional way and then tells Christopher how proud he is of him. Let's savor this moment.

• The following week, Christopher's father tells his mom she has to move out of the house. Problem is, she doesn't have any money to rent an apartment (especially now that she doesn't have a job again).


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude

• Christopher asks his mom if his father is going to go to prison for killing Wellington. Because, you know, if he did, they could live in his house. Unfortunately for Christopher, his mom says no, he isn't going to jail.

• His mother manages to get a job working as a cashier. She also gets a prescription for antidepressants: they help with her depression but sometimes make her feel dizzy.

• She and Christopher move into a very small apartment with a shared bathroom. Christopher hates it, and sometimes he wets himself if his mom is using the bathroom.

• He isn't allowed to be home alone, so when his mother is at work he has to go to his dad's house. When he's there, he locks himself into his room and refuses to speak to his father.

• His father tries to talk to him through the door, and sometimes just sits quietly on the other side of it. At least he's trying – we have to give him some credit for that.

• On a side note, Toby the rat dies. That's all we hear about that.• Christopher's father says he'll do whatever it takes to get Christopher to trust him again.

He even suggests that they make the whole trust-building thing a project.• Then, in an awesome twist, he shows Christopher that he's bought him a puppy. Puppy!• The dog comes over and sits in Christopher's lap. He names him Sandy. Good call.• While they're sitting with Sandy, Christopher's dad says, "Christopher, I would never,

ever do anything to hurt you" (233.155).• We believe him.• The results from Christopher's exam arrive. Drumroll please…• He gets an A! Which, if you remember, is the best possible grade. Not too shabby, Chris.

He's pretty psyched about it, too.• Some time later, his mother gets the flu and he has to stay with his father for a few days.

But now he feels safe there again because Sandy sleeps in his bed with him. Nothing a little puppy cuddling can't cure.

• He makes plans to take the A level "Further Maths" exam next year, and the Physics A levels the year after that, and he's pretty sure he'll get an A grade in each of those, too.

• Then he plans to move to a different town to go to university, get a "First Class Honours Degree," and become a scientist (233.169). This kid dreams big.

• The reason he knows he can do all of this is because he went to London on his own and found his mother, he solved the mystery called "Who Killed Wellington?," and he wrote a book. And "that means [he] can do anything" (233.170).

• Indeed you can, Chris.

Character Analysis

Christopher John Francis Boone

Christopher’s defining characteristic is his inability to imagine the thoughts and feelings of other people. In other words, he cannot empathize. Because he cannot imagine what another person is thinking, he cannot tell when a person speaks sarcastically, or determine a person’s mood by his facial expression. This inability to empathize is one of the most prominent features of autism-related disorders, and this characteristic as well as a few others—Christopher’s difficulty understanding metaphors, his fixation on certain topics, and his computer-like ability with numbers—strongly suggest that Christopher has a mild form of autism. This condition has made him extraordinarily gifted in math and science but severely underequipped socially, leading Christopher to frequently misunderstand other people, especially his father. As a result, he greatly dislikes social interaction and avoids it when possible.


Although Christopher does not mention autism by name anywhere in the novel, we see that he recognizes the ways he differs from most people and feels keenly aware of these differences. He says, for instance, that although most people enjoy chatting, he hates it because he finds it pointless. He doesn’t see social interaction as an end in itself, thus talking to another person about an unimportant topic serves no purpose. He lives as an outsider as a result. He has very few friends and doesn’t trust other people. He feels content to read in his room by himself, and he even fantasizes about being the only person alive on the planet. Christopher also recognizes and takes pride in the strengths that result from his condition, such as his talent for math and his remarkably accurate memory. His memory allows him to recall an entire event in extraordinary detail, and he uses it to navigate social interactions by memorizing a chart of facial expressions and the emotions associated with them.

Christopher shows a growing desire for independence throughout the novel, and through much of the novel we watch as Christopher gains the confidence to assert himself. He shows his yearning for independence in a few ways, rebelling against his father by disobeying his orders, for instance, and fantasizing about doing whatever he likes and taking care of himself in his recurring dream of being one of the few people left on Earth. He also begins planning to go to college, and to live on his own there. As Christopher overcomes the various trials he faces, he gains confidence in his abilities and gradually becomes more self-sufficient. This process culminates in a difficult journey to London that Christopher undertakes by himself, a feat that represents a significant triumph for him since he has never traveled by himself. At the end of the novel, Christopher feels he has overcome his challenges, and he feels ready to be on his own.

Theme

Independence

Christopher’s goal in the novel resembles that of many teenage protagonists in coming-of-age stories: to become independent and find his role in the world. Because of his condition, Christopher cannot be as independent as he would like. Since he has trouble understanding other people, dealing with new environments, and making decisions when confronted with an overload of new information, for instance, he has difficulty going places by himself. When he feels frightened or overwhelmed, he has a tendency to essentially shut down, curling himself into a ball and trying to block out the world around him. Christopher, however, still has the typical teenage desire to do what he wants and take care of himself without anyone else telling him what to do. As a result, we see him rebelling against his father in the novel by lying and disobeying his father’s orders. We also see this desire for independence in Christopher’s dream of being one of the few people left on Earth, in which no authority figures are present, and in his planning for college, where he wants to live by himself.

