Pages 84-164
Christopher’s
evolving
relationship
with
his
father
is
one
of
the
central
dramas
of
the
novel.
Pick three scenes—one from the beginning, one from the middle, one from the end
(up to page 164) —in which Christopher interacts with his father, and discuss what each
scene reveals about their relationship. How does the scene develop each character? How
does it work to move the plot forward?
Pick three scenes—one from the beginning, one from the middle, one from the end
(up to page 164) —in which Christopher interacts with his father, and discuss what each
scene reveals about their relationship. How does the scene develop each character? How
does it work to move the plot forward?
Blog Two: Christopher and his father’s relationship experiences many ups and downs throughout this section of the reading; starting with good and respectful behavior, then to disappointment about Christopher’s father killing Wellington, and in the end Christopher believes his father's behavior is and was unbearable and is too much for Christopher to handle, so he leaves to find his mother.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the story, Christopher and his Father’s relationship is normal and respectful. Nothing dramatical happen in the beginning of this reading, therefore not changing Christopher and his dad’s relationship to anything but the way their relationship has always been. At the beginning of the reading Christopher’s dad asks him what he wants for dinner, and when Christopher tells him, he automatically accepts it. This is the relationship that Christopher and his father have had since Christophers mother left. However, right after dinner Christopher goes up to his room to read the letter addressed to him by his mother. This leads to the middle section of the reading, and how Christopher and his father's relationship changes.
In the middle section of the reading, by reading the letters his mom had been sending him all long while she was living in London, Christopher figures out she is not dead. Christopher does not keep this a secret for long, and goes straight to his father to confront him about his discovery. Christopher’s dad then breaks down crying and explains the entire situation to Christopher, and this is the point where Christopher loses respect for his father and their relationship changes. This leads Christopher to never heal his relationship with his father, which leads Christopher to his next action.
In the ending of this reading Christopher decides to go run off to England and find his mother, because he feels his relationship with his dad is too weak to fix. The combination of his dad admitting to killing Wellington and his dad confirming Christopher’s discovery that his mom was still alive pushed Christopher over the edge and forced his hand to make a change. Christopher and his dad’s relationship is almost nonexistent at the end of this reading.
Christopher is not close with many people, this is because he does not like new people very much so he never meets anyone new. His father is his only parent and friend. Christopher says he knows that his dad loves him because he cares for him. In the beginning of the book Christopher and his father have nice and sweet interactions. Like when Christopher got locked in jail his dad was patient with him and did not yell at him. Instead when his father first saw him, “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out like a fan… We made our fingers 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”(Haddon 16). His dad clearly has learned the little quirks about Christopher and knows how to be the best dad for him.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of their relationship in the middle of the story is when his dad found Christopher's book, although it is wrong that Christopher disobeyed his dad the reaction was a little too much and obviously Christopher went out of control as well. “I was very surprised when he grabbed me… and when they switched me on again I was sitting on the carpet with my back against the wall and there was blood on my right hand and the side of my head was hurting”(Haddon 82). This reveals that although his father tries really hard to be the best father for his son, he has flaws too and when he reacts the wrong way it all blows up and so does Christopher. This shows going forward that there are going to be more fights and that something is definitely bothering his dad more than we know. It sets the plot to move forward because it makes readers wonder why it is such a tough subject.
From the end of the story Christopher finds out an enormous secret, his mother is alive. This made Christopher completely shut down, “But it didn’t hurt when he touched me, like it normally does. I could see him touching me, like I was watching a film of what was happening in the room, but I could hardly feel his hand at all”(Haddon 114). This shows that his father has once again made a big mistake, to the point that Christopher can not even function. This scene reveals that the father has lied to Christopher, and he absolutely hates lies. It shows for the future of the story that their relationship can never be the same again. Also by seeing how he loves detective work us readers assume the book will keep on going for an even bigger adventure.
Christopher has a confusing relationships with his Father. It has many different parts to it that make it not an ideal father-son relationship. The scene between Christopher and his father when his father hits him. This is never good for a relationship and shows how the relationship is if that ever happens. I believe it makes Christopher stronger but shows how his dad is a bad role model.
ReplyDeleteThe scene right after it when Christopher’s Father apologizes for hitting him. His father took him to the zoo right after and there isn’t much dialogue but it was a good moment for them. It enhanced their relationship and showed that forgiveness is a good thing and you can move on from an incident like that.
The last scene is when Christopher’s Father is trying to get his trust. This is an important scene because his father admits to not telling the truth but saying he is trying to and it's difficult. He later goes on to admit he was the one who killed the dog. This is not good for either character as Christopher cared so much about the situation and his father lied to him about it and killed it. This drove a wedge between them and is not good for their relationship.
One interaction that appears at the start of the book that shows the relationship between Christopher and his father is the scene after the prison where they are talking about the whole situation with the dog. Christopher’s father does not necessarily understand him very well. Christopher wants to find out who killed the dog because he thinks it is the right thing to do and if Christopher thinks something is the correct thing to do then chances are that he will do it. His father does not understand him by constantly telling him to leave it. His father says, “its a bloody dog Christopher, a bloody dog” (20), and does not realize how important that Christopher thinks dogs are. HIs father clearly does not treat him with the amount of respect and understanding that he deserves.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the reading one interaction that describes Christopher's relationship with his father is when his father tries to make up for hitting him by taking him to the zoo. It seems that his father is becoming cognizant of who is son is as a person and is aware of how he should be treating him. He wants to make it up to Christopher so he takes him to a zoo. He also says, “Christopher, do you understand that I love you?” (87). This shows that his father is starting to realize how much his son means to him and wants to start to change how he interacts with his son. This is key in turning over a new leaf in the development in this relationship.
Near the end of the section CHristopher starts to grow farther away from his father as he realizes that his father was the one that killed Wellington. Also, his father had been hiding letters from him that were from his mother and had been lying to him about his mother. At this point Christopher wants nothing to do with his father and their relationship seems like it is getting drastically worse. This can be seen when Christopher starts running away from the officer in the train station because the officer told him that he was going back to his father (159). Anything positive out of this relationship seems almost impossible right now, but with the way the relationship was trending before then, I think it will turn out good in the end.
