Thursday, January 11, 2018

BLOG ONE


Describe the character of Christopher.  Explain his likes/dislikes, personality, and relationship with other characters.  Provide two quotations that demonstrate his “voice.”  Explain what these quotes reveal about his personality.    Is he an “unreliable” or “reliable” narrator?

74 comments:

  1. Brelyn McCarron
    Mrs. Gilson
    1st hour
    1/17/18
    Blog one 1-83
    Christopher is a 15 year old boy a little different than others. He has asperger's syndrome, this comes with many different little quirks about him. Like how he is obsessed with numbers, especially prime numbers, they are his favorite. This obsession makes him very talented in math, in fact he is in a higher class than anyone in his school. Other things about him is that he tends to be a little more socially awkward than most kids. He dislikes talking to people he does not know because he does not understand facial expressions. “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I did not understand what someone was saying”(Haddon 2). Just because he may not understand he still tries to and works really hard at it, even though it may make him frustrated.
    One very important quality about Christopher is that when he is determined to do something, nothing will stand in his way. Even when he promised his father he would not continue his detective work he kept going on, but also tried to keep his promise to his father by not asking too many detective questions. Another wonderful thing about this young boy is he never lies, he claims he is unable to. Although he does not like to be asked a lot of questions because it overwhelms him, so he sometimes shuts down and it may look like he is trying to hide something. Another quirk about him is he hates when people touch him. The thing is that he is not different than most of us because some of us share these little quirks with Christopher, he just may have more than others. Like how he hates jokes, “This will not be a funny book. I can not tell jokes because I don’t understand them”(Haddon 8). Although he always tries his best to figure them out because he is so determined.
    Christopher is a reliable narrator for many reasons. He never lies and likes to have things precise and right always. Another reason why I think he is a reliable source is because he is a young boy who you can tell is always trying to do the right thing. Even when he may have gotten in trouble he still writes it in his story and is honest in his book. We learn that he is just a boy who is curious, just like almost every other 15 year old boy out their. He tends to be bad at showing emotions and reading them, but always tries to understand people and their facial expressions. He explains that in the book, he points out these flaws and does not try to hide them. All of these points prove he is a reliable narrator and will continue to be throughout the book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christopher is a very odd character in many different ways. He is very smart but clueless at the same time, and sensitive and insensitive. For example he cares so much about the dog that was killed, but hits humans. Christopher is very interested in space and the solar system. He knows all of the prime numbers to a ridiculous number. He dislikes things like the colors brown and yellow and is not a fan of people. “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 7,507”(Haddon 2). This quotation shows how he likes very odd things. Because of Christopher’s personality, he has had troubles with relationships.
    Throughout the book Christopher desires independence. Christopher has a loving relationship with his Dad, but it is very tense at the same time. He is not a very outgoing person so does not have very many relationships. “I knew that it meant "happy," like when I'm reading about the Apollo space missions, or when I am still awake at three or four in the morning and I can walk up and down the street and pretend that I am the only person in the world”(Haddon 2). This just shows that he doesn’t have many relationships because he likes isolation and being alone. Christopher has many different thoughts running through his mind making people think he is not reliable.
    I believe Christopher is a reliable narrator because he is just sharing his point of view on things and there is nothing wrong with that. He can’t control whether he is right or wrong and he just says what he knows. I don’t think he is just making things up to make the story seem better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christopher Boone has an unique personality due to his severe autism. Christopher is very adamant about what he likes and what he does not like. Christopher strongly dislikes when anybody touches him, and this is clear when the police officer grabs his arm and Christopher states, “I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8). The police officer did not know of his autism, so did not understand why he acted this way. He was sent to jail until his father bailed him out because afterall Christopher did not really mean to hurt the police officer he just could not handle the police officer touching him. Christopher was very short to anger when something uncomfortable happened, but a few things always made him happy. One of these things was dogs. Christopher has always loved dogs, especially his neighbor’s dog, Wellington. At the beginning of the book, Christopher saw Wellington laying on the lawn with a garden fork pierced through him. Christopher quickly ran across the yard to try to help Wellington. His neighbor, Mrs. Shears, figured that Christopher had killed Wellington, and she questioned him as to why he was holding it. Christopher didn’t know how to answer, “This was a difficult question. It was something I wanted to do. I like dogs. It made me sad to see that the dog was dead” (Haddon 7). Christopher was really trying to help, but he did not know how to explain himself so he came off as guilty. Christopher has a rather unique personality, but when he does something wrong he usually does not have an intention for his actions to hurt anyone.
    Christopher Boone does not allow himself to be close with many people, but he seems to have a very close relationship with both his father and Siobhan. Siobhan is an individual at Christopher's school that helps him everyday. In the first 83 pages of the book, Siobhan seems to be the only person that he trusts enough to interact with at school. Siobhan tries to help Christopher better understand his emotions and encourages him to pursue what he loves, including writing the mystery book and doing A level math. Christopher believes that Siobhan understands him better than his own father when he says, “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what is is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this” (Haddon 29). His father tries to do all he can for Christopher, but it is hard when Christopher needs so much guidance. His dad seems to be exhausted from the amount of reinforcement Christopher needs. His father is very good to him, but he is not as patient as Siobhan. His father “was a more level headed person, which means he didn’t get angry as quickly and he didn’t shout as often” (Haddon 82). His father told him to not snoop around for any more evidence of Wellington’s death, but Christopher found a loophole in his rules and continued. Little things like this frustrate his father. Christopher only really has two close relationships in his life including Siobhan and his father, and both relationships are very different.
    Christopher Boone is a reliable narrator. He makes it very clear throughout the book that he never tells lies because they confuse him. He does not understand how people tell lies because if he tried to, all of the “made up world” would confuse him too much. Christopher says, “I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies” (Haddon 19). Christopher tells the reader multiple times that he does not lie. Because of this I believe that he is a reliable narrator. Although the story will only be told from is point of view, it will be completely accurate information coming from him. Others may see the story differently, but the story shows what actually happened through his point of view.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy with Asperger’s syndrome. This does not make him “weird” kid though. Christopher is very intelligent and confident. He can list all prime numbers up to 7,057 and is in the highest math class for his age. This shows his confidence as well because he can do these things. Christopher says, “I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057” (Haddon 2). He shows how intelligent he is and even with Asperger’s syndrome he can be a very smart individual. Although Christopher can be very startled at things. Some things can irritate him and make him cause a raucous. “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8). He got very startled by the policeman and it bothers him when others are harsh and strict. He also hates the colors yellow and brown just because they bother him. Christopher can also not tell jokes because he thinks he is not good at telling them.
    Two people that have an impact on Christopher are his father and Siobhan. They both help him grow and cope with his syndrome. Christopher’s father has a big role in his life since his mother is dead. His father is loving to Christopher but can get frustrated because of his behavior. He wants Christopher to follow his dreams and be the best person he can. Like Christopher’s father, Siobhan also helps Christopher deal with his emotions and encourages Christopher to follow his dreams. She is very supportive of Christopher for writing a mystery book and explaining how he feels.
    I think that Christopher is a reliable narrator. He explains in the book that he never lies and he is not capable to do so. He shows that telling the truth is the best and will get you far in life. We get to understand his emotions and what it would be like to live in his shoes. We get to see through a different lens in this book and knowing that the narrator is telling the truth is relieving and gives us a better experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Josh Janssen

