Reading Response: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

This book is written in the perspective of Christopher Boone, a 15-year old with Asperger’s syndrome, who tries to figure out who stabbed his neighbor’s poodle to death. With the complicated relationship between his parents and the truth behind the dog’s murder, the author, Mark Haddon, doesn’t fail to incorporate the importance of simplicity and knowing the truth throughout the novel.

For a guy like Christopher truth is so important that the fear of not knowing can cause physical pain and sometimes illness. For example, Christopher always has a wristwatch on him because it gives him comfort to know what time it is. This shows how maybe it’s something as little as the time, but it still reflects how it’s better to know the truth than to go on an assumption or lie. This comes into play with an even bigger lie, further into the book. As Christopher is looking for a book of his in his father’s room, he finds proof of his father telling him something that doesn’t add up with what he found. He then figures out that his father has been lying to him for a very long time, and just the very thought of that makes him sick, literally (he vomits right then and there). Although his syndrome makes the scene go to extremes, it still expresses the same lesson when you tell a lie and make someone cry. It still shows the importance of the truth, and the often unnecessary act of lying.

This book also shows that when you keep things simple there’s less room for drama or problems. For example, towards the beginning of the book, Christopher states, “I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking.” This shows how when things are simple you don’t feel that drag of knowing you have to figure it out, therefore it goes without saying that simpler is better. Christopher then follows that statement with, “dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies.” This shows how if something, like a dog, was unnecessarily complicated it would most likely lead to things like lies, and that will eventually lead to trouble. And nobody wants trouble. So Asperger’s syndrome or not, he still makes a good point in wanting things to be simple.

All in all, truth and simplicity in life is the way to go, even though the author had a unique way of portraying it in this story’s circumstances. This motto could save someone from lots of difficulties in life. But you don’t need me to tell you that. You’ll eventually figure it out.