Christopher relationship with his father is constantly changing and evolving throughout the book. Towards the beginning of the book, Christopher has a fairly good relationship with his father. He writes about how his dad is usually pretty understanding of him and has always been more patient than his mother. Once in a while, his father will get upset and start to yell or grab Christopher, but only because he gets upset when Christopher will not cooperate. He feels very comfortable around his dad because he is not a stranger, and his dad knows what he likes and what he does not like. One thing that Christopher is adamant about is his food not touching. Something as little as this shows that Christopher and his father get along at the beginning of the novel. Christopher describes how his father followed his rule of not letting his food touch, “The supper was backed beans and broccoli and two slices of ham and they were laid out on the plate so that they were not touching” (Haddon 48). His father knows almost everything about Christopher and does his best to make Christopher happy. Although it is sometimes hard for him because of Christopher’s severe autism that causes his father to get upset after a while.
ReplyDeleteNear the middle of the novel, their relationship gets both stronger and weaker. Christopher finds letters that have been addressed to him and sent from his mother. At first, Christopher does not think they are actually from his mother because his father told him that she had passed away. He does not think that his dad would lie to him. Whenever his father was not home Christopher tried to read letters. As he continued to read them, he realised they were actually from his mother and that his mother had not really died but instead moved away with another man. This really upset Christopher because he does not understand how people lie, and he thinks when people lie they do not love him. Christopher got sick all over his room, and his dad found him lying on his bed. Immediately his dad ran over to him and felt terrible. He had no way to justify lying to Christopher, but he tried to apologize, “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie… I just thought it was better if you didn’t know…” (Haddon 114). At this point in the book, Christopher lost trust in his dad. His dad truly did not mean to hurt him the way he did, and it is very clear in the book. Although Christopher believes their relationship is ruined, it could have been a point to strengthen it. When his dad hid the notes from Christopher, it was because he cared so much for him and he did not want Christopher to get hurt and overwhelmed with the truth of his mother’s affair. Christopher was very hurt by his father lying to him, and things continue to hurt his view of their relationship throughout the rest of the book.
The main purpose of Christopher writing this novel was to write a murder mystery novel about the death of the neighbor dog, Wellington. His father had told him repeatedly to stop searching for the killer of the dog. Of course, Christopher did not listen and he continued to search for answers but never got closer to the true killer. Towards the end of the assigned pages, his father tells him that he himself killed Wellington. His father was angry with Mrs. Shears because he felt that she cared about the dog more than she cared about him and Christopher. Mrs. Shears said some things about them that hurt his father, and killing Wellington was the only way he felt like he could get his anger out. He knew it was wrong, and he knew it would hurt Christopher.Christopher thinks that because his father killed Wellington that he is a murderer and that his father will also kill him. Due to this thought, Christopher attempts to run away to London where his mother lives. Throughout the assigned pages, the relationship between Christopher and his father continue to change. Since Christopher is easily hurt and does not forgive people very easily, the relationship seemingly gets worse as time goes on.
Will Sullivan
ReplyDeleteEvent one: Pg 83. A very intense scene that happens is when his father finds his book on the table and finds out what Christopher has really been doing. The father then gets really angry and when he grabs a hold of Christopher, Chris starts to hit him and the father then hits back. Chris ends up knocked out and with blood all over him. It shows that the Father has an anger issue and is out of control beating up his son. Even if Christopher did disobey him, it gives the father no right to go and beat his son up. It makes us feel empathy for Christopher and what he has had to go through. It creates a rift between Chris and his dad, after the tension had settled down because no one knew how to properly react to it.
Event two: Pg 114 One of the scenes that is really intense towards the middle of the pages through 164, was when Christopher's father finally ends up telling him that his mother is actually not dead and that he was lying the entire time. In this scene his father says, "It was so complicated. So difficult. And I... I said she was in hospital. And I know it wasn't true. But once I'd said that... I
couldn't... I couldn't change it. Do you understand... Christopher...? Christopher...?"(Haddon 114.) This scene tells us how their entire relationship has been a lie and been building off lies the entire time. It definitely takes their relationship trust level way down because how could Christopher trust him after he kept something so big from him. Christopher's dad has definitely developed because now we know he can’t be trusted about almost any subject he is talking about, because it might not be true. It now moves the plot forward now because Chris finally knows what happened to his mother and can go find her.
Event 3: The last scene that I thought really showed the true relationship between the father and Chris is when he is talking to the policeman about how he doesn’t want to go live with his dad anymore and see him. It tells us that Chris is really done with his father and that there has been too much anger and tension between them for it to be a healthy relationship. It moves the plot forward because it tells us how the relationship between two of the main characters is going to be in the upcoming chapters. It gives us some real drama to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteBlog #2
Christopher's relationship with his father is forever changing. He gets abused sometimes and then other times he is cradled like a baby. In the beginning of the book, the relationship seemed very aggressive. Christopher seemed like he did not really understand what was happening because he was just being his curious self. His father did not like that he explored things that were not his own business so he would hit him. More towards the middle of the assigned reading, Christopher feared being hit by his father a little more, and it tended to not happen as often. So now that Christopher would expect to get hit, his father restrains.Then towards the end their relationship changes completely. Once Christopher explores and finds letters written to him from his mom, his father breaks down in tears and feels sympathy for Christopher. He no longer hits him, but rather cares for him in a loving way. Father feels bad for what he has done the past few years and cries next to Christopher. Christopher was used to him hitting him when he would get close, but that time it was different, and Christopher actually felt safe. From that point on, Christopher and his father have a better relationship in the sense that it is not aggressive but they are still working it out because Christopher is mad at father and has many questions.