    Christopher is a 15 year boy that has aspergers. He admires the color red, loves math, and savors astrology. He despises the color yellow, abhors when people laugh at him, and he does not understand facial expressions. Christopher has a color system to tell if his day will be a good day or bad day based on how many cars he sees in a row of red or yellow. If he sees five cars in a row with the color red, it's going to be a good day. If he sees 3 cars in a row with the color yellow, he calls it a “black day.” A “black day” to him is when someone is having a terrible day. When it is a “black day” he talks to no one, and sits in a corner of the classroom and reads.
    Christopher is also a genius at math, he knows every prime number to 7,507. When asked to multiply 251 times 864, Christopher replied, “And I thought about this and I said ‘216,864’. Because it was a really sum because you just multiply 864 x 1,000, which is 864,000 . Then you divide by 4 which is 216,000, and that’s 250 x 864. Then you just add another 864 on to it and get 251 x 864. And that's 216, 864.” This quote reveals that Christopher is talented at math. When Christopher was told that he likes numbers because there are straightforward answers, he thought “... Mr Jeavons doesn't understand numbers ... Mr. Jeavons was wrong and numbers are sometimes very complicated and not very straightforward at all.” This quote reveals that he is reflective of what people tell him. Christopher had a teacher named Siobhan that he is close with. He trusts her and she is a mother figure to him. Christopher is also somewhat close with his father, but he sometimes does not understand his father in some of his actions and facial expressions.
    Christopher is a unreliable narrator because has aspergers, which affects his mind and his way of thinking. Because of this, Christopher does not understand social cues or facial expressions. Asperger's affects Christopher to make sure he is usually logical, but he is not always logical. Christopher uses a system of color cars to see if his day will be a good day or bad day. “Mr. Jeavons said that I was a clearly logical person, so he was surprised that I should think like this because it wasn't very logical,” shows the reader that even if someone tells him that he is illogical sometimes, that he does not change. Christopher is a unreliable narrartor because he has a disorder that affects his way of thinking and his moods.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Christopher is a curious, smart, and truthful young man. He is very clever, but at some points and in some situations he can be very clueless and sensitive. Christopher likes the color red and math. He dreams of being an astronaut. He also enjoys murder mystery novels as well as prime numbers. Christopher does not like the color yellow or brown and hates being touched by others. Christopher cannot tell a lie and does not like being told what to do. “I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057” (Haddon 2). Christopher has a really good memory, and has good dedication/motivation when working towards a goal or want that he has. Christopher has many unique likes and dislikes, but his relationships with other could be considered even more unique.
    Christopher’s relationships with other characters really depends on who he is talking to. When he is talking to Siobhan, a teacher who helps him at school, he is very relaxed and open because he can trust her. He feels very comfortable around her and is not afraid to tell her anything. Christopher is the same way with his dad, except they fight fairly often. Their fights are usually for the safety and protection of Christopher and for keeping him out of trouble or teaching him valuable lessons. In the end though, both Christopher and his dad love each other dearly. “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (Haddon 35). Christopher does not like strangers because he doesn’t know anything about them or if he can trust him. Trust is the key in his relationships. He wants to make sure he is safe and that he fully knows the other person in his relationships. Christopher is a very trustworthy person himself and can never tell a lie to anyone, which makes him a reliable narrator.
    Christopher is just 15 years old, but can be seen as a reliable narrator because of his personality and history of trust. Sometimes age can make a person an unreliable narrator, mainly because that person is not mature, but this is not the case with Christopher. He has shown through all his life and in all his relationships that he is a reliable narrator and very trustworthy. Christopher never tells a lie and looks at trust as a major key in all his relationships. He tells the truth no matter how harsh it is or how rude it may come across as. “I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies” (Haddon 19). We can see that Christopher is a reliable narrator because we know that he can’t lie to us. We know that the whole book will be truthful and that we can trust him and whatever he is saying. Christopher is a reliable narrator because we know that is book will be truthful and factual. Despite his age, Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his personality trait of being truthful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Christopher is a teenager with an autism spectrum condition. For example, he does not like to be touched and strongly dislike yellow. Even though his actions seem quite different than others, Christopher’s thoughts are logical and he always looks at questions in a specific way. “Wellington was therefore most likely to have been killed by someone known to him. If it was (c) I only knew one person who didn’t like Mrs. Shears, and that was Mr. Shears, who knew Wellington very well indeed”(Haddon 42). From this quote, the reader can see that Christopher finally makes a conclusion about who killed the dog after talked to the people on the street. The idea of prime suspect Mr. Shear is not from nowhere. He carefully analysed every possible answer from a decisive question and infer that Mr. Shear, who hated Mrs. Shear and wanted to make her sad, has the biggest possibility to kill the dog. The readers are surprised with his detailed inference and are attracted to his strong personality.
    Although most of the book describes his own psychological process, it shows his relationship with other characters from his point of view, especially his father and Siobhan. “I decided that I was going to find out who killed Willington even though Father had told me to stay out of other people’s business”(Haddon 28). In this quote, Christopher determine to figure out who killed the dog even though his father tries to stop him. It shows that Christopher is stubborn and does not obey his father. Since his father cares about him and does not want him to get into trouble, he ask his son to stay away from this event. However, Christopher is a person who once make up his own mind, no one can stop him. Their relationship looks exactly like a teenage disobey his father and always want to do things in his own way. That is what makes Christopher special.
    The narrator is reliable since he repeats the sentence “I never tell lies” and he does. No matter he speaks the truth or tells white lies, he always talks about what he thinks and do what he want to. Indeed, his childish honesty amazed the readers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy who thinks very logically. It is if his mind is wired to think and reason with mathematics and science. Part of this is because of his Asperger’s syndrome and another part of this is because that is what makes sense to him. It is really hard for him to understand people because they use metaphors or humor in their conversations. For example, when he talks with Mrs. Alexandra. Christopher follows the rules precisely and does his best to go through with them. For example, when Christopher runs into Mrs. Alexandra and her dog outside of a store, she asks him if he is shy and Christopher replys “I’m not allowed to talk to you” (Haddon 55). Christopher ends up chatting with her because in his mind talking and chatting are different because he describes chatting as disconnected way of making conversations with people. It is difficult for christopher to know what other people are thinking. Christopher carries around a paper with face and depending on the paper it explains to him what other people are currently expressing feelings. Christopher is a strong-willed and determined character that is always searching for answers
    It is difficult for Christopher to understand other people especially since it is hard for other to understand him. Christopher struggles with behavioral problems, this is a side effect of his Asperger’s syndrome. Even though Christopher is extremely brilliant, he struggle tremendously socially. In school setting people would call out to him “special needs! Special needs!” But Christopher just ignores them and wanted to prove them wrong. He works extremely hard on mathematics and sciences that he is accepted in level A courses that are meant for people who are a couple of grade above. Christopher is extremely particular for example in the morning on the way to school, he determines what kind of day he will have based on how what type of cars he passes and what color they are. For example if he sees 5 yellow cars on the way to school it will be referred to as a Black Day. On Black Days Christopher will not interact with anyone and won’t talk to anyone. When he sees 5 red cars on the way to school than it will be a Super Good Day. This particularness frustrates Mr. Boone because he does not understand Christopher the way Shibon does. To Mr. Boone, Christopher is crossing a line and Christopher needs a reality check. As Christopher was telling his father who he thinks his prime suspects are, father interrupted and sternly said, “I told you to keep your nose out of other people’s business” (Haddon 49). Even though Christopher’s father told him this, he goes undercover to find out who the killer of Willington is.
    Personally I think that Christopher is a reliable narrative because he never tells a lie. I think that Christopher will relay information about this mystery without even knowing that he is giving away vital information. I think that the information presented to him will all add up in the end but until then it is going to be in little pieces that he will not understand until all the information is put in front of him. I think that he is also reliable because he is not biased, Christopher is open to all idea and that is an important characteristic in investigators.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jake Gryboski
    Blog 1
    Christopher is an only child who struggles with Aspergers. Due to his condition he is not able to comprehend complex human emotion and understand social norms. Christopher’s way of thinking is very concrete, he excels in certain things like math and physics. But he is not able to complete abstract tasks that involve creativity and independency. An example of Christopher’s concrete thinking would be his love for police officers. Christopher states, “ I like the police. They have uniforms and numbers and you know what they are meant to be doing” (Haddon 6). Christopher is explaining that the reason he likes police officers is because they are organized, easy to identify, and you know what they are supposed to do. This makes it easy for Christopher to identify the social context of the situation.
    Since Christopher is unable to sense social cues he is often misunderstood and has a hard time making friends. This lack of understanding causes him to not know when people are mad at him, to not understand jokes, and to no know what is socially acceptable. As a result of this Christopher is only close with his father, and his counselor Siobhan. Both of these people are full time caretakers, therefore his relationship with them is a nurturing, role model type relationship rather than a friend. Besides relationships that are a necessity for Christopher like his father and counselor, he does not like to talk to people. Here is his reasoning, “I do not like talking to strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand” (Haddon 34). In this quote Christopher explains how he does not need social interaction, strangers confuse him and he would rather be left alone.
    I feel that the narrator is an unreliable source because he does not physically have Aspergers; he is just basing his story off of what it would be like to have it. The author may be capable to give some insight on the daily struggles of Aspergers, but since he does not suffer from this disorder he is ineligible to tell what it is like to live life with Aspergers. For these reasons I feel that the author is unable to truly explain what it is like to have Aspergers on a day to day basis.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fifteen year old, Christopher Boone, has Asperger’s Syndrome and is different than other kids his age. He loves math and science, thinks in a very logical way, and is sensitive to sound and touch. Christopher is very intelligent which feeds into his desire to become an astronaut when he is older. Besides knowing every prime number up to 7,057, Christopher is also able to multiply 251 and 864 in his head with ease. “Because it was a really easy sum because you just multiply 864 X 1,000, which is 864,000. Then you divide it by 4, which is 216,000, and that’s 250 X 864. Then you just add another 864 onto it to get 251 X 864” (Haddon 66). Remarkably, Christopher’s mind is able to break down a difficult problem into smaller parts in order to efficiently come to a conclusion. However, this ability is only seen when Christopher is presented with a math or science problem because Christopher genuinely enjoys learning math and science. Christopher is also very logical which is evident from his explanation of The Monty Hall Problem. He is able to break down the problem into a way that is easier to comprehend because it is a math problem. Christopher says, “So if you change, 2 times out of 3 you get a car. And if you stick, you only get a car 1 time out of 3. And this shows that intuition can sometimes get things wrong… But logic can help you work out the right answer” (Haddon 65). Throughout the book, Christopher continually relies on logic to solve problems. Lastly, Christopher is sensitive to sound and touch. Whenever a noise is too much for him to handle, Christopher crouches down on the ground with his hands pressed against his ears. Similarly, he will begin to cry and scream at even the slightest touch. Another aspect of Christopher’s personality is that he hates the colors brown and yellow but loves the color red. He even uses the prevalence of these colors on the drive to school to dictate if it will be a good or bad day for him. As the book continues, Christopher grows and is able to step out of his comfort zone a little every day (if it is a good day, of course).
    Daily, there are only two people that Christopher interacts - his father and Siobhan. However, as the book continues, Christopher can be seen interacting with other people (like Mrs. Anderson) on what he considers to be good day. Normally, Christopher does not interact with many people because he cannot understand them and does not trust them. “I find people confusing. This is for two main reasons. The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking without using any words… The second main reason is that people often talk using metaphors” (Haddon 14-15). In order for Christopher to understand people, they need to explain what they are thinking in great detail. Otherwise, Christopher will get frustrated and walk away. Christopher’s interactions with his father and Siobhan go well because both of them explain exactly what they are thinking, and he trusts both of them. Trying to guess what actually happened is frustrating for Christopher. This is also why Christopher cannot tell lies because “if I think about something which didn’t happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn’t happen” (Haddon 19). In order for Christopher to understand what happened, he has to consider all the possibilities of what didn’t happen which is impossible because there are an infinite number of things that didn’t happen.
    I believe Christopher is a reliable narrator because he is unable to tell lies and doesn’t like when things are not in order. Throughout the book, the reader is reminded that Christopher cannot tell lies because there are too many different lies that could be told which confuses Christopher. If the whole book he is writing is based on lies, Christopher would be too confused to continue writing. Additionally, because Christopher likes everything to be precise and accurate, I believe each piece of information he is writing is true. Even though Christopher has Asperger's syndrome, he still understands that lying is never the right thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Christopher John Francis Boone, a fifteen year old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, has a very unique and unpredictable personality. It is impossible for Christopher to lie because it just confuses him. He does not really understand people, he struggles for social acceptance, and he dislikes jokes and metaphors because he can not comprehend them. He is sensitive and hates when people make fun of him or touch him. He is very ambitious and dreams of becoming an astronaut. His remarkable memory allows him to recall entire events in extraordinary detail. He loves reading mystery books and doing detective work. One essential part of his personality is that he is very logical and he knows “all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057” (Haddon 2). He is extremely mathematically and scientifically gifted and enjoys showing others how much he knows. Christopher has difficulty trusting others and oftentimes overreacts to situations, so those who take care of him must be cautious with what they say and do.
    At this point in the novel, the two people that Christopher has the best relationship with are his father, Ed Boone, and a staff member at his school, Siobhan. Ed Boone is a single father so he sees to all of Christopher’s daily needs. He knows all of Christopher’s habits and understands the way he works. Ed knows that Christopher loves math and science, so he advocates for him to take the Maths A level. He also tries hard to let Christopher live his life in whatever way works for him, but when Ed finds out that his son is trying to solve mystery surrounding the death of Mrs. Shears’ dog, Wellington, he becomes unusually angry and impatient. Siobhan is a very even-handed mentor who works to expand Christopher’s horizons socially and academically. She is one of the few people that Christopher actually trusts and the only person that he always listens to. She has a special way of explaining things that makes complete sense to him. Siobhan explains to Christopher that his book “should begin with something to grab people’s attention” (Haddon 5). Siobhan is patient, and not only encourages Christopher’s writing, but also gives him tips as he is writing this novel about his experiences.
    Some people might claim that Christopher is a unreliable narrator because he has Asperger’s, however, I believe that this makes him even more reliable. Because he is incapable of telling lies, he is completely trustworthy and truthful. Christopher is an outsider and does not really understand emotion; therefore, he does not get caught up in all the drama in life, but simply relays the facts. He is very curious and asks many questions so that we get the whole picture. Thanks to Christopher’s amazing memory, he is able to clearly recall all of these events in great detail.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agreed with you on many of your points. You really expanded on your ideas and I like the quotes you used.