Christopher’s struggle to become independent primarily involves him gaining the self-confidence needed to do things on his own and moving beyond his very rigidly defined comfort zone. Solving Wellington’s murder figures into his efforts to be independent in that it forces Christopher to speak with a number of people he doesn’t know, which he finds uncomfortable, and it gives him confidence in his ability to solve problems on his own. The A-level math test also represents an avenue to independence for Christopher. By doing well on the test, Christopher can use the test to eventually get into college, allowing him to live on his own. Finally, Christopher’s harrowing trip to London serves as his greatest step toward independence. The trip epitomizes everything Christopher finds distressing about the world, such as dealing with social


interactions, navigating new environments, and feeling overloaded with information. By overcoming these obstacles, he gains confidence in his ability to face any challenge on his own.

Subjectivity

Christopher’s condition causes him to see the world in an uncommon way, and much of the novel allows the reader to share Christopher’s unique perspective. For instance, although the novel is a murder mystery, roughly half the chapters in the book digress from this main plot to give us Christopher’s thoughts or feelings on a particular subject, such as physics or the supernatural. To take one example, he tells us about the trouble he has recognizing facial expressions and the difficulty he had as a child understanding how other people respond to a given situation, explaining his preference for being alone that we see throughout the novel. As the story progresses, the book gradually departs from the murder-mystery plot and focuses more on Christopher’s character, specifically his reaction to the revelation that his mother never died but rather left the family to live with another man while his father lied about the situation. Throughout these events, the reader typically understands more about Christopher’s situation than Christopher does. When Christopher discovers the letters from his mother hidden in his father’s closet, for example, Christopher invents different reasons to explain why a letter from his mother would be dated after her supposed death. The reader, on the other hand, may recognize immediately that his mother never died and Christopher’s father has been lying to him.

Although the reader recognizes that Christopher has an uncommon perspective of the world, the novel suggests that everyone, in fact, has a subjective point of view. By giving detailed explanations of Christopher’s thoughts, the novel allows the reader to empathize with Christopher. Moreover, by pointing out the irrational behaviors of so-called normal people, such as Christopher’s father’s habit of putting his pants on before his socks, the novel implies that Christopher’s eccentricities are actually typical to a degree. As a result, the reader is able to take on Christopher’s perspective as his own and to understand Christopher’s reasons for behaving as he does. Christopher’s point of view loses its strangeness and seems merely unique.

Disorder

Christopher has an urgent need to see the world as orderly, and he has a very low tolerance for disorder. He obsesses over schedules, for instance, and even describes the difficulty he had going on vacation with his parents because they had no routine to follow. Moreover, because Christopher has such difficulty connecting to people on an emotional level, he relies heavily on order and logic to understand and navigate the world. The narration, as a result, frequently veers away from the main storyline to discuss topics, such as physics or even the rate of growth of a pond’s frog population, that have clearly defined and logical rules. When the narration moves back to Christopher’s life, the messiness of the social and emotional lives of Christopher and those around him becomes even more apparent.

Over the course of the novel, Christopher experiences a series of increasingly destabilizing events, such as learning of Mother’s affair and Father’s deceptions, revealing that Christopher’s narrow focus on order at the beginning of the novel


actually keeps him—and the reader—blind to the complex tangle of relationships within his family. This disorder grows increasingly prominent as the story progresses. When Christopher leaves Swindon to find his mother in London, he becomes literally paralyzed at times by the disorder of the massive urban landscape he passes through, which symbolizes the disorder he faces in his family. The novel concludes with the various characters resolving some of their issues, but with their lives remaining essentially as untidy as ever.

Coping with Loss

Each of the major characters endures his share of loss in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. The novel opens with a death: Wellington’s murder, which prompts Christopher to think back on an earlier moment of loss in his life—the death of his mother. At the time, he coped with his mother’s death by accepting that his mother was gone and moving on, in spite of the fact that he could not say goodbye before she passed. Later, he often remembers her in his writing, sharing detailed memories of her manner of speaking, dress, and temperament. Father also copes with the loss of his wife, Christopher’s mother, though he does so by breaking off contact with her and cutting her out of his—and Christopher’s—life, telling Christopher she is dead. Father’s feelings of loss arise again when Mrs. Shears ends their relationship, and he works through his loss violently by murdering Wellington, effectively setting the events of the novel in motion. Ultimately, the book ends as it began, with a death, this time of Christopher’s pet rat, Toby. Christopher copes by acknowledging that Toby lived a very long life for a rat, and he rejoices in the arrival of a new puppy, Sandy.


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