Ally Robb
ReplyDeleteMrs. Gilson
Honors Junior English
Blog 2
Blog 2
In the beginning of “The Curious Dog in the Night Time”, Christopher’s relationship seems strained with his father because Christopher keeps getting in trouble while investigating for the murder of Wellington the dog. Even though it is evident that his father deeply cares about him when trying to get him out of the holding cell in jail after hitting a policeman. Christopher’s father tries his best to do make Christopher’s life easy. Though it is hard for Christopher to understand his father emotions and that his father’s anger gets the best of him sometimes, “‘Christopher, if you do not behave I swear I shall knock the living daylights out of you,’”(Haddon 47). Even though Mr. Boone says harsh statements, Christopher knows that his father would do anything for him. Furthermore, his father cares about Christopher’s interests and hobbies such as math and attempts to get Christopher the best that he can possibly do. Christopher’s father is firm about his intentions to make sure Christopher is happy in school and at home.
Towards the middle of the book, we begin to see a more caring and affectionate relationship that he and his father have. For example, when Christopher was hungry, confused, or upset his father would be patient, gentle, and understanding with him. Christopher admits that it is hard for people to understand Christopher, like his own mother did. She says in one of the letters when referring to the awful shopping trip,”I was not a very good mother, Christopher… your father was really nice about it at first and he made you supper and he put you to bed and he said these things happen and it would be ok” (Haddon 106-107). Christopher’s father understands how to work with Christopher particularity and personality. For example, Christopher does not like physical touch because it completely overwhelms him and make him uncomfortable. Therefore Christopher and his father do a hand hug in place of a real hug to show that they care for one another. Also, Mr. Boone makes food for Christopher that he would accept and eat such as baked beans and red food coloring.
Towards the end of the book Christopher become frightened who his father really is because he finds out that his father has been lying to him for the last 2 years. Christopher finds letters dated to him in search of his journal to keep notes and observations for Wellington’s murderer. Christopher begins to read them and finds out that his mother who he presumed to be dead was alive and attempting to reach out for him. Mr. Boone finds him in the middle of the letters after coming home from school and freaks out. He ends up hitting Christopher across the face leaving a bruise in his wake. It is as if a switches in Christopher. “‘I’m going to live with my mother because father killed Wellington and he lied and I’m frightened of being in the house with him’” (Haddon 134). Christopher feels that he can no longer trust his father because he lied about a big thing and that he killed Wellington. Since Mr. Boone killed Wellington, Christopher thinks that his father will kill him. Christopher begins his run away from his father and towards his mother in London. Christopher now wants nothing to do with his father anymore.
In Mark Haddon’s the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Christopher and his father lives together. Their relationship is different with a father and a son because Christopher is a special kid.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, “And Father said, ‘Christopher, do you understand that I love you?’ And I said ‘Yes’”(Haddon 87). According to the story, Christopher was hit by his father since Father wanted him to stop finding who killed the dog. On the second, Father apologized to Christopher and decided to take him to the zoo. This quote seems like a normal conversation between a father and a son. A teenage who is 15 should already know that his parents loves him. However, from Christopher’s perspective, he compared his father’s psychological love with his physical actions, such as coming to the police station, cooking meals or telling the truth. Christopher's logical personality made him hard to understand what true love is.
As the story keeps going, “I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him, even though he had said ‘trust me,’ because he had told a lie about a big thing” (Haddon 122). This is the plot when Christopher discovered his mother is still alive which made his father a lier. He also was told that his father kills Wellington which made his father a murderer. It is funny to see Christopher's action because he thinks his father is going to kill him too. This part of the story clearly shows the reader a strange boy, who does not really know what love is, is sacred from his father’s action and wants to run away from the family. Apparently, this moved the plot forward by letting a boy start a journey to find his mum and figure out what love is.
In the end, “And then I thought that he was going to take me back to Father and that was frightening because he was a policeman and police men are meant to be good, so I started to sun away, but he grabbed me and I screamed” (Haddon 159). The plot in this quote happens on a train to London. Father goes to the policy station and looks for Christopher. Christopher does not want to go back to see his father. His reaction keeps the train running which the story moves on.
This part of the story is pretty interesting since both father and son seems little confusing and need to sit down and have a good talk. Christopher’s weird personality made the problem hard to solve.
Christopher and his father have a very unique relationship. Christopher relies on his father for almost everything, and his father has been raising him alone. Christopher's father is very protective of him. In the beginning of the book on page 17, after Christopher had called his father from the police station, he showed up very upset and yelled at the policemen for locking Christopher up. This shows that Christopher's father always has his back and truly does love him.
ReplyDeleteChristopher's father also gets very upset with him sometimes. For example, on their way home from the police station that same night, Christopher asked his father if he thought the person who actually killed the dog would get in trouble and Christopher's father "banged the steering wheel with his fist" .. "and shouted 'Leave it, for God's sake'" (Haddon 21). This is just one example of his father lashing out at Christopher for something thats not his fault and he probably doesn't even know what he did wrong. This continues throughout the book.
Christopher's father is under a lot of stress and he does not handle it well. Towards the end of the reading, Christopher's father hits him because he was frustrated with him. The next day, on page 85, his father apologizes to Christopher and said he didn't mean to hit him, and took him to the zoo to make up for it. Christopher's dad is the most important person in his life and I think that when his father loses his temper and hits him or screams at him it confuses Christopher.
Christopher and his dad have a very unique father-son relationship. It is filled with ups and downs, with hatred and love. Since Christopher’s mother is gone, he must lean heavily on his father for help and love. One of the first times we encounter Christopher’s father is at the police station when he was going to get Christopher after he had slapped the police officer. “He was shouting, ‘I want to see my son,’ and ‘Why the hell is he locked up?’ and ‘Of course I’m bloody angry’” (Haddon 16). This shows right away how much Christopher’s father cares about him. This shows that they have a pretty good relationship to begin, even though father gets angry with Christopher at the police station. This scene and quote helps develop the father as a character because this is what we base our analysis of him on right away. Christopher develops as a character from this too because we see what his father and life is like. This scene moves the plot forward by giving us the first encounter between Christopher and his father, which sets up future events in the book. The plot moves forward because we learned about a new character and what he is like. Even though Christopher’s dad comes off as a little demanding at first, in the middle we see his soft side.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the book, Christopher and his father fight more, but Christopher’s father ultimately shows his love for his son. Christopher and his father got into a big fight after the father found Christopher’s book and that Christopher knew about Mr. Shears and his mother’s affair. There was verbal and physical fighting, but the next day Christopher’s father took him to the zoo to apologize. “And Father said, ‘I love you very much, Christopher. Don’t ever forget that. And I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you to get hurt’” (Haddon 85-86). This scene reveals that Christopher and his father’s relationship is one of love and forgiveness, and that the two care deeply about each other. This shows that yes father does get angry sometimes, but he ultamiley loves his son deeply and wants the best for him. This scene develops Christopher’s character because we see that Christopher loves his father for everything he does for him. The plot moves forward in this scene by showing to us the special bond and gratitude the two men have for each other. The plot moves forward by developing each one’s character and possibly foreshadowing future events of how the father can be a hot head or a lover.