      Delete
  14. Christopher is a curious, smart, persistent, 15 year old boy with asperger's disease. Christopher is very bad at reading people's faces and is very socially awkward. He is raised by his father because his mother passed away when he was younger. Christopher is writing this book for his teacher, siobhan.
    Christopher loves math because he considers himself better than most others at it. He also loves prime numbers, because all other numbers bother him. Christopher hates certain colors, and he hates being touched or yelled at because he says “it makes me scared that they will hit me or touch me and I do not know what is going to happen” (Haddon 4). This shows that christopher is a gentle person who needs people to handle him calmly.
    Christopher says, “I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them” (Haddon 12). This quote is a good way to understand how christophers mind works and how he looks at the world. Christopher says this because you start with all the numbers layed out, and then you take out the non prime numbers, just like in life, you remove things to make them clearer.
    Many other characters in the book often get annoyed with him because he asks a lot of questions. Besides Christopher’s Father, who has raised him alone, his most important relationship in the book is with siobhan, his teacher that he trusts very much. Christopher is a reliable narrator because he explains to us in the beginning that he can never tell lie.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy with Asperger’s syndrome. Christopher is much more intelligent than most people his age, he knows all the prime numbers up to 7,057 as well as all countries in the world and their capitals.Christopher loves space and hopes to become an astronaut one day. At meals Christopher cannot have any of his food touch or he will not eat it. Christopher also struggles with things being out of order. When Mrs. Shears was coming over and cooking for him and his father, she would move the furniture around. Christopher ended up making a map of where all the furniture belonged, so when she moved it he could move it back to its original place once she left. Christopher despises the colors brown and yellow, he also hates being touched and getting yelled at. Christopher struggles with recognizing people’s facial expressions and understanding when they are joking. He is only close with two people. His father and Siobhan. He struggles with strangers and usually does not talk to them.
    “ I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But is is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies”(Haddon 19). Christopher is a very literal person. This is why he cannot tell a lie or understand metaphors. He never sugar coats things and is always straight to the point. He believes that white lies are alright to tell because they are not a lie they are telling the truth but leaving some of the truth out. “The policeman looked at me for a while without speaking. Then he said, ‘I am arresting you for assaulting a police officer.’ This made me feel a lot calmer because it is what policemen say on television and in films”(Haddon 9). Christopher likes when things are in order and normal. He is uncomfortable with strange things and strangers. The known things are what keep Christopher happy. He likes math and physics and he cannot stand jokes. Math and physics both have certain answers and come to a conclusion. He does not like jokes because they are not real and have more than one meaning to them which makes him confused.
    I think that Christopher is an unreliable narrator because he does not understand things fully. He also will not consider others’ opinions. He cannot tell a lie which is good when getting the facts but not being able to joke around and relate to your audience can make people not what to listen to what you have to say. Christopher only looks at situations from his point of view, he does not consider other options which is a flaw when telling a story.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Blog One
    Christopher is a fifteen year old boy who is unique from others, but embraces his differences despite having Aspergers. He enjoys mathematics and has a curiosity for the prime numbers. Christopher’s math talent ascends him above everyone else in his school, and he is proud this achievement. Through the discovery of his neighbor’s dead dog, Wellington, inside him, a new curiosity strikes and urges him to discover the truth. Although he has many strengths, his weaknesses include the fear of talking to new people and through his mystery solving, I believe that Christopher learns new insights about himself, which allows him to grow as a person. While he is investigating, he goes house to house trying to discover clues to solve the mystery, and he met a man named Mr. Thompson and Christopher said, “I did not look at his face. I do not like looking at people’s faces, especially if they are strangers,” (Haddon 36). At one of the next houses, he met a woman named Mrs. Alexander, and Christopher at first was apprehensive to talk to the lady, but eventually opened up and had a conservation. Through his investigation, he learns to be outgoing and how to socialize better despite his difficulties with Aspergers.
    With Christopher’s fear of talking to people, he also does not understand rules that are usually practiced by others and takes things too literally. For example, when Christopher goes to Mrs. Shears house to talk to her, he goes in her backyard to look in her garden shed. Mrs. Shears did not give him permission to do so, and this action would be commonly known to others as trespassing. Furthermore, in Christopher's mind, he thought that his father set only four rules for his investigation, but in reality, Christopher’s father is just setting some guidelines that in the mind of oneself should be expanded. Christopher truly believes that he is being obedient of the four rules, but later on his father yelled at him and exclaimed “I ask you to do one thing for me, Christopher. One thing” (Haddon 82). This confusion that is his brain causes Christopher to be unsure of himself in future situations and being independent in the future will cause much difficulty.
    I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator because he stands by telling the truth consistently. To many people he says that “I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies” (Haddon 19). I truly believe that people with disabilities deserve the testing of trust if they so comprehend what this means. My sister, who has special needs, has difficulty with speech and comprehension, but as she has grown as a person, more responsibilities are given to her for she has received our trust in certain areas. I feel as though the characters in the book do not give Christopher a fair chance to explain his side of his stories, and the characters have a difficult time trusting that he is telling the truth. I think that Christopher is a reliable narrator for his willingness to tell the truth, and for his capabilities for writing a story from his point of view.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Christopher John Francis Boone is a 15 year old boy who has a curious mind. Christopher is outgoing and determined. He likes geography and knows all the countries in the world including their capitals. Christopher also likes physics and math. He can name all the prime numbers up to 7,057. Christopher has a hard time reading people's emotions because he doesn’t understand them. He does not like when people yell at him because he gets a feeling of sensory overload. He also can not stand it when people touch him. Christopher has a dislike for the color yellow and feels that, if he sees 3 yellow cars in a row, then he will have a bad day.
    Christopher’s voice is shown in many of the words written in this book. An example of this is when he expresses his opinion to readers about heaven. “But when Mother died she didn’t go to heaven because heaven doesn’t exist” (Haddon 32). This shows the innocence that has been lost in Christopher. Readers see that he has obviously thought about this a lot and is careful with what he believes. Christopher is a deep thinker. This can be beneficial because he is careful of what he believes and people will not be able to fool him. He knows his boundaries and will not fall into anything that can hurt him. Though Christopher can not be easily persuaded, this can also hurt him. Christopher does not have an opened mind and is not willing to see situations from other people’s perspective. This makes him see self centered even though he truly cares about people. A second quote where Christopher’s voice is heard is found on page 43. “All the other children at my school are stupid. Except I’m not meant to call them stupid, even though this is what they are” (Haddon 43). Christopher is harsh and to the point. This shows characteristics of being emotionally strong because he is very literal. This quote also shows that Christopher is alert and observant. With everything that Christopher has to deal with, he still gives effort to respect people because he knows not to call people “stupid”.
    I think Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his intentions. Christopher always has intentions that express who he is. He explains how he has never lied so why not believe someone who always tells the truth? Another reason why Christopher is a reliable narrator is because he is determined. Though he does not listen to his dad when he tells him to stop looking for the murderer, Christopher is investigating to help the situation. It is not like he or anyone else has to find the murderer but, Christopher takes it upon himself to go the extra mile and solve the mystery. Lastly, Christopher is a reliable narrator because he is literate. He is to the point and does not fool around. Everything he says holds value and knowledge just like every reliable narrator should express in their writing.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Christopher’s personality was one like no other. Although Christopher lacked social skills he excelled in anything related to math. He knows every prime number from 1 to 7,057. Christopher is not a fan of being physically touched because he feels uncomfortable. Haddon states, “Mostly I read books about science and maths. I do not like proper novels”(4). Christopher clearly enjoys maths and sciences, and this speaks to his very literal point of view. He likes to get a definite answer that does not require deeper thinking like a proper novel might require. While math and science have answers that can be found without much deep thinking required. Christopher’s personality causes him to develop thoughts and relationships in areas that others might not.
    It is very easy to gain Christopher’s trust and create a relationship with him, but it is also very easy to lose the trust and relationship with Christopher. As a result it becomes very hard to get the relationship back. Christopher does however have two good relationships one with his dad and the other with Siobhan. He has a strong relationship with his father because without his mother Mr. Boone is his only parent. Christopher also has a good relationship with Siobhan his teacher. There relationship is possible because Siobhan likes to teach and Christopher likes to learn. Siobhan and Christopher bond and talk together often outside of class, “Are you telling the truth, Christopher? I always tell the truth”( Haddon 75). Siobhan trusts Christopher as he trusts Siobhan. This quote is taken from a deep caring conversation Siobhan was having with Christopher about is mother and missing her. Christopher claims he does not feel sad about the situation, but Siobhan knows this is not true. Without a relationship like they have a moment like this is not possible.
    I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator because he states plenty of times that he does not lie. We also know that with his condition that he is very literal and speaks as things are without any variation. I could not find any reason for him to be an unreliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy with asperger's syndrome. He is brilliantly observant and very good at math. He likes his life to be full of order and logic. He knows all the prime numbers up to 7,507 and can list off all the Countries and their capitals in the world. Christopher has difficult with social interactions because of his aspergers. He has trouble understanding facial expressions and social cues which seem very basic in everyday life. For example, Christopher says, “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I did not understand what someone was saying” (Haddon 2). The paper describes was Christopher’s “cheat sheet” to social conversations and give a picture of just how much Christopher struggles socially day to day. Christopher is also very observiant. He notices every little detail about his surroundings and is able to remember small details from much earlier in his life. Christopher though is not always able to make sense of the things he sees and how to understand or react to them. Christopher only really has relationships with to of the Characters. The first relationship is with Christopher’s father. Mr. Boone is a single parent and does the best he can to provide for his son. Mr. Boone is typically a level headed and not easily upset character, but he is an alcoholic. The other character that Christopher has a relationship with is Siobhan. She is a lady who helps Christopher at school and helps him try to make sense of the world with his aspergers.Christopher says she helps him “[w]hen she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what is is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this” (Haddon 29). This shows that Christopher can be so clueless about his actions to people he interacts with that he needs concrete instructions on how to act around people and in certain situations. I feel that Christopher Boon is an unreliable narrator. Although he is very observant and cannopt lie, he also does not understand social cues and cannot understand how people are reacting to him correctly. The book is more of his stream of consciousness with a storyline. Although he follows the story in mostly chronological order, he strays off onto random tangents and describes completely unrelated or important facts and smaller stories within the larger story like. These tangents are distracting and make Christopher's plot hard to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Christopher Boone is a fifteen year old with aspergers syndrome. He lives in England with his father. Christopher enjoys math, and straightforward answers. He hates fiction, jokes, and the colors yellow and brown. He has a hard time reading facial expressions and he cannot lie. “I sometimes I think of my mind as a machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it” (Haddon 7). By relating his mind to a machine we can see that Christopher processes information like one. It also explains why he does not understand emotion or show it very well. Christopher likes order and logical explanations and he needs straightforward answer to understand something.
    The main characters that Christopher interacts with are his father and Siobhan. Christopher takes them literally, but means well. Christopher obeys what his father says, but finds another way to investigate without breaking the rules. “I reasoned Father had only made me do a promise about five things, which were...And asking about Mr. Shears wasn’t any of these things” (Haddon 56). He is uncomfortable with strangers and does things his way. For example “I made sure no one was watching and climbed over the wall and walked down the side of the house into her back garden to the shed where she kept all her gardening tools” (Haddon 31). This took place after Christopher was ignored by Mrs. Shears when he asked her if she knew who killed his dog. He is determined to find the truth above all else and doesn’t care what people think about him.
    Christopher, although he claims to not be able to tell a lie, is actually an unreliable narrator. “And there are an infinite number of things which didn’t happen at that time and that place. And if I think about something which didn’t happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn’t happen” (Haddon 19). Christopher cannot tell a lie, but he can leave out important information. He tells a white lie to his father, when asked about talking to Mrs. Alexander. Christopher says only what he thinks is necessary and not much other information that could be important for the readers and other characters to know. He doesn’t have much experience with writing, and is not used to talking to strangers. For these reasons, he could be excluding certain information and therefore he is an unreliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The main character of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is Christopher Boone. He is a teenage boy who loves dogs and hates certain colors. Christopher is afraid of talking to strangers and meeting new people. He is very intelligent and loves math and science. Christopher is a boy of few emotions and tends to keep to himself. He likes being alone in small spaces where he is left to his own thoughts and ideas without the interference of others. Christopher enjoys walks to the local candy shop and walks down the street late at night. Christopher believes that his mother died at a young age from a heart attack, but never really mourned her death because he doesn’t understand how to. His father is abusive and does not know how to handle Christopher’s odd behavior without violence. Christopher loves his father, but he does not receive that same amount of love in return. Christopher has a teacher named Siobhan whom he likes very much. Siobhan teaches Christopher how to understand other people by examining facial expressions. She also helps him to control his odd behaviors by teaching him coping mechanisms. Overall Christopher does not interact on a daily basis with many people because he does not enjoy being around people. He does however, like to read about people in mystery books. He loves Sherlock Holmes and his mysteries. Christopher decides that he wants to solve the mystery of the death of his neighbor’s dog Wellington and that is where the story begins.
    Christopher has a mind of his own. He thinks differently from most, but he has a very powerful voice that dwells from deep inside. “I find people confusing… The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking without using any words”(Haddon 14). Christopher expresses this statement in a way that proves that he does not think like everyone else. He does not understand social cues or facial expressions, but his voice shines through by the fact that he is able to recognize the difference between his understanding and trity which shines through in the way he speaks about others. He knows he may be different, but that does not make him any less than anyone else. Christopher also knows that he is different from others in ways that are beneficial to him. “My memory is like a film”(Haddon 76). Christopher is able to replay his past in his mind in a way that allows him to remember every little detail including what people were wearing and what the time was. Christopher’s voice is able to shine through when he speaks of his own memory because he is displaying his character traits in his own way. Christopher portrays his intelligence once again through the concept of remembering the past which can allow one to infer that he can remember many things which allows him to learn and excel in school. Christopher has a personality of great intelligence and slight awareness of others.
    I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator because He openly admits that he would never lie. This allows one to believe that he is trustworthy. He is also mellow and his personality portrays him as an honest and sweet child who grew up in a violent home. Christopher is questioned several times and always tells the truth. He always does exactly what he is told. Christopher is also a serious boy who always portrays the concrete truth and does not fluff things over. “I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them”(Haddon 8). Christopher is honest at all times. He even proclaims his dislike for humor because it is not serious and it is hard to understand because it does not always display the truth. For these reasons, Christopher can be seen as a reliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. (PART ONE) Christopher Boone is the main character of Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time. Boone is a 15 year old boy who has a love for math, because, “‘this is the one thing he’s good at,’” according to his father (Haddon 44). He knows every prime number up to 7,057. His memorization skills has also helped him know all the countries of the world and their capitals. Boone also loves physics and dreams of becoming an astronaut one day. Being an astronaut appeals to Boone because he would get to “be on [his] own in a tiny spacecraft thousands and thousands of miles away from the surface of the earth and not panic or get claustrophobia or homesick or insane” (Haddon 50). He likes to be far away from people and be in his own tiny space. He hates the colors yellow and brown. He does not lie. He also cannot eat food that has come into contact with other food. While he loves animals and can connect really well to them, he has a really hard time connecting to people. His two main human relationships are with his father and with his teacher, Siobhan. He and his father have a special understanding towards one another. His father, “...[holds] up his right hand and spread[s] his fingers out in a fan” and his son understands that this, “...means that he loves [him]” (16). Boone relationship with Siobhan is one of trust and understanding. He feels comfortable sharing parts of his life with her because, “Siobhan understands” (29). Siobhan tries to help Boone understand and connect with people. For example, she had drawn out face diagrams to help Boone understand facial expressions. One thing to note is that Boone has asperger’s syndrome, which explains some of his skills and some of his quirks. He is the narrator of this novel, which provides a really interesting perspective for the reader.