Christopher and his father’s relationship takes a sudden and bad turn later on in the book. Christopher had just found the letter from mother and his father had told him about his mother and Mr. Shears and the secrets he had been keeping from Christopher. He also told his son that he was the one who murdered Wellington, the dog. “I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him, even though he had said ‘Trust me,’ because he had told a lie about a big thing” (Haddon 122). This reveals that their relationship is not as strong as it once was. The trust they had between them is gone. This scene develops the father’s character because we again see his temper and how untrustworthy he is. We also learn that he killed Wellington. Christopher’s character develops because we see how important trust his to him and that he sees his relationship with his father as over. It moves the plot forward because Christopher chooses to go to his mother in England. This scene continues the story because it breaks the relationship between Christopher and his dad and sets the story up for future events.
Christopher's relationships with other are not the same as our relationships. Christopher's condition makes it so it is harder for him to connect with people. He has his own way of connecting with people. It might not be how we think of relationships or how we think of love, but that does not mean it is not a good relationship or not love. Christopher has his own unique way that he interacts with his father and we truly know from the way that he describes his father or acts towards his father that they have a good relationship. In the beginning of the book when he first gets arrested and his dad comes to pick him up he shows affection towards Christopher in a way that is comfortable to him. “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out like a fan… We made our fingers 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”(Haddon 16). Christopher's father has found a way in which he can show he loves his son without making Christopher uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteChristopher's father will do anything to help him strive. He knows Christopher is not like other kids. He realizes that Christopher has strengths in life and want to do whatever he can so that he can have a successful life. He does not want Christopher's condition to define who he is.
“Christopher is getting a crap enough deal already, don’t you think, without you shitting on him from a great height as well. Jesus, this is the one thing he is really good at” (Haddon 44). Christopher's dad goes to Great extents so that he can be in an environment that he will strive. He even offered paying more money just so that it would be able to happen.
Just like every relationship they have there tough times. In the end it shows a hard time in the relationship. Christopher feels like he “can’t live with his father anymore because it is dangerous” (Haddon 128). It tells us that Christopher is hurt and does not believe that his relationship with his father will be able to be repaired. I feel like they will be able to work it out because his father did everything to help him. He was not doing this to be malicious he just wanted what is best for his son. Because of that I believe that the relationship will be alright. Especially because Christopher's dad is truly apologetic.
roughout the novel. In the beginning of the book, Christopher comes across Mrs. Shears dog with a pitchfork through its side. When Mrs. Shears screams to have him leave her property, he insists on staying to investigate who could have murdered the dog in the night time. Christopher is brought to the police station and held in captivity until his father picks him up. This first scene between he and his father is especially important because it establishes a sense of their relationship before the curious incident. His father jumps through hoops to get Christopher out of detainment, which leads to their pivotal conversation on the car ride home. Christopher insists that he will investigate the incident and find who the killer is, when his father “banged the steering wheel with his fist.” It is evident from this passage that Mr. Boone loves Christopher, but often loses control and cannot deal with his frustrations in a healthy way. In addition, this scene shows Christopher’s misunderstanding and arguable disregard towards what his father tells him to do.
ReplyDeleteCloser to the middle of the novel, Christopher’s father discovers that Christopher has been investigating the incident against his clear directions to not do so. His father finds and reads the novel and immediately becomes enraged. When Christopher tried to apologize and explain, “father interrupted [him] and grabbed hold of [his] arm really hard.” Again, in this interaction we see a darker side of Christopher’s father as it becomes evident that he is far more involved with the case than the readers may have previously thought. Christopher is somewhat scared of his father, but still pursues the case.
As the novel continues, Christopher finds several letters from his mother that were written to him after she had supposedly died. Christopher, in being completely overwhelmed by this revelation, gets “sick” on himself and in his bed when his father finds him. His father is upset, not angry, but sad as he sees that his son has found his life changing secret that he so carefully tried to hide. Mr. Boone’s love for Christopher shines through in this scene as he comes to terms with his own problems, and apologizes to Christopher for all he’s been through. “I’m sorry Christopher, I’m so so sorry.”
Josh Janssen:
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book, Christopher is blamed for killing a neighbor's dog. He is arrested and taken to the jailhouse where his dad picks him up. In the middle of the book, Christopher’s father gets enraged with him for bringing up his wife and Mr. Shears, he then proceeds to hit Christopher, but the next day he apologizes and does their hand thing that represents a hug. towards the end of our assigned reading we see that Christopher’s dad has been hiding letters from his mom to him and lied that his mother died and that he had killed Wellington.
When Christopher gets taken to the jailhouse for allegedly killing his neighbors dog, his dad comes and picks him up without a second thought. This scene shows the reader that Mr. Boone really does care about Christopher and that he would do anything for him. This scene develops Christopher by showing that he is the main character and that the book will mostly be about his struggles. This scene also develops Mr. Boone as a caring and loving father, for now.
The scene that Mr. Boone hits Christopher shows the reader that he has an entire side that has been unknown to the reader. In this part of the book, this reveals the first step in the breaking of trust that Christopher has in his father. This scene develops Mr. Boone by showing his other side. This scene shows that Christopher has started losing the trust in him. This scene moves the plot forward by Mr. Boone breaking the trust and soon it will all collapse.
When Christopher finds the letters from his mother, he realizes that his dad has completely lied to him since she left. This is the final straw for Christopher, he decides he can't trust his father and decides to go find and live with his mother. This scene shows the reader that their relationship has been completely cut. The characters develop from this scene by Christopher going far out of his comfort zone and his dad is worried about Christopher and wants to find him. This moves the plot forward by Christopher going to London to find his mother and his dad is being left behind.
Christopher’s relationship with his dad is like a rollercoaster. Christopher’s dad often finds himself having trouble staying calm while dealing with Christopher. However, it is shown multiple times throughout the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, how much love Christopher’s dad has for him. One of the initial moments in the book in which readers can see how much Father loves Christopher is while Christopher is at the police station. “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other,” (17). Christopher goes on to explain that this is what they do to show each other they love each other. Or when Father wants to hug Christopher, but he knows that he does not like hugs. This is a prime example of the love between Christopher and his father.
ReplyDeleteDespite the love that the Father has for Christopher, he often gets very upset and loses his temper. For example, “Not to go around sticking your fucking nose into other people’s business. And was do you do? You go around raking up the past and sharing it with every Tom, Dick, and Harry you bump into. What am I going to do with you, Christopher? What the fuck am I going to do with you?” (82). This was said when Father found Christopher’s book that he was writing. The fight only escalated from there to the point where Christopher found himself with blood on his hand and Father with a large scratch on his neck. This event is one of the times in which Father had lost patience with Christopher and went on a rage. However, even though they get into fights Father still loves Christopher very much.
Later on in the book Christopher finds the letters Father was hiding in his room from Mother. Father finds Christopher reading these letters. “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie. I just thought… I just thought it was better if you didn’t know … that … that … I didn’t mean to … I was going to show them to you when you were older,” (114). Father goes on apologizing for not having told Christopher the truth about his mother. In this case Father did what he thought as best for Christopher, out of love for him. These quotes explain the rollercoaster of a relationship Christopher has with his Father as they go back and forth between arguments and showing their love.
Christopher and his father have a strange relationship that really changes throughout the story. At the start of the story Christopher and his father have a close relationship completely based off of trust. At the middle of the book Christopher and his father still share the same relationship based completely off of trust. At the end, the relationship between Christopher and his father is weakened when Christopher finds out that his father has been lying to him.
ReplyDeleteA scene in this book that is a good example of the relationship they share in the beginning the scene where Christopher is chastised by his father about searching for Wellington’s killer. In this scene of the book it is revealed that Christopher’s father trusts him very much, and that Christopher understands what is expected of him. Christopher’s character is shown to be fairly trusting and not much is revealed about the father other than him being strict. This moves the plot forward because the relationship between Christopher gets strained in the future because Christopher doesn’t listen to his father.
In the middle of the book, the scene where Christopher’s father gets upset with him to the point where he hits Christopher is a good example of the relationship shared by Christopher and his father. This scene reveals that Christopher’s father definitely isn’t a perfect man, and that sometimes he loses his temper. The scene also reveals that Christopher gets flustered very easily and can have trouble understanding his own shortcomings. This scene is important for the plot because the hiding of Christopher’s book leads to Christopher searching for it and finding something important.
In the end of the book the relationship between Christopher and his father vanishes. The scene where the father finds Christopher with the letters is a good example of how the relationship gets destroyed. This scene reveals that their relationship is destroyed for Christopher. This also reveals that Christopher’s father’s judgement is flawed at times and that Christopher doesn’t understand love or the nature of other people. The destroying of the relationship drives the plot forward because in the end of the book, the father needs to repair the relationship.
I think that the interactions that Christopher has with his father can show that they have a extremely special relationship. His father seems to be a very level headed man but when Christopher starts to get out of hand, so does his father’s temper. The first scene that I picked was the beginning of chapter 137. Christopher starts off by saying that his father was sad because he hit him. So, he cleans up the cut on Christopher’s cheek and then takes him to the zoo as a treat more lashing out the night before. This scene helps us to understand that his father has a darker, more violent side that doesn’t see the light of day very often. We now understand that this loving and caring father can be mean and can get angry.
ReplyDeleteThe next scene that I picked was chapter 157. This scene was when Christopher finally finds the letters from his mother that his father hid from him. This is an intense scene because his father is sad, not angry. He thought that maybe if he hid the past from Christopher that he would never have to actually tell him the truth, but it turns out that Christopher is smarter than he seems. This is another big revelation into the plot of the story because now we are realizing that Father keeps many things from our narrator, so that means that he could be keeping other things from him as well. This scene helps the plot move forward because now we know that Mother is alive and she has not died. This is a major moment in the plot because what we thought we knew is no longer. Many things are starting to become revealed to us.
The final scene that I chose was the one when Father finally reveals that he was the one to kill Wellington. This must have been quite the shock for Christopher, seeing as he never really thought of his father to be the one to kill anything. But, this can make sense when we look at father’s “reasoning”. Father was jealous of a dog, and I don’t think that he would be able to take any more difficulties with women, so he decided that the best way to get more attention transferred to himself would be to get rid of the dog, which was obviously an awful idea. This scene by far is the most crucial in the development in the rest of the story. Because of this horrific event, Christopher feels that he can no longer trust his father, and decides that maybe it would be a better idea to live with his mother in England.
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ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father have many interesting interactions that reveal bits and pieces of information about their relationship and personalities. After Christopher’s father discovers the book he is writing, the two get into a fight. They both calm down overnight and his father does his best to make up for it in the morning. They visit the zoo and while they are eating lunch he apologizes for losing his cool and admits that it was wrong to hit Christopher. He says, “Christopher, do you understand that I love you?” (Haddon 87). He proceeds to spread his fingers and extend his hand towards Christopher which is their version of a hug. Christopher says yes because when you love someone you look after them and help them when they get into trouble and that is exactly what his father does for him. The father is a patient person and he does the best he can, but just like all human beings, he loses his patience and does things he regrets. He is able to recognize his mistakes and make up for it though. Christopher also tries to be the best kid he can, but once he gets his mind set on something he sticks to it. He wanted to write the book and find out who murdered Wellington. Even though his father told him to stop he kept doing it in secret. This scene leads into the next one because now that Christopher’s father took his book away Christopher is going to go looking for it.