    ReplyDelete
  30. (PART TWO) Christopher Boone narrates Mark Haddon’s novel. Boone’s “voice” is heard in the text, which helps readers get a better understanding of Boone and how he perceives the world. Boone narrates, “Talking to strangers is not something I usually do... If a strange man touched me I would hit him, and I can hit people very hard…. I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand. It is like being in France, which is where we went...to camp. And I hated it because if you went into a shop or a restaurant or on a beach you couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, which was frightening. It takes me a long time to get used to people I do not know” (34-35). Boone establishes that he does not trust people, especially when does not know them. He also mentions that he does not like being touched and that he will defend himself no matter what. Boone provides an example for the reader of a time when he was scared in France because it was a new environment and situation for him. In doing so, he has helped the reader understand how Boone perceives the world. Boone shows his voice when he narrates, “The next day I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it a Black Day, so I didn’t eat anything at lunch and I sat in the corner of the room all day and read my A-level maths course book. And the next day, too, I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it another Black Day too, so I didn’t speak to anyone and for the whole afternoon I sat in the corner of the Library groaning with my head pressed into the join between the two walls and this made me feel calm and safe. But on the third day I kept my eyes closed all the way to school until we got off the bus because after I have had 2 Black Days in a row I’m allowed to do that” (53). Boone’s voice is very clear and readers can even imagine the words coming directly from his mouth. He describes in a very logical way how seeing four black cars on the way to school affects him. All of the description of what he did as a result of seeing black cars provides more “voice” and insight on how the cars have impacted him. The reader can see his emotions and his thinking. This novel is told in the perspective of Boone and provides insight for the reader on how Boone perceives the world.

    ReplyDelete
  31. (PART THREE) Christopher Boone will not tell a lie. As the narrator of Mark Haddon’s novel, he tells the reader exactly what he is thinking and seeing. Even though Boone establishes that he will not tell a lie, he is still an unreliable narrator when it comes to getting the full picture. Yes, he is reliable in what he perceives, but that is not the whole story. For example, one of his neighbors, Mrs. Alexander, was going inside her house to get a variety food for Boone. Because she, “...was inside the house for more than 6 minutes and [he] began to get nervous,” he walked away (41). Boone, “...didn’t know what she was doing in the house. [He] didn’t know her well enough to know whether she was telling the truth about getting orange squash and Battenberg cake. And [he] thought she might be ringing the police and then [he’d] get into much more serious trouble because of the caution” (41). While this perception is true for Boone, this narration of the story as a whole is not a reliable source. The reader understands that she is a stranger and he is scared of going back to jail, but they also do not see what was actually going on at that point of the story. Boone establishes right away that he cannot understand human emotions. When his teacher tries drawing facial expression diagrams to help him, she laughs. Boone believes this laughter is directed at him and takes offense. As a result, he, “...tore the original piece of paper up and threw it away” (3). The reader only sees what Boone perceived, which was that his teacher was mean and insensible. This is unreliable because she could have, instead, been laughing at the funny drawing she did. Boone as the narrator is a reliable source for he reader on what he perceives, but he his unreliable when it comes to getting the full picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sorry. I wrote waaaaay too much

      Delete
  32. Larry Reyes

    Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy who was born with Aspergers another form of autism sets him different from others. For his age, he thinks very logically than most kids. He enjoys to do math and science. He dreams to be one day a astronaut because of his passion of math and science. In fact christopher knows every prime number up to 7,057 and is able to multiply 251 and 864 in his head with no trouble. “ I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number to 7,057” (Haddon 2). In this quote you can tell that christopher can retain a lot of information and has a good memory. Like most kids that have aspergers Christopher is sensitive to sound and touch. As it is described in the book he crouches down on the ground with hands covering his ears. He also cries when is touched by anyone. Another quality of his person is that he hates colors such as brown and yellow but he does not mind the color red. Christopher does not like to lie because he states that it makes him get confuse. He has a hard time understanding people and getting accepted by his peers. Besides liking school subjects he also loves dogs, especially his neighbors dog wellington. Christopher noticed wellington laying on the lawn with a fork stabbed through him. Christopher tried to help but Mrs. Shears assumed that christomer had killed wellington. Christopher was trying to help but he did not know how to explain himself why he was hugging the dog moments after he passed away. Christopher was then found guilty and was taken by the police.
    Christopher has a hard time being accepted by peers like I mention before but the two closest people he has are his father Ed Boone and a staff member at school, Siobhan. “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (Haddon 35). Christopher chooses to not interact with other people because he can not understand them and has trusting issues. All that christopher wants is to feel safe and truly know the person who he will have a relationship with. Ed Boone raised Christopher as a single parent and has been there looking out for his needs ever since. Ed Boone is one of the few people that understands what christopher is going through. Even though Christopher and Ed get into arguments about christophers protection and for keeping him out of trouble christopher's knows that he can count on his dad. Besides his father, he also has a special relationship with one of his teachers, Siobhan. Siobhan works with christopher on one to one so he can grow socially and in his academics. Siobhan is an important person in christopher's ;life because he actually trusts her and she always there to listen to him. Dealing with kids that has aspergers is quite difficult but Siobhan has the patience with Christopher. She motivates christopher is his writing because christopher wants to write a mystery story since he enjoys reading mystery books. Both theses relationships are quite different but they help Christopher grow as a person.
    I believe that christopher is a reliable character for many reasons. He makes it clear that he does not like to lie and he always wants to be exact. He says that lies make him confuse so if the book was filled with lies he would not be able to write it. He also states that the key of a relationship is trustworthiness. I believe that Christopher would wants us to believe in his writting. No matter what condition a person has we can not assume that the person is not reliable.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old adolescent, is an intuitive, eccentric, and honorable person. He engages in a number of odd practices, such as basing how his day will play out via the number of red or yellow cars he sees, food touching on a plate, the color yellow and brown in general, etc. He also claims to never tell a lie and that he does not like to be touched. His notorious behavior can be attributed to his autism, or Asperger’s, although it has not been directly mentioned at this point. However, it does explain his logical thinking and reasoning for many topics. For instance, he once remarked that “I am going to prove that I’m not stupid” (Haddon 44). He relates this to how he strives to be the only kid in school to get an A grade in A level math. He may not excel within all of his subjects, but when he possesses the tenacity to achieve something, he will.

    In regard to his tenacity and perseverance, Christopher bases his relationships in a similar way through trust, even if it takes a long time to attain. He likes to interact the most with his father and Siobhan. Siobhan is one of Christopher’s teachers who spends many hours talking with him every day. She offers him useful tips on life, reads his writings, and elaborates confusing instructions to him. Meanwhile, Christopher’s father is an important figure in his life too because he is a single parent. He is there to foster him, but generally yells at Christopher to stop acting out of line. For example, his father has reiterated this line several times saying, “‘How many times do I have to tell you, Christopher?’” (Haddon 49). He wants Christopher to live his life as normal as possible, to overcome his difficulties, and succeed in his endeavors. As such, the novel portrays the many challenges faced by Christopher in a reliable manner.

    I genuinely believe that Christopher expresses his thoughts and insights as a reliable narrator. Although he mentions that he sometimes tells white lies, they often do not hold much significance. He argues towards the beginning of the book that “there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place” (Haddon 19). He feels that prevaricating is quite intricate and not worth the effort. In addition, he is afraid of what lying brings to him and its consequences.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Aspergers makes Christopher Boone different from typical 15 year old boys. Christopher is very skilled in math and science, “I know all the countries in the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7057” (Haddon 2). What may seem odd to many, ultimately makes Christopher the determined individual that he is. This encourages his big dreams of becoming an astronaut, “I think I would be a very good astronaut. To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I’m intelligent” (Haddon 50). His confidence reveals that it is always great to dream big and that it should not matter when others say. Despite his natural intelligence, Christopher struggles to understand other people because the metaphors and sense of humor used in conversation confuse him. Christopher’s curiosity and honesty also contribute to his individuality. After finding Wellington, his neighbor’s dog, dead, he is very persistent in finding the logic behind the “murder” and goes behind his dad’s back to solve the mystery. His unique personality makes him a rather interesting individual.
    Despite the social challenges that Christopher faces, he has a strong relationship with his father and Siobhan, the only people who he understands and the only people who completely understand him. Conversations with others are very awkward and uncomfortable for him. For example, on the supposedly Super Good Day when he saw Mrs. Alexander at the shop he doubted that talking to her would be the good thing that happened that day. “I said, ‘I can’t do chatting’”(Haddon 54). Christopher did not like having conversations with those he did not know and spoke in an uncomfortable manner, yet he was on a mission to find out who killed Wellington so he managed to do it anyway. Christopher is also an unbelievably honest individual. He could never tell a lie because it confused him. “And if I think about something which didn’t happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn’t happen” (Hadden 19). Lies about things that did not happen made him feel scared and shaky. Regardless of Christopher’s challenges in conversation, he is very loyal.
    It may be argued that Christopher is an unreliable narrator because he has aspergers, but because of his experiences with the disease it makes him even more reliable. No one would be able to act out the part of the Christopher without facing the challenges of aspergers everyday. I think his honesty also contributes to his reliability. Not being able to tell a lie is a huge part of who Christopher is and makes him trustworthy. Even when faced with the toughest questions, he still tells the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Christopher is a 15 year old Child who as a disease commonly called Aspergers which is form Autism. Due to his disorder he has a very peculiar way of thinking and acting with others. He enjoys memorizing prime numbers from 1 to 7,507 and knowing all the capitals along with all the countries in the world. Yet he is very logical in the aspect of how he makes decisions if he is going to have a bad or good day. “Four red cars in a row made it a Good day, and three red cars in a row made it a Quite Good Day, and five red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day, and why four yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day, which is 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” (Haddon 24). This shows of how logic Christopher really is because he bases how his day is going to go on what cars he sees on the bus ride to school.
    An important attribute of Christopher’s attitude has to deal with his relationship to other characters in the book. For an example Christopher as a very strong relationship with his father partly because he loves his father for being there after Christopher’s mother died. Also his father knows all Christophers little quirks like that he does not like to be touched by others and he enjoys unusual items such as astronomy and mathematical aspects. However Christopher can not stand it when a person if he knows them or not touches or yells at him, due to Christophers sensitive to the outside world. “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet, I didn’t like him touching me like this, and this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8). This shows of how relationships to Christopher is important because if he knows someone he might not overreact or will have a calm attitude.
    I think Christopher would be a reliable narrator his disorder does not affect how he sees the world around, but his perspective offers a new a thinking unlike anyone else. I see no reason of why telling about one’s perspective is wrong but actually beneficial to others who read this book.