ReplyDeleteWhen Christopher goes looking for his book in his father’s room he comes across some letters addressed to him. He reads them and realizes his mother is not dead, but that she is living in London. His father comes home to find him in room with the letters. His heart drops as he discovers that Christopher just found out that he had been lying to him -- and this was not a little white lie. He tries to explain his reasoning, “I did it for your own good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie. I just thought… I just thought it was better if you didn’t know… that… that… I didn’t mean to… I was going to show them to you when you were older” (Haddon 114). Again, he tried to do what he thought was best fro Christopher, but he again realizes his mistake. I believe he really does love Christopher; he just did not know what to do in the moment and got caught up in a lie. Christopher is in a state of shock and does talk or move. When his father touches him he does not even scream. He does not know what to do with himself. This news just changed his world completely and he does not know who he can trust. To worsen the events that night, his father also decides to come clean about something else -- that he killed Wellington. This Christopher does not ignore. He screams and throws his father to the floor. This leads into him running away that night.
He decides to go live with his mother in London. The thought of going to a new places with lots of people all by himself terrifies him, but so does staying in Swindon. He states, “And then I realized that there was nothing I could do which felt safe” (Haddon 130). He went from recognizing that even when his father made a mistake and lashed out at him, he still loved him, to running away from home because he is afraid his father might kill him. That trust in their relationship is gone. Christopher finds himself overwhelmed and scared as he tries to make his way through the train station and to London, but he would do anything if it meant not having to see his father again.
In the beginning of the book, Christopher’s relationship with his father is similar to any other father to his children. Christopher’s father tries to look out for Christopher and teach him what he should and should not do in life. For example, Christopher’s father advises Christopher in the beginning of the book to “keep your nose out of other people’s business” when he finds out that Christopher is trying to deduce who killed Wellington (Haddon 49). Christopher is naturally curious about events that do not seem logical to him, so being told he cannot continue is hard on Christopher. This scene develops Christopher into a character that curious and determined. In fact, Christopher is so determined that he decides to continue his detective work even though his father forbade him from doing so. Christopher’s father, on the other hand, is trying to teach Christopher the norms of social interaction and society. By telling Christopher to stay out of other people’s business, Christopher’s father is developing into a character in the book that is protective of Christopher and his own secrets. Aside from developing each character, the scene on page 49 helps to move along the plot of the story. Christopher’s father’s will for Christopher to stay out of other people’s business leads Christopher to not tell his father about his investigation. The investigation would have been over much quicker if both Christopher’s father and Christopher were trying to solve the mystery.
ReplyDeleteAs a stark contrast to the level-headed, advice giving father in the beginning of the book, Christopher’s father in the middle of the book is very quick-tempered and impulsive. For example, once Christopher’s father discovered Christopher’s book detailing his continued investigation into Wellington’s killer, Christopher’s father “grab[s] hold of [Christopher’s] arm” and yells at him in anger. Even going to the point of hitting Christopher in the head and throwing away his book (Haddon 82). Because of this interaction, Christopher learns to keep more secrets from his father and be more careful with the investigation. Thus, a rift grows between the two.This interaction helps to move the plot along because it is when Christopher first begins to recognize that some things should be kept to oneself, eventually leading to a trouble between him and his father.
Christopher’s interaction with his father comes to a peak at the end of the assigned reading. At the end, Christopher discovers that his father hid his mother’s letters for years and killed Wellington. Even though Christopher’s father apologizes and says he “never meant for it to turn out like [that],” Christopher finds himself questioning his father because his father had told such a huge lie (Haddon 122). Christopher rationalizes that, if his father could kill Wellington, his father could also murder him. This interaction makes Christopher frightened and scared for his life and makes Christopher’s father reflect on all the mistakes he had made. The interaction moves the plot forward because Christopher considers his father a murderer and is so scared that he sleeps outside for the night as well as runs away to live with his mother without telling his father. Christopher’s relationship with his father is constantly evolving throughout the book. Hopefully by the end of the book, they can both return to the protective and loving relationship they had at the beginning.
In the Novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,” by Mark Haddon, the man character, Christopher has a very interesting relationship with his father which changes as the book progresses. In the beginning, the reader can see Christopher’s father loves him, but has difficulty parenting a child with asperger's syndrome. Christopher’s father is also an irresponsible dad. For example, why was Christopher even wandering his neighborhood at “7 minutes after midnight”(page 1)? Although his dad loved Christopher enough to go to the police station and get his son out of jail, it was still irresponsible to let him wander around outside in the middle of the night. As Christopher’s father drives him home from the police station, his father strictly tells christopher to stay out of other people’s business, even though Christopher wants to find out who killed the dog. Regardless of whether his dad is irresponsible or not, this scene demonstrates the gap between Christopher and his father. His father has trouble communicating with Christopher in a way that Christopher’s mind can comprehend. He lacks the patients that christopher requires. Even through there is this gap between the two of then, Christopher still gets the message that his father loves him. In the middle of the book, Christopher’s father finds the mystery book that Christopher had been writing. Although Christopher’s father told him to stay out of other people’s business, Christopher only listens to specific instructions. Christopher needs very specific instructions and simple sentences to understand. When Christopher’s dad finds the book, he becomes angry, but he doesn’t start yelling. Because of Christopher’s difficulty with social cues, he doesn’t understand at first that his father was angry. He just responded to his father as if he did nothing wrong and keeps watching tv as if nothing was wrong. When Christopher realized his father was angry, he was startled and couldn’t put his words together to respond. This really upset his father and led to him hitting Christopher. He woke up a few moments later with blood on his face and his father turning and throwing out the book. The next day his father apologized and took him to the zoo as an apology gift. This shows that Christopher’s father does care for Christopher, but again shows the lack of patience he has with Christopher. One other moment that demonstrates this relationship between Christopher and his father is when Christopher finds his mother’s letters to him, which his father has hidden away. For years, Christopher’s father told him that his mother had died of a heart attack. Christopher then found about 40 letters addressed to him all from his mother and were all dated after the day that he thought she died. This shock makes Christopher violently ill and caused him to throw up. Christopher’s father then comes home to find Christopher surrounded by the letters and upset. Suddenly Christopher’s father began to cry and explain to Christopher that he didn’t know how to tell him that his mother had left. He felt it was better to let Christopher believe his mother had died until he got older because he didn’t know how to explain the situation to Christopher. Then, a short while later, Christopher's father told him that he had killed Wellington, the dog. This frighted Christopher and made him decide that his father could murder him too. Christopher waited until his father went to sleep to run away. That moment destroyed Christopher and his father’s relationship. Throughout the rest of the book it will be interesting so see if Christopher comes to trust his father again.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s relationship with his father is rather unique. At the beginning of the book Christopher and his father seem to have a very typical father son relationship. Christopher’s father is quite patient and seems to understand him. For being a single parent he is doing the best that he can, it takes a lot to raise an individual like Christopher alone. Christopher knows that his dad loves him and when he yells at him it is because he cares and wants him to cooperate. An example of this is when Christopher’s dad showed up at the police station after he had been locked up for hitting the police officer. “Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out like 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 he loves me” (Haddon 16). Their interactions reveal a special bond. Christopher’s father knows and respects what Christopher likes and does not, he has found other ways to show that he loves him. It reveals at the beginning of the story that he is a good father with good intentions who tries to understand his son despite common disagreements.
ReplyDeleteA different side of Christopher’s father was shown when he hit him after he found the book that he had written. Afraid of what Christopher had known, he took the book away. It was revealed that he was not the greatest at controlling his temper, yet Christopher claimed that he was still calmer than his mother had been. “But father was a more level headed person, which means he didn’t get angry as quickly and he didn’t shout as often. So I was very surprised when he grabbed me” (Haddon 82). Based on Christopher’s response, his father's actions were not common. Seeing a new side of Christopher’s father shows that he could be mischievous and easily agitated. He tries to make up for his actions by taking Christopher to the zoo. His dad says that he is only upset because he does not want Christopher to get in trouble. He is still an overall typical father because he is only looking out for Christopher and wants him to be able to still respect and trust him.
As the story goes on, Christopher’s relationship with his father faces many ups and downs. When he is looking for the book that his father took from him, he finds questionable letters in the closet. Christopher questions his father's honesty when he finds the letters because they were sent from his mother. His father had told him that she had died but he figures otherwise when he finds the letters. “Mother had not had a heart attack, Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time. And father had lied about this” (Haddon 112). Christopher is confused because his father had been lying to him for many years and he had always trusted him. His father explained to him that it was for his own good in order to protect him. This was hard for Christopher because he did not understand how people could lie, as he could never tell a lie himself. Conflicted, he no longer feels safe with his father because he broke the trust that he had for him and he ultimately ends up going to live with his mother in England. His once strong relationship with his father quickly fell to pieces.
Christopher explains throughout the book the intense evolvement of him and his father's relationship. In the beginning of the book when Christopher’s father is first introduced, his father is meeting Christopher at the police station. In this scene, Christopher’s father argues with the policemen because he is desperate to see his son. This part is showing how Christopher’s father will always fight for his son and never give up on him. His father knows him the best so he knows very well that Christopher did not want to hurt the policeman. Then when he is reunited with Christopher he uses a handshake which is their version of a hug to show his love for Christopher. This first scene shows the special and loving bond Christopher and his father have.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Christopher and his father’s relationship is not always loving and happy. Christopher’s father grows irritated with Christopher because Christopher is doing “investigative work” and his father strictly ordered him to stay out of other people's business. Christopher’s father then finds out about the book Christopher is writing and reads that Christopher had been going door to door in their neighborhood doing exactly what his father told him not to do. Christopher’s father reacted in rage and he gripped Christopher very hard and he knows better than anyone that Christopher does not like to be touched. Christopher then reacted with more physical violence and hit his father repeatedly. This scene highlights the struggles Christopher and his father have. This also shows some of the distrust Christopher’s father has in Christopher. Even though Christopher doesn’t lie, he is telling his father “white lies” and hiding the complete truth. We then learn later on in the book that both Christopher and his father are hiding more secrets from each other.
Christopher is determined to finish his book and find out who the killer of Mrs. Shears dog is. After his father took his book away, Christopher finds it in his room along with sealed envelopes. Christopher reads these letters and discovers that they are from his mom, who his father claims is deceased. Christopher continues to read the letters and finds out that his mom left and moved away to London with Mr. Shears. Christopher's father walks in on Christopher finding out this information and immediately breaks down and begs Christopher for forgiveness. Christopher is so overwhelmed that when his father touches him he doesn't’ react. Christopher’s father then reveals that he killed Wellington. This scene is when Christopher realizes he lost all trust in his father. He does not even want to live with him any longer. This scene is the breaking point in Christopher and his father’s relationship.
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ReplyDeleteChristopher does not have many relationships with other people. His relationship with his father is always changing. In the beginning of the book there is a scene right after the incident with the policeman where Christopher and his father are talking about the situation. “Then he said, ‘Christopher, you have to stay out of trouble, OK?’” (Haddon 20). His father really does care for Christopher and wants the best for him, but does not understand him completely. He is very protective of Christopher. This is shown when he shows up and starts yelling at the police officer after Christopher called him.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the book there is a scene where Christopher’s father hits him. His father sometimes does not know how to control his anger and frustration. “And Father said, ‘I love you very much, Christopher. Don’t ever forget that. And I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you yo get hurt’” (Haddon 85). His father apologizes to Christopher and wants to let him know that he will always love him no matter what. He later then takes Christopher to the zoo to try and make up for it. He knows his father loves him, but does not understand why he would hit him if he loved him.
Towards the end of the book Christopher’s relationship with his father takes a drastic turn. Christopher finds a box full of letters addressed to him from his supposedly dead mother. His father told him his mother died, but after finding the letters Christopher thinks otherwise and starts to question his father's honesty. This really made Christopher angry. He does not understand why people lie to protect others. He thinks that when his dad lies about his mother that he does not love him. “Then he said, ‘I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie’” (Haddon 114). Now Christopher does no longer trusts his dad. His dad never meant to hurt him. He just thought it would be better for him to not know about his mom.