    ReplyDelete
  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Christopher Boone is a brilliant yet clueless 15 year old young man from England who is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. He likes the color red, murder mysteries, and he especially likes math. He can even list every single prime number up to 7,057! Due to his extensive intelligence, his understanding of how machines work, and preference for being alone, he aspires to be an astronaut when is older. However, Christopher does not like the color yellow, being touched, and being shouted at. He says “ I do not like people shouting at me. It makes me scared that they are going to hit me or touch me and I do not know what is going to happen” ( Haddon 4). He also has a difficult time reading facial expressions so one of his teachers at school, Siobhan, gave him a piece of paper with pictures of different faces so he could understand what others were saying. Eventually he realized that looking at the paper every time while trying to have a conversation with someone did not work because people’s quickly and constantly changing expressions. This makes it hard for Christopher to communicate with others and even for him to show his own emotions.
    The characters that Christopher seems to interact with the most with are his teacher from school, Siobhan, and his father, Ed Boone. Christopher adores Siobhan. She seems to be the only person in his life who understands how his mind works and who can truly “speak his language.” She also guides him in his writing, giving him advice in the process. She is someone who he can trust. He also has a very strong relationship with his father who knows Christopher’s habits and the way he thinks. The reader can tell the Ed truly does love his son because he advocates for his son at the jail as well as at school to let him the the Maths A level course. But, when Ed finds out that Christopher is searching for Mrs. Shears’ dog’s killer, he becomes very impatient and short with Christopher resulting in fights, weakening their relationship. Christopher only has a few significant relationships because it takes him a while to open himself up to others. “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” ( Haddon 35).
    Although he consistently states that he is unable to tell a lie, I genuinely believe that Christopher is an unreliable narrator. He seems to only telling his truth. He only tells stories from his point of view and disregards the views of others so that we, as readers, empathize with him. Without the ability to understand people’s faces, he leaves it to the reader to figure out which emotion each character is expressing. Without other characters’ point of views, I do not see how his story could be fully reliable.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy with asperger’s. This does not make him any different then anyone else. He is a very intelligent, curious, and truthful boy. Christopher has a strong opinion about what he likes and dislikes. He likes the color red, but hates the colors yellow and brown. His dream is to become a astronaut. He also loves math and mystery books. He love them so much he started to write his own book and has memorized almost all of the prime numbers. “I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057” (Haddon 2). Christopher’s memory in outstanding and loves solving problems, including math and life problems. Christopher is a unique individual that has strong opinions and has a hard time with relationships.
    One personality trait that makes Christopher unique is that his is very determined. “Father said, ‘Just try and keep your nose out of other people’s business’” (Haddon 20).
    Even when his father tells him to promise to stop doing detective work, but this does not stop him from trying to figure out what happened to Wellington the dog. Christopher and his father have a loving relationship that can become very tense at times. Ever since his mother died, his father has had to step up. His father loves him, but can get frustrated with Christopher, because of his aspergers.
    Christopher is a definitely a reliable narrator. He tells the reader many times that he never lies because they confuse him. This makes him trustworthy. His perspective gives a new way of thinking that is different than anyone else. Although the story is only told from one perspective, this does not make him an unreliable writer.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Christopher is just like any other 15 year old. He has passion for certain subjects but also can’t tolerate somethings as well as other can. He enjoys math, and from that, prime numbers, and adores dogs. Furthermore, Christopher is uniquely fond of wet, cold grass, the color red, Capital cities, and many more. On the contrary, Christopher also has his dislikes such as the color yellow, lies, and being shouted at. Although Christopher does suffer from Aspergers he shares similar interests and dislikes with many of us.
    For the most part, Christopher is very sweet but he can also be insensitive at times. Because of his Asperger's, it affects his ability to interact with the world around him. Similarly, his father Ed Boone shares characteristics with him at times. He can be stubborn, determined but overall, he is very patient and cautious with Christopher. Their relationship is very loving but at times can be intense.
    With Christopher’s characteristics in mind, he would be considered a reliable narrator. As soon as we open up the book he introduces himself by saying, “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 7,507” ( Haddon 2). Christopher makes sure that we know the basics about him. Furthermore, he goes straight to the point and doesn’t hold anything back because that is just who he is. In the same manner, Christopher says, “And this shows that sometimes people want to be stupid and they do not want to know the truth” (Haddon 90). Christopher pairs believing in something with not wanting to know the complete truth, and thinks both are acting stupid. Christopher pairs believing in your dreams with not wanting to know the truth and believes they are both stupid. He may be hurt if someone returned the thought, but this depicts that he doesn’t necessarily care about others feelings and that he is willing to say whatever is necessary to solve the murder of Wellington.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Christopher’s character is introduced as a young boy who finds the neighbors dog, dead, in the neighbors yard. When Christopher begins to analyze the dead dog, he gets distracted and begins to tell about his unique traits. From reading the first few chapters, Christopher can be identified as someone who has a disability known as Asperger’s. Many of Christopher’s tendencies and habits are characteristics of this disability. Christopher has many unique talents including; he knows all the counties in the world and all of their capital cities and he knows every prime number up to 7,057. Christopher also has difficulties with understanding certain concepts including; being able to comprehend others emotions and he has trouble communicating in many social situations. Christopher is different from most kids because of these traits that set him apart from others. Compared to most kids his age, Christopher tends to be more logical and intelligent. On the other hand, he also determines whether the average day will be a good day, or a bad day, based on what colors he sees on the way to school, which is not considered very logical.
    In the beginning of the novel, the readers are introduced to other characters that have different relationships with Christopher. Christopher often has a hard time in most social interactions with many of the other characters presented in the beginning of the book. Christopher tends to be incapable of understand other characters emotions and/or he has a hard time “chatting” with other characters. The author, Mark Haddon, writes through Christopher’s character this quote explaining how Christopher feels about socializing with strangers, “Talking to strangers is not something I usually do... If a strange man touched me I would hit him, and I can hit people very hard…” (34). This quote helps the readers to understand that not only does Christopher have a hard time talking to strangers but he also does not like to be touched. Another quote within the first few chapters of this novel that reveals Christopher’s personality is demonstrated when he explains, “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (35). In this quote, Christopher’s character is demonstrating that creating new relationships is hard for him and that he does not trust strangers, so rather than talking to them, he watches them.
    When trying to determine if the author of this book, Mark Haddon, is an “unreliable” or a “reliable” narrator for Christopher, in my opinion, I believe that Haddon is more of an unreliable narrator. The only reason that I believe this novel has an unreliable narrator is because Haddon does not actually have Asperger’s. Therefore, the narrator cannot truly know what it is like to have asperger’s and cannot be a fully reliable narrator. Haddon could possibly be considered a reliable narrator because he has a clear understanding of the tendencies and habits of someone who would have asperger’s. he does not actually have aspergers himself, and is writing from the perspective of someone with asperger’s, it is hard for him to become a reliable narrator because he is writing from the perspective of someone that he is not (with a disability he does not have).

    ReplyDelete
  41. Christopher’s character is introduced as a young boy who finds the neighbors dog, dead, in the neighbors yard. When Christopher begins to analyze the dead dog, he gets distracted and begins to tell about his unique traits. From reading the first few chapters, Christopher can be identified as someone who has a disability known as Asperger’s. Many of Christopher’s tendencies and habits are characteristics of this disability. Christopher has many unique talents including; he knows all the counties in the world and all of their capital cities and he knows every prime number up to 7,057. Christopher also has difficulties with understanding certain concepts including; being able to comprehend others emotions and he has trouble communicating in many social situations. Christopher is different from most kids because of these traits that set him apart from others. Compared to most kids his age, Christopher tends to be more logical and intelligent. On the other hand, he also determines whether the average day will be a good day, or a bad day, based on what colors he sees on the way to school, which is not considered very logical.
    In the beginning of the novel, the readers are introduced to other characters that have different relationships with Christopher. Christopher often has a hard time in most social interactions with many of the other characters presented in the beginning of the book. Christopher tends to be incapable of understand other characters emotions and/or he has a hard time “chatting” with other characters. The author, Mark Haddon, writes through Christopher’s character this quote explaining how Christopher feels about socializing with strangers, “Talking to strangers is not something I usually do... If a strange man touched me I would hit him, and I can hit people very hard…” (34). This quote helps the readers to understand that not only does Christopher have a hard time talking to strangers but he also does not like to be touched. Another quote within the first few chapters of this novel that reveals Christopher’s personality is demonstrated when he explains, “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (35). In this quote, Christopher’s character is demonstrating that creating new relationships is hard for him and that he does not trust strangers, so rather than talking to them, he watches them.
    When trying to determine if the author of this book, Mark Haddon, is an “unreliable” or a “reliable” narrator for Christopher, in my opinion, I believe that Haddon is more of an unreliable narrator. The only reason that I believe this novel has an unreliable narrator is because Haddon does not actually have Asperger’s. Therefore, the narrator cannot truly know what it is like to have asperger’s and cannot be a fully reliable narrator. Haddon could possibly be considered a reliable narrator because he has a clear understanding of the tendencies and habits of someone who would have asperger’s. he does not actually have aspergers himself, and is writing from the perspective of someone with asperger’s, it is hard for him to become a reliable narrator because he is writing from the perspective of someone that he is not (with a disability he does not have).

    ReplyDelete
  42. Christopher’s character is introduced as a young boy who finds the neighbors dog, dead, in the neighbors yard. When Christopher begins to analyze the dead dog, he gets distracted and begins to tell about his unique traits. From reading the first few chapters, Christopher can be identified as someone who has a disability known as Asperger’s. Many of Christopher’s tendencies and habits are characteristics of this disability. Christopher has many unique talents including; he knows all the counties in the world and all of their capital cities and he knows every prime number up to 7,057. Christopher also has difficulties with understanding certain concepts including; being able to comprehend others emotions and he has trouble communicating in many social situations. Christopher is different from most kids because of these traits that set him apart from others. Compared to most kids his age, Christopher tends to be more logical and intelligent. On the other hand, he also determines whether the average day will be a good day, or a bad day, based on what colors he sees on the way to school, which is not considered very logical.
    In the beginning of the novel, the readers are introduced to other characters that have different relationships with Christopher. Christopher often has a hard time in most social interactions with many of the other characters presented in the beginning of the book. Christopher tends to be incapable of understand other characters emotions and/or he has a hard time “chatting” with other characters. The author, Mark Haddon, writes through Christopher’s character this quote explaining how Christopher feels about socializing with strangers, “Talking to strangers is not something I usually do... If a strange man touched me I would hit him, and I can hit people very hard…” (34). This quote helps the readers to understand that not only does Christopher have a hard time talking to strangers but he also does not like to be touched. Another quote within the first few chapters of this novel that reveals Christopher’s personality is demonstrated when he explains, “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (35). In this quote, Christopher’s character is demonstrating that creating new relationships is hard for him and that he does not trust strangers, so rather than talking to them, he watches them.
    When trying to determine if the author of this book, Mark Haddon, is an “unreliable” or a “reliable” narrator for Christopher, in my opinion, I believe that Haddon is more of an unreliable narrator. The only reason that I believe this novel has an unreliable narrator is because Haddon does not actually have Asperger’s. Therefore, the narrator cannot truly know what it is like to have asperger’s and cannot be a fully reliable narrator. Haddon could possibly be considered a reliable narrator because he has a clear understanding of the tendencies and habits of someone who would have asperger’s. he does not actually have aspergers himself, and is writing from the perspective of someone with asperger’s, it is hard for him to become a reliable narrator because he is writing from the perspective of someone that he is not (with a disability he does not have).

    ReplyDelete
  43. Logan Tennity
    1/17/18
    6th Hour
    Blog One
    Christopher, a 15 year old boy with asperger's disorder, is a math loving and curious boy who excels with logic and problem solving. Even though Christopher has trouble with social interactions because of his aspergers, he still is extremely gifted in mathematics. He pans on going to a university for math or physics and maybe even becoming an astronaut. Christopher's disability causes him to dislike being touched and poorly read emotion. He also dislikes certain colors or thinks certain things that randomly appear in groups a lucky, like three red cars. This is a quote that describes Christopher well, “I do not like people shouting at me. It makes me scared that they are going to hit me or touch me and I do not know what is going to happen” (Haddon 4). This quote shows how Christopher thinks using almost all logic and reasoning. That is how he always thinks throughout the book, almost lacking emotion. Christopher's unique way of thinking makes his interactions with others entertaining and intriguing.
    Christopher does not have very many friends, but his interactions with others, combined with his lack of trust of anyone leads to very interesting relationships. His mentor and teacher, Siobhan, is someone who Christopher trusts. When Christopher is with her, the reader learns more about Christopher than with any other interaction. Christopher's dad on the other hand, is much more difficult for Christopher to interact with, “I don’t like it when people grab me. And I don’t like being surprised either. So I hit him, like when I hit the policeman” (82). Christopher's Dad is trying his best to parent Christopher, but Christopher is not the best at complying to his parenting. These interactions show how Christopher’s disability make relationships with other people different and unique. Christopher’s disability also makes him believe hes cannot lie, but he can bend the rules.
    Christopher as a narrator states he does not lie, but he also bends the rules which makes him somewhat unreliable. Throughout the novel Christopher explains how he has no reason the not tell the truth, shown here, “A lie is when you say something happened, which didn’t happen. But there is only ever one thing that ever happened at a particular time and a particular place” (19). The way Christopher thinks gives him no reason to lie, but his logical thinking helps him bend the truth, show when he says, “I was just chatting with Mrs. Alexandria. I wasn’t doing any investigating” (82). Is this case Christopher bends his Dads rules just to get what he wants. This misleading approach to his investigating makes Christopher seem like a person who bends the rules for personal gain. A narrator who does this may be unreliable. There are no other reasons to have doubt in Christopher, but his rule bending does come off as a bit deceiving.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Kayla Hawley
    1/19/18
    6th hour
    Christopher Boone has a unique personality due to autism. He is a 15-year-old boy who is mathematically gifted but struggles with some social skills. He views the world as an absolute way and has extreme likes and dislikes. He dislikes the colors yellow and brown, when people touch him, and really small places with other people. He is comfortable with logic and science and being with people he knows. Christopher explains, “Mostly I read books about science and maths. I do not like proper novels” (Haddon 4). When reading proper novels, he has difficulties with understanding indirect sentences and metaphors. He also has difficulties of reading emotion and acting with other people.
    Christopher has a hard time interacting with new people and trusting them. He is very close to his father and Siobhan. He is comfortable with his father and has become closer to him since his mother had died. His father gets frustrated with Christopher at times but he is still loving and caring. Siobhan helps Christopher socially and academically and Christopher trusts her. She is caring about Christopher and wants Christopher to know things even if he doesn't exactly understand it. Christopher mentioned, “... ‘How stupi are you?’ This is what Siobhan says is called a rhetorical question” (Haddon 81). This is one of his struggles that Siobhan tries to help with.
    I think Christopher is mostly a reliable narrator. Since he never lies and trust is very important to him. With Christopher's condition of autism, he is also very literal and informational. “I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies” (Haddon 19). Although Christopher cannot understand certain things fully, he is still a reliable narrator due to his honesty and trust.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Kayla Hawley
    1/19/18
    6th hour
    Christopher Boone has a unique personality due to autism. He is a 15-year-old boy who is mathematically gifted but struggles with some social skills. He views the world as an absolute way and has extreme likes and dislikes. He dislikes the colors yellow and brown, when people touch him, and really small places with other people. He is comfortable with logic and science and being with people he knows. Christopher explains, “Mostly I read books about science and maths. I do not like proper novels” (Haddon 4). When reading proper novels, he has difficulties with understanding indirect sentences and metaphors. He also has difficulties of reading emotion and acting with other people.
    Christopher has a hard time interacting with new people and trusting them. He is very close to his father and Siobhan. He is comfortable with his father and has become closer to him since his mother had died. His father gets frustrated with Christopher at times but he is still loving and caring. Siobhan helps Christopher socially and academically and Christopher trusts her. She is caring about Christopher and wants Christopher to know things even if he doesn't exactly understand it. Christopher mentioned, “... ‘How stupi are you?’ This is what Siobhan says is called a rhetorical question” (Haddon 81). This is one of his struggles that Siobhan tries to help with.
    I think Christopher is mostly a reliable narrator. Since he never lies and trust is very important to him. With Christopher's condition of autism, he is also very literal and informational. “I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies” (Haddon 19). Although Christopher cannot understand certain things fully, he is still a reliable narrator due to his honesty and trust.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Ben Hathaway
    Christopher Boone has a form of Asperger's syndrome and is 15 years old at the start of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. He likes learning, especially math, and is fascinated by astronomy. Christopher does not like being exposed to overwhelming amounts of sensory gestures like being touched or grabbed. He also dislikes the colors yellow and brown as well as when people laugh at him because he does not understand why most of the time. One of Christopher’s closest relationships was formed by learning how feelings are expressed through facial expressions from Siobhan. Siobhan helps Christopher understand the modern world and how his mind works differently than other people’s minds. Christopher is what some would look at as anti social and likes to keep to himself. He loves his dad and has a small group of people he is comfortable around that he sees around almost everyday.
    Christopher has a unique voice as a narrator and this voice provides further understanding of his personality to the reader. Christopher says, “I knew that it meant ‘happy,’ like when I'm reading about the Apollo space missions, or when I am still awake at three or four in the morning and I can walk up and down the street and pretend that I am the only person in the world” (Haddon 2). The way he thinks gives the reader a window into his interests as well as a kind of bland, straightforward, and factual tone to the book conveying a sense that Christopher is very intelligent. This makes the reader realize that Christopher does not think like many do in the world, separating him from the majority of people. A second quote showing Christopher’s voice is, “This will not be a funny book. I can not tell jokes because I don’t understand them”(Haddon 8). Readers now know that Christopher takes everything seriously, making every one of his actions very logical when looked at from his perspective. He is a very reliable narrator because everything is written to be straightforward and truthful. It is easy for a reader to imagine what is happening around Christopher in their world and at the same time see everything from the narrator's view.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Anastasia Geigel
    Christopher John Francis Boone is a particularly unusual 15 and ¾ year old boy.
    He is extremely observant as he finds comfort in pure logic. Yes, he may occasionally wrestle with seemingly illogical things, like his extreme distaste for the colors brown and yellow, his complete inability to lie, or his (nearly) infinite love of prime numbers, but he always takes things for what they are, as he compares himself to Sherlock Holmes. He often struggles with details regarding human emotion, as Haddon mentions, “And I don’t know what ‘some hardness, perhaps of eye’ means, and I’m not interested in faces” (107).
    Because of Christopher’s difficulty and resulting lack of interest in understanding human emotion, his relationships with the other main characters are definitely unusual. The relationships he has held and is holding with his parents are of particular interest. He and his father have been through a lot together as they have had to adjust their lives since the death of Christopher’s mother. As Christopher recounts the times when his mother was still alive, he describes her in ways which portray her as loving, impatient, and prone to breakdowns in the face of tantrums. Christopher definitely cared about his mother, as shown when he insists on bringing her food when his father mentions that she is in the hospital. Christopher’s relationship with his father is also quite unusual as his father is still a grief-stricken man, doing his best to raise Christopher on his own. Christopher’s father asks him, “...do you understand that I love you?” (Haddon 78). Although Christopher cannot understand his father’s love to the fullest extent because of his detachment from things that are more than a simple, universal, definition. However, Christopher has a slight grasp on the meaning of love as he understands how it is displayed through actions.
    It can be argued that Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his inability to lie, and his love for logic. It is only through his lens of perception that we can come close to looking at the situation objectively. His lack of understanding emotion both supports and contradicts this argument as this quality could help him only observe empirical evidence, or completely hinder it, as emotions can be very telling.

    ReplyDelete
  48. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Duncan Riedi
    Christopher Boone is a boy who is almost 16 years old and has Asperger’s Syndrome. Although he is a normal teenager, his Asperger's does affect his personality. Christopher is very pensive but also somewhat unpredictable unless you are familiar with him personally and his behavioral problems. One way these traits shine through are in his dislike of yellow and brown. He despises them not because they do not appeal to him as colors, but because certain things are those colors. The nature of Christopher is also reactive since he can have unusual response to many interactions such as being touched or being asked a certain question.
    Christopher relies on Siobahn and his father to help him work around his disabilities and get through the day. One unique trait about these relationships is how often Christopher questions or disagrees with the advice given to him. Christopher does not always reciprocate trust since he may disagree or completely not understand what information he is receiving through the relationship. Information with a finite answer is essential or else the relationship between him or his father for example may be strained. If Christopher has to figure out a complex emotion on a person’s face such as whether a raised eyebrow means ”’I want to do sex with you’ and it can also mean ‘I think that what you just said was very stupid’” (Haddon 15). In this scenario he struggles to understand an indefinite emotion which normal people have no issues processing. Here we also see that he is quite dependent on the assistance of other people to accomplish tasks and get through life in a sometimes illogical world. Another unique trait about Christopher is that he notices many small things around him such as a hairy nose that “looked as if there were two very small mice hiding in his nostrils” (Haddon 17). This use of a simile reveals that Christopher wishes that everything that he sees or hears is specific and easy to understand since many indefinite things like emotion are not easy for him to understand. By comparing the nose hair to mice, you can imagine exactly what Christopher saw in his own eyes. This attention to small details also makes him a reliable narrator.
    Christopher is quite consistent and reliable in his narration of his story. He may struggle to understand and write down what others are thinking, but he is extremely observant and accurate in his reproduction of what he sees. Looking at small details such as the holes on a person’s shoes or the exact way someone makes a statement are important to how accurate Christopher’s narration is.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Ben LaLuzerne
    Blog One
    Christopher is a 15 year old kid who is smart, curious, and he always tells the truth. He struggles in life, being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. Asperger’s is similar to Autism but they have their similarities and their differences. He seems to have few interests in life, mostly consisting of math, physics, and being an astronaut. He does not enjoy books or novels other than murder mysteries.
    Christopher lets us know that he is a very good math student and his dad tells us that math is the only thing Christopher is good at. . We, as readers, find out what his dad thinks of him as he is arguing with the headmistress, Mrs. Gascoyne, at Christopher’s school because they will not let Christopher into a higher math class. Christopher’s father argues with her and says, “Jesus, this is the one thing he is really good at” (Haddon 44). Mrs. Gascoyne says that they do not have the facilities for this higher level math class, but Christopher’s father continues to argue so that his son may take the higher math class. Christopher is a gifted child as well, he has memorized every single prime number all the way up to 7,057. This is a very cool feat that he has accomplished, which not many people can say they know all of those prime numbers. In addition to math, Christopher is also very interested in Physics. Physics is the study of matter and their motion through time and space, and it is his dream to become an astronaut, and be out in space. Christopher says, “And I would like it if I could take Toby with me into space,...” (Haddon 51). He continues to tell us that even if he was not allowed to take Toby, he would still go because it would be a dream come true for him. Christopher regularly talks about math and physics which go hand-in-hand, and he talks about his excitement for physics.
    Christopher is an awkward person around other people too. Much of the time when he is talking with other people, he does not say anything, or he just walks away. He also has a troubling time with reading emotions. He had pictures of what some faces portrayed which emotions. When he would talk with people he would look at the sheet he had of faces and look at it to determine what emotion they were expressing, but when he did this it would make people uncomfortable. He says, “And now if I don’t know what someone is saying, I ask them what they mean or I walk away” (Haddon 3). He does this because of his difficulty of reading emotions and he doesn’t use the sheet that he has anymore. He also says that he can not do chatting, and much of them time when people are talking with him he does not say anything. Because of his awkwardness and difficulty with emotions and chatting, he does not have many relationships with people other than his dad. He has trouble making friends and gets made fun of.
    I think that Christopher is a reliable narrator because it is a book about his experiences, and I would think that he knows himself pretty well and what he has experienced in life. Although Christopher has Asperger’s he should not be thought of as an unreliable narrator because of it. He is a smart person but he struggles with many things, just like all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Mikee de Villa

    Christopher Boone is the main character in the book. He is 15 years 3 months and 2 days old. Christopher Boone has autism so his likes and dislikes include irrational things. For instance, Christopher Boone like the color red, prime numbers, and silence. His dislikes include the colors yellow and brown, loud noises, people, and being touched. Some of his likes and dislikes are strange as a result of his Aspergers.
    His personality includes traits that are typical in a person with Aspergers. He doesn’t really understand jokes, he doesn’t understand metaphor, he takes things very literally, and he is extremely talented in one area. This unnatural talent in one area is a sign that Christopher is a savant. A moment in the book when Christopher Boone shows a lack of comprehension for jokes is when the friend of his father laughs at a joke, but Christopher get mad. Christopher understands that it is a joke, but he doesn’t understand what’s funny about it. Boone is also superstitious, the way he decided whether his day will be good or bad is the color of the cars on his way to school.
    There a reasons that Christopher can be considered reliable and unreliable. He is reliable because he technically doesn’t lie; he also has a photographic memory. He can be considered unreliable because he tends to not tell the whole truth, he is also forms his own opinion and the truth will be formed from his opinion. The book is also in the first-person perspective, which makes Christopher Boone automatically unreliable.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Josie Sullivan
    Blog 1
    Christopher is a 15 year old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome who is very meticulous, systematic, intelligent, and quick-tempered. Christopher hates the colors yellow and brown, dreams to be an astronaut, loves physics and math, and can name every prime number up to number 7,057. Christopher does not have very good communication skills. Christopher gave himself the role of a detective in hopes to figure out who murdered his neighbor’s dog. Christopher is determined to find out who the killer is and refuses to back down. Christopher shows his systematic personality when describing how he acts based on something he dislikes, for example, the color yellow. “I saw 4 yellow cars on the way to school, which made it a Black Day, so I didn’t eat anything at lunch and I sat in the corner of the room all day and read my A-level maths course book” (Haddon 53). This quote is showing how Christopher acts and is very particular with what he likes and dislikes. Christopher will let something simple such as seeing a pattern of yellow cars affect his attitude for a whole day.
    “He held up his right hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me” (Haddon 16). This quote is describing the interaction Christopher and his father had at the police station. Christopher has a very strong relationship with his father. His father knows how Christopher wants to be treated. He knows Christopher does not have strong communication skills and does not like to be touched so he uses a different way to show his care for Christopher. He knows how to treat Christopher and how to make him happy. Christopher has his full trust in his father. Christopher also has a trusting relationship with Siobhan, his teacher. Like his father, Siobhan has an understanding of Christopher’s personality. Siobhan is like a guidance counselor to Christopher in a way because she provides advice to Christopher and Christopher trusts her and can tell her any problem he might have in his life. Siohban is helping Christopher write his book, and she pushes Christopher to his best ability. For example, helping Christopher with the grammar in his book and encouraging him with his advanced math. Christopher is particular of strangers and has a hard time communicating his feelings so his relationship with his father and Siobhan are very important to him because they understand his behavior and Christopher knows he has people that he can trust.
    Christopher is a reliable narrator because the book is based on his thoughts and how he processes the “detective work” he is handling. The book is more based on what is going on in his head and how he interprets the other characters actions. He is a reliable narrator because he is the only one that can explain what is going on through his head. Although because the story is from his perspective it can be interpreted as biased, but Christopher is still a reliable source. Christopher is telling his story about discovering who killed his neighbors dog. He describes how he feels when different characters talk to him. He explains his thought process of narrowing down his suspects. Christopher is also a reliable narrator because he does not lie.

    ReplyDelete
  53. The main character of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is Christopher Boone. Christopher is not like most teenagers. He is afraid of talking to strangers and meeting new people. He also hates certain colors and those colors are brown and yellow. He might hate certain colors but he loves prime numbers. Christopher is very smart and someday wants to be an astronaut even though he know the odds are not in his favor. Christopher is also a very literal person and can not tell lies. This also mean that he struggles with humans and emotions.”I don’t low what ‘some hardness, perhaps of eye’ means. And I'm not interested in faces”(Haddon 107). People and readers know that he takes everything literally and that he does not always understand them and he can not always read them.
    Christopher Boone interacts with the two characters Siobhan and his father. He is very close to them and they are the people he spends the most time with. They are the two people in his life that understand him the most. He is not able to connect with people like most people can. “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (Haddon 35). Christopher chooses to stay his distance from people he does not know. He seems to have trust issues and just does not want to get close to people or even trust people unless he knows them for a while and is able to observe them. His father and Siobhan are the two that are the constants in his life that he truly trust. His relationship with them is not like normal teenagers, but it is unique to him. He is able to show that he cares in not usual ways but in his own ways. One example of it is the hand hugging because he does not like to be touched.
    I believe that Christopher Boone is a reliable narrator because he is very smart. He might not seem reliable because he is a teenager and the world is different for him because of his disorder but he truly is an intellectual. He is able to think logically about things even if he takes things literal and its hard for him to read people. He also never lies and is trustworthy because of it.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Aiden Berndt
    Christopher Boone is a fifteen year old kid who has aspergers. He really likes numbers and math. But he really hates specific colors, too much noise or someone touching him. He is a very smart kid but his aspergers prevent him from completely fitting in socially and make him nervous of anything new. Because of this he does not have many relationships with his peers, but some people that he is rather close to include his father and Siobhan. Christopher is very close to his father especially since his mother died and his father became a single parent. This is particularly evident when his father picked Christopher up from jail at 1:30 am and was not mad at all but instead was just happy to see him. Christopher Boone can be considered a reliable narrator because he is a kid and has no agenda or filters that he sees the world through. Which means he just tells the story as it is and leaves nothing out. For example when he said “This is another reason why I don't like proper novels, because they are lies about things which didn't happen and they make me feel shaky and scared. And this is why everything I have written here is true” (25). He is also a reliable narrator because his disability prevents him from lying, which would mean everything he says is truthful and reliable. A good example of this is how he does not like metaphors because they are not truthful and do not make any sense “I think it [a metaphor] should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day and people do not have skeletons in their cupboards” (29). Overall Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his innocence and his aspergers.

    ReplyDelete
  55. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Madeline Laaksonen

    In the novel Christopher Boone represents a complex and logical character tasked with solving a mystery. Christopher has the ability to process the things around him in a very analytical and mathematical way. This trait allows him to be able to process the world around him very practically, but when it comes to human interaction he has difficulties with reading and interacting with people. Christopher states this is because “...people do a lot of talking without using any words” (Haddon 14). It is one of the reasons he prefers being with animals. That is not to say that he does not love the people around him, though. He just has unique and special relationships with them. One would be his father. He says that he would rather have his “...Father speak to [him] but not look at [him]” (Haddon 23). Christopher does enjoy talking with his father, but he dislikes when he cannot read others thoughts and body language while talking face to face. Another one of the special relationships Christopher has is with Siobhan. He likes that fact that she will tell “...[him] exactly what it is that [he is] not allowed to do” (Haddon 29). Often times he does not understand what is actually being asked of him, but he likes the fact that Siobhan will tell him specifically why he is not supposed to do something. Christopher Boone is the type of character that despite all the ways he is different from someone, such as his relationships with others, they cannot help but relate to what he is going through.
    I would say without a doubt that Christopher is a reliable narrator. Christopher is very analytical and even states that he does not even know how to lie. Despite what some might say is his downside, his logical and mathematical side makes for the perfect reliable narrator. While at times this overly meticulous and ordered side does make it seem as though he does not know exactly what is going on, Christopher writes down all his thoughts on the world around him. This makes it a precise and accurate glimpse into the world around him through his viewpoint. That is basic platform of what a reliable narrator is–completely honest about their surroundings. Who is anyone to say that just because he has a mental disorder it makes him an unreliable narrator because that logical and organized thinking is exactly what makes him a perfectly reliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  57. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Christopher John Francis Boone is a 15 year old boy and narrator of “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” with an autism spectrum condition, presumably Asperger's Syndrome. Christopher is a highly intelligent boy, as he does complex math problems in his head and is very talented in the sciences, yet due to his condition, social interactions are highly perplexing to him. “I got Siobhan to draws lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying,” (Haddon 3). In this scene in the beginning of the story, Christopher describes how his aid Siobhan tried to teach him how to read faces and understand emotions that are not the cut and dry “happy” or “sad”. Christopher doesn’t inherently understand most of the complexities of society and tries to place all of the enigmatic rules into set structures in which they do not belong. In Chapter 67, as Christopher does some detective work in order to discover Wellington’s killer, he talks to his neighbor Mrs. Alexander and by common standards, has a normal interaction. However, very few things are normal for Christopher. “I didn’t reply to this either because Mrs. Alexander was doing what is called chatting, where people say things to each other which aren’t questions and answers and aren’t connected,” (Haddon 40). In what would be common courtesy to most people, Christopher sees chatting as a waste of time and something he would be better to not engage in. As well as not understanding social norms, Christopher has very specific quirks about him. Christopher dislikes the colors brown and yellow, as well as yelling, jokes, being touched, and metaphors. Christopher does like the color red, dogs, prime numbers, order, astronauts, and hospitals. All of these rather particular traits, as well as his other idiosyncrasies, create Christopher’s odd yet interesting persona.

    Christopher Boone is an unreliable narrator. His disconnection from the common understanding of the world oftentimes leaves the reader uninformed in the reality of the situation at hand. Oftentimes he observes things that are not in any way connected to the story yet misses the context clues that would allow regular people to infer what was really happening. His oversensitivity to the extreme minutiae that exists in each scenario that he encounters forces the reader to cut away the excess detail in order to understand what is occurring. Christopher’s lack of narrowed focus, frequent bending of truth for his own gain, and lack of understanding concerning the real world is what makes him an unreliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Will Sullivan


    Christopher is the narrator in the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. He has asperger's syndrome and is different from people at his age right now. He is extremely talented at doing math and can remember almost all of the prime numbers. He loves to solve mysteries and always wants to find out the truth behind every situation. He lacks social skills and recognizing situations and what is appropriate to say and how to act. He doesn’t like when he gets made fun of but does say some pretty insulting things to his classmates as well. He does some pretty obnoxious things that could drive the reader crazy because of the way he acts. He loves science and would like to be a astronaut some day. He does not find it easy to find it easy to make friends as he says, “I find it confusing” (Haddon 14.) He will also just tell it like it is when he says, “Mother died 2 years ago” (Haddon 22.)

    Christopher does not have the best relationships in the world with everyone except with his teacher, Siobhan. He has a great relationship with Siobhan because they really understand each other and can speak their own language with each other. His relationship with his father is really hard to understand because it seems like they can be close at time and his father seems to work hard to try and bond with his son. On the other hand, it also seems like the father gets tired of having to deal with Christopher’s shenanigans all the time and starts to lash out at him and become angry. For example, the father says, “What the hell were you doing poking around her garden? How many times do I have to tell you Christopher?” (Haddon 48-49.) Another example in the book would be when Siobhan is talking to Christopher and says, “And she said, ‘Are you telling the truth, Christopher?’ And then I said, ‘I always tell the truth.’ And she said, ‘I know you do, Christopher. But sometimes we get sad about things and we don't like to tell other people that we are sad about them.’ (Haddon 109.)

    I think that Christopher is definitely a reliable narrator because he does not like to lie at all and is always very truthful with everyone he meets even if it is not appropriate to say. He always wants to find out the truth and would never want anyone else to find out anything but the truth as well, which is what makes him such a reliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Christopher Boone is a peculiar fifteen year old boy who finds comfort in structure and logic. To the reader it is apparent that Christopher has some form of Autism. Christopher struggles with empathizing with others. For him reading others emotions is near impossible. Where Christopher lacks in his ability to interpret emotion he makes up for with his extraordinary math and memorization skills. He separates components of his life into two categories: extreme dislike or extreme like. Christopher likes red cars but hates black cars, he likes logic but dislikes metaphors. “I like this fact. It is something you can work out in your own mind just by looking at the sky above your head at night and thinking without having to ask anyone”( Haddon 10). Christopher focuses a lot of his story on logic. He voices his fixation with concrete facts. Christopher numbers his chapters using only prime numbers again showing his affinity for order saying “I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them” (12). Although Christophers logical mindset is advantageous it also creates conflict for him.
    Christopher has a rather complicated relationship with his father, however; his therapist Siobhan offers him guidance and clarity. Christopher does not have a social group that he surrounds himself with. Because Christopher lacks the ability to interpret others emotions or motives he tends to avoid interaction with new people. “I do not like strangers because I do not like people I’ve never met before. They are hard to understand” (34). Another instance in which Christopher expresses his lack of interest in social interactions is when he shares that he would like to be an astronaut and mentions “Sometimes when I want to be on my own I get into the airing cupboard… and sit there and think for hours and it makes me feel very calm” (50). The fact that Christopher wants to be an astronaut because it means he would get to be alone shows his introverted nature.
    To the reader Christopher appears to be a reliable narrator to an extent. Because Christopher is at a slight disadvantage due to his disability it can be reasoned that he can untintanualy skew his portrayal of events. Christopher also mentions that he is unable to lie and does not like doing it. For the most part he seems to be telling the truth but due to the way he interprets events and others actions some of the information provided could be inaccurate.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Christopher Boone is a character in the story The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome and can’t help but be different. Christopher is good at math and knows every single prime number up to 7047. He is very interested in sciences and reads books about science all the time. He does not have many friends, because he understands very few people. He says, “I find people confusing” (Haddon 14). The only people that he trusts are is dad and Siobhan. He does not lie either and he gives it to you straight forward. His voice is that he always says how he feels about things and doesn’t sugarcoat things. He will just be blunt with the reader like when he blatantly says, “Mother died two years ago” (Haddon 22).
    He is a reliable narrator because of that. He does not fake anything in is story and he gives the story from his point of view which is the only point of view he can know, so he is as reliable as he can be. He is also new to this book writing thing so his writing is straight and to the point and he does not have a lot of fluff. The only reason he will try to put interesting things is because he was told to do that in books. In the book he says, “Siobhan said that when you are writing books you have to include some description of things” (67). Since he doesn’t put unnecessary information unless he feels the need, and only tells the truth, then that makes him a reliable narrator.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has a very strong personality. He also has very strong likes and dislikes. For example, he very strongly dislikes the color yellow and brown. However, he loves the color red. Christopher dies his food red with food coloring. “She walked to the little red box on a pole next to the gate to the park and she put Ivor’s poo into the box, which is was a brown thing inside a red thing, which made my head feel funny so I didn’t look,” (57). This shows how strong Christopher’s likes and dislikes are, to the point where he gets sick due to his strong dislikes. Christopher is a very reliable narrator. This is shown throughout the book, for example when Christopher is talking with Mrs. Alexander and she says, “You won’t tell your father about this conversation, will you?” and Christopher replies, “No. I promised,” (61). This shows how Christopher is a very trustworthy narrator. Christopher’s reliability is also shown while he is talking to Siobhan about his conversation with Mrs. Alexander. Siobhan asked Christopher if he is telling the truth and Christopher replies, “I always tell the truth” (75). This also proves Christopher reliability as a narrator as he does not lie and is very trustworthy.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Blog One: Christopher is a very smart character, however his social skills lack greatly. Christopher does not have “hobbies”, however he chooses to spend his free time learning about topics that interest him. His relationship with his dad and Siobhan seem to be the most comfortable relationships in his life. I believe that he is a reliable narrator because he has trouble telling lies. Christopher seems to be a reliable source in these quotes “I replied, I am 15 years and 3 months and 2 days old.”(6). This is an important quote because a normal kid does not know this information, or at least doesn’t share this information. Another quote is “The police car smelled of hot plastic and aftershave and take-away chips.”(9). Both these quotes are significant because they point to very weird traits that Christopher has. Christopher is seen as a reliable source to people reading the book because he tells the story exactly how it happened, and not by his side. Christopher does not understand half the story, however he tells it how it happened anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Blog #1

    Christopher is a kid with aspergers that is quite cheeky. He is very nosey with other people's business and seems to get in trouble when he does not try to. He loves writing books which is why he composed this one, and he also loves mysteries and how to solve them. One thing he does not like is the colors yellow and brown. Apparently they mean bad things so it never okay to encounter those colors. For example he always determines if he day will be good or bad by looking at the colors of cars. If there are 3-5 red cars in a row it will be a good day, and if there are yellow cars then it will be a Black Day, which means he sits by himself and talks to no one. Another thing he loves is prime numbers and every country in the world. “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 7,507”(3.1). Another thing about Christopher is that he is not good at reading people’s faces. He knows the simple, happy and sad, but besides that he cannot tell. “And I don't know what some hardness, perhaps of eye means, and I'm not interested in faces” (107.11). He doesn't like interacting that much, but when he is determined to find something out he will go to any measure to do so. Overall, Christopher is a great kid who loves exploring and solving mysteries, with certain passion’s that make him as unique as anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Part One:
    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is the story of a boy named Christopher Boone who is very different from the rest of the kids around him. One night he sees a dead dog in his neighbor's yard. This leads Christopher on a journey to find out who killed his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, even if others are trying to prevent him from doing so. Along the way clues about his life are revealed & Christopher begins to see everything in a new light.
    Christopher is different from other kids his age because he has aspergers, which is a type of high-functioning autism. It causes him to not like people touching him, so much so that he will hit people touching him, & he does not like talking to strangers. This prevents him from talking with others & truly connecting with anyone. Christopher also dislikes the colors yellow & brown, which prevents him from eating any foods with those colors, but likes the color red & thins seeing a red car will mean his day will be good. He is also very smart, even as he goes to a special needs school. He knows all prime numbers up to 7,057, is good at math & physics, & wants to become an astronaut in the future. He knows his dream of becoming an astronaut will not happen because of his difficulties, but that thought does not hinder him. One problem with Christopher is he seems very emotionally detached from everything. This causes him to be honest all of the time even when it is not appropriate. He does not take into account others feelings, so he tends to tell the truth even if it will hurt someone. He does not understand why people say that you always have to tell the truth, when “they do not mean this because you are not allowed to tell old people that they are old & you are not allowed to tell people if they smell funny or if a grown-up has made a fart,” (Haddon, 46). He seems to not know when the appropriate time is to tell the truth, as when he talked with the police officer he said he had meant to hit the police officer for touching him. Christopher also cannot tell when others are hurting, as he continues to hurt his dad by digging into his mother’s past & trying to find the dog killer, even as his father tells him to stop. When his father is hurting Christopher continues to stick the knife in as he talks about Mr. Shears. Christopher sees nothing wrong with telling the truth or talking about unpleasant, even when it can hurt someone. Since he seems not to account for others he is not close with many other people, but the people he is close with he cares dearly for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Part Two:
      Christopher’s only friends are his dad & Siobhan. Christopher’s dad & himself do not seem close, but the love is felt in their actions towards each other. Mr. Boone makes sure Christopher’s food does not touch each other & he respects Christopher’s wishes of not hugging by touching hands. Although Christopher does not seem to care about others feelings, he does try to understand his father’s feelings after Wellington dies by asking him if he is sad & he is apologetic to his father after he is taken into the police station. Their relationship is strained due to Christopher wanting to solve the mystery & him digging into his family past. Christopher's best friendship is with Siobhan, one of his teachers at school. He is able to talk with her openly & is the only one he ever asks for help. She is the one who encourages him to write his book & gives suggestions to him on it. Although the reader does not know a lot about Siobhan it can be inferred that she also cares deeply for Christopher as she is patient with him & his needs. The person who has the most influence on him is his mother. She died two years ago, but Christopher constantly talks about her as if she is still around. His mother is the one who told him not to lie & she always thought he was kind & helpful, which is why his name is Christopher because she believes it is a story about being nice. Unfortunately Christopher does not always understand his mother & he says “I want my name to mean me,” not some story about being good (Haddon, 16). Christopher does not want to live his life by what his name means, he wants to be himself in his own special way. Towards the middle of the book he starts to branch out & meet new people to figure out the mystery. I believe this is allowing him to come out of his shell & be more reliable in his story.
      Christopher so far has not told a lie to anyone, except those small white lies he told his father, & has gone put himself out there to solve this mystery. He does not let his fear of talking to strangers prevent him from finding suspects & getting information. It is already known that he is smart, as he is the only one in his school to ever take the A level test. All of these qualities make me believe he is a very reliable narrator. He does go of on tangents from time to time, diverting from the mystery to his personal life but these little snippets of his life offer the reader a better clue as to who Christopher really is. He speaks like an adult, with critical level thinking & is not giggling when someone says a curse word near him like many other kids might do. His ability to think is what makes him very reliable. He is always calculating what will happen next, trying to figure out what people mean, & always stressing his points to people so they will understand. He may be young, but that does not mean he is childish in anyway, rather he seems to be the most mature in the book as many of the adults seem to have problems with drinking, yelling, & gossiping. Christopher has never done any of these things & has continued to be honest, unlike many people around him. Overall, Christopher knows what he wants & does not dwell on a topic for a long time, allowing him to continue his mission & solve the mystery. This makes him the most reliable because he knows who he is & believes he can do it.
      As Christopher has solved more of the mystery, he has grown as a person. He is branching out & talking to people & his ability to learn allows him to find more clues. He continues to push himself to find the truth & it will one day lead him to the killer. He may be different, but this does not stop him from trying to solve the murder of Wellington.

      Delete
  66. In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time, Christopher Boone and his father have a special relationship built on trust and understanding. Christopher trusts that his father will make him food and provide him with protection. The understanding they share is demonstrated when his father, “...held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. [Christopher] held up [his] left hand and spread [his] fingers out in a fan and [they] made [their] fingers and thumbs touch each other” (81). Christopher narrates, “We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me” (81). This scene establishes that they have this trust and understanding. The reader knows that the father really cares for his son in his demonstration of love. The reader also knows that Christopher does not like being touched and that he has a hard time understanding the concept of love and other emotions. This moves the plot forward by introducing Christopher’s trouble with connecting with people and his difficulty with understanding emotions. This will be problematic as the story unfolds.
    Later in the novel, Christopher narrates, “ I don’t like it when people grab me. And I don’t like being surprised either. So I hit him, like I hit the policeman when he took hold of my arms and lifted me onto my feet. But Father didn’t let go, and he was shouting. And I hit him again. And then I didn’t know what I was doing anymore” (82-83). The father has just found out that Christopher talked with Mrs. Alexander, who told him secrets about Christopher’s mother and the neighbor next door. The father is very upset at Christopher and uncharacteristically grabs his son, who reacts violently. This scene demonstrates how the father has frustration build up inside him over the years of trying to remain calm in aggravating situations. Christopher demonstrates how he will be violent if he believes he is doing it in self defense. This builds up tension in Christopher and his father’s relationship. They have lost some trust between them. This loss of trust will be very destructive in their relationship and furthers plot in the story with this predicament.
    Christopher’s father tries apologizing for lying about his mother’s affair saying, “‘We all make mistakes, Christopher. You, me, your mum, everyone. And sometimes they’re really big mistakes. We’re only human” (122). The father, “...held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. But [Christopher] screamed and pushed him backward so that he fell off the bed and onto the floor” (122). Christopher cannot accept his father’s apology. They lost some trust in their relationship earlier in the novel, but now they have lost all trust. Christopher no longer trusts his dad and does not understand why his dad kept secrets from him. Right after this, the father confesses to murdering the dog, Wellington. This destroys all trust and understanding. In addition, Christopher is afraid of his father because of his father’s lies and actions. The readers have seen a recession in this father-to-son relationship. This leaves the readers wondering if such a relationship could be restored.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Christopher is one of the most complex and his mind is perpendicular to ours. It may be hard to understand to his likes and dislikes, personality, and his relationship. However, diving into his mind through the book creates as much imagery for the mind possible for him to be a reliable narrator and understand his point of view.
    When the word ‘personality’ and Christopher pop into the same sentence, we might think of directness. Christopher has no problem in the book telling what he thinks and what he does not think. It is obvious that Christopher is the most honest and reliable narrator despite being unable to interpret his feelings at times. There is nothing quite intriguing about the text except for the things that might intrigue him, otherwise it is very frank. An example of this is through his jokes. For example Christopher uses logic and a straightforward answer. Another example of his voice that he uses is when he describes things. For example when Christopher went to jail, “It was nice in the police cell” (Haddon 14). This shows us about Christopher’s character showing that he likes to be alone and his voice shows the most directness about something so absurd. Another quote is “My name is Christopher John Francis Boon. I know all of the countries of the world and their capitals cities and every prime number up 7,507” (Haddon 1). This quote shows how much knowledge of things means to Christopher. Not only is knowledge part of what is logical, but it’s part of Christopher, and he owns that.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Christopher sees the world as it is, purely on the surface, never really getting deep. Because of this trait, Christopher’s personality is very binary and computer like. There are exceptions to his decision making but this is his personality. Christopher solves problems very straightforward as if each variable is an ‘x’ or ‘y’. I can see the depth of each variable, but Christopher can not. He can only see the surface of each variable and that is why he makes decisions with such ease, it is either 1 or 0, yes or no. Thus he finds so much comfort in math, he can make decisions that he knows are right or wrong. In the real world, he is usually judged or seen as wrong even though he thinks he is right.

    Many times we witness Christopher explaining why he made a certain decision. The best example for this is how he decides what day it is. “The next day I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it a Black Day.” Based on how many red or yellow cars he sees in a row on the way to school determines how good or bad his day will be. This is a very algebraic way to live every day of his life. Christopher's justification also shows how he only understands what's on the surface. His perspective is that people decide to be sad because it has rained. “A Black Day, which is 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.” People do not choose to make their day difficult like Christopher, it is what happens to people when it rains that makes them feel sad. Christopher does not do this to make himself feel sad like he thinks he does. He does this because he finds pleasure in order. These black days tend to frustrate or scare his mother and father. His mother is the one who fights Christopher’s autistic behavior. This causes a considerable amount of strain on their relationship. Christopher’s father is much easier going and slow to temper. Even with their minimal interaction, they have a strong relationship.

    There is a reason why the book feels quite dull while reading it. It is because Christopher only describes what is happening on the surface. So, physically, I believe that what Christopher tells us is true, yet when he tries to get any deeper it becomes unreliable. The relationship with his father is very hazy and I do not know what to think about him. The way that he reasons things is different and hard to adjust to as a reader. As the reader, I also believe it is my job to pick and choose what I believe Christopher is saying. Because of this I conclude that he is a reliable narrator for his surface information and yet unreliable at deeper descriptions.

    ReplyDelete
  69. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Christopher Boone is an observant teenage boy whose mind is set but emotions are jumbled into a ball. He finds comfort in order and predictability, which explains his passion for detective work and mathematics. He criticizes people in a harsh and nonchalant fashion, how people “are lazy” and “never look at anything. They do what is called glancing” (Haddon 140). Christopher is so observant of the physical aspects of a landscape that he skips over the social atmosphere or mood that looms over that landscape. He dislikes people for this reason, because there are so many unique people and everybody is thinking a different thought, each just as hard to read as the last. People also like to touch and look at each other when they talk, and use idioms and metaphors and lies, all of which he despises.
    Other characters in the story have a hard time relating to Christopher. From an outside view, he seems rather rude in the sense he only responds to questions that are asked directly and he doesn’t carry conversation well with strangers. One such example is his first interaction with Mrs. Alexander, where she makes a simple statement and Christopher doesn’t reply “because Mrs. Alexander was doing what is called chatting, where people say things to each other which aren’t questions and answers and aren’t connected” (Haddon 40). His interactions are centered around him and his empathy link with other people are shot and inaccessible.
    Christopher is a completely unreliable narrator, as his world view is skewed and unconventional to the common reader. He says that “a lie is when you say something happened that didn’t happen… there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place” (Haddon 19). Because of Christopher’s disposition to be completely logical about everything, he lacks the empathy to see things through another person’s eyes, as orchestrated by his inability to process his own emotions as a “normal” human can. Due to his defunct empathy, he can only see things how he perceives them.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Christopher Francis Boone is a 15 year old teenage boy. He lives in England, specifically a small town called Swindon. Christopher is not like most boys his age, or any boys at all. Christopher does strange things, and does not understand emotions like other people do. Although he is very intelligent, Christopher does not have very good social skills. Christopher has trouble talking to people and keeps to himself. Christopher has trouble expressing himself, and so he starts "smashing things when I am angry or confused" (Haddon 46). He does not like the color yellow or brown, which is why he uses his red food dye in everything he eats. Small spaces and loud noises are overwhelming and make him sick. Christopher says, "I do not like people shouting at me. It makes me scared that they are going to hit me or touch me and I do not know what is going to happen" (Haddon 4). However, Christopher enjoys things such as playing video games. Christopher also likes making schedules of his day. He is very good at math, and is getting an "A grade" in it. Christopher can solve complex problems in his head. People often doubt him. In my opinion, Christopher is a reliable narrator. He is brutally honest, and does not seem to care about what other people think. Christopher is logical and does not lie. He says, "I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can't tell lies" (Haddon 19). Christopher sees no point in lying. His point of view is true and accurate.

    ReplyDelete