It is evident from the beginning of the book up until the section now that the relationship between Christopher and his father had been slowly deteriorating. His father is one of the few people that he had trusted or felt comfortable with, but the situation is different now. It all started out after Christopher had been apprehended at the police station, and he left with his father. He was worried about the killer of the dog more than anything else, but his father said, “‘Christopher, you have to stay out of trouble, OK?’” (Haddon 20). In a typical fashion, his father is making sure that his child remains safe. In this point of time neither of the two were in each other necks. There was a bit of frustration within his father, however, both loved each other very much. Christopher was willing to obey whatever his father told him to. It was only after Christopher initiated an investigation to find out who killed Wellington that the situation got out of hand.
ReplyDeleteChristopher, in part with his interest of animals, began to look for the killer of Wellington even though his father strictly advised him not to. He initially conducted research through his neighbors, but did not come up with much dirt. However, in the process he did meet Mrs. Alexander who would play an important role in exposing the truth of his mother. Despite all of this, Christopher became a bit too careless in his actions and left his book of the investigation on the counter. His father discovered the book and was infuriated. He told his son, “‘I ask you to do one thing for me, Christopher. One thing.’” (Haddon 82). He proceeded to beat his son to unconsciousness, and their true friendship was shattered. It did not matter that Christopher’s father took him to the zoo later because the damage had been done.
Lastly, after the brief book debacle, the whole idea of a relationship between Christopher and his father took a turn for the worst. Christopher, with his compulsive desire to peek into the business of others, discovered mysterious letters in his father’s room. They contained privy information on the whereabouts of his mother. He became so drawn in with them that he got caught by his father. In response, his father stated “‘It was an accident’” (Haddon 114). He was a mess for words to cover up his ignoble behavior. It destroyed Christopher’s trust in him. As such, Christopher reasoned he was no longer safe in the house and “ran” away. It led to his current trip to London.
Ben Hathaway
ReplyDeleteAs The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime progresses, Christopher Boone’s relationship with his father is continually being revealed. The first example of his relationship with his dad is when he is getting picked up from the police station. Haddon writes, “Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs to each other” (Haddon 16). Christopher has sensory issues so his father is understanding and instead of giving hugs, he just extends his hand to show affection. Christopher’s father is understanding and learned to accommodate for things that bother him. This trait makes his father a perfect match for Christopher because life is more peaceful and easy going.
The second example of Christopher’s interaction with his father is after he is caught investigating the death of Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington. Mr. Boone did not want Christopher to ask about Wellington because it would just get him in unnecessary trouble. Christopher was explaining his curiosity until, “Father interrupted me and grabbed hold of my arm really hard. Father had never grabbed hold of me like that before” (Haddon 82). This shows Mr. Boone’s short temper at work and his frustration over Christopher talking to his neighbors about the mystery that has been accumulating issues in their house for a long time. There was never an intention to hurt Christopher, but his father did not want him investigating the murder of Wellington any longer. This turned into a fight between them and shows both of their aggressive tendencies when things do not go their way.
The last example of their relationship is seen after Christopher found all of the letters from his mother in their house. Christopher and his father were in the same room while Christopher was soaking in the new information that his mother did not die. Christopher did not want to talk to his father, but his father asked, “How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?’ I didn’t say anything. I carried on looking a my knees” (Haddon 120). Christopher already has trouble expressing his emotions, and his father knew that he just needed to let Christopher sit there to comprehend the situation. His patience with Christopher shows again in the chapter of the book, making all of Mr. Boone’s poor decisions seem like small gaps in his character. Both characters have trouble communicating their emotions which causes a lot of unwanted stress and arguments in their lives.
Christopher interacts with his father, Ed Boone, for the first time in the novel when Ed arrives at the police station to pick up Christopher from being detained after the murder of the neighbor's dog. From their first interaction, Christopher’s relationship with his father, Ed, seems to have a disconnect. Throughout the beginning of the book, Christopher and his father often have troubles understanding each other and never quite developed a strong relationship because they lack the ability to know how the other is feeling. For Christopher, it is hard to understand emotion and any concept that does not seem to be logical due to him having Asperger's syndrome. Therefore having an emotional connection to someone, like his father, is hard to develop. Christopher’s father seems to be more concerned with Christopher staying out of trouble overseeing it through Christopher’s perspective and how he is rationalizing his comprehension of what’s happening around him. Therefore, Christopher’s father is constantly scolding Christopher for misunderstandings and miscommunications between them, making their relationship lacking a connection of understanding.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the novel, Christopher’s father and his relationship continues to develop a more trusting relationship and is explained when Christopher’s father asks Christopher if he understands that he loves him. Christopher’s response to his father’s question explains how he interprets/understands his father’s love for him, “... loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and father looks after me when I get into trouble, like coming to the police station, and he looks after me by cooking meals for me, and he always tells the truth, which means that he loves me” (87). As the story progresses, Christopher’s relationship with his father has over time grown closer and is moving in a positive direction where they are both learning to be patient with each other and understand each other.
Although Christopher's relationship with his father seems to be headed in the right direction, Christopher ends up stumbling upon a bunch of letters written by his “dead” mother addressed to him. After reading these letter that he found in his father’s cabinet, Christopher realized that his father has indeed been lying to him. Christopher’s first reaction to finding out his mother was still alive was shocked. He then explained how he felt giddy and dizzy from the new information about his mother. When his father catches him with all of the opened letters he begins to cuss because he knew that Christopher would no longer trust him and their relationship would now be different. At this point in the book, Christopher and his father’s relationship has went from understanding each other to losing trust in each other.
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ReplyDeleteChristopher does not have very many relationships with people because he does not like strangers. Christopher is only close with his father and Siobhan his teacher.Christopher’s closest relationship is with his father. They interact very often throughout the book and in many different ways. On page 20 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Christopher and his father are driving home from the police station, after Christopher gets arrested for hitting the police officer. Christopher’s father is telling him to stay out of people’s business and Christopher does not totally understand what his father means by this but he agrees anyways. This interaction between Christopher and his father so how much Christopher respects his father. When his father gets angry and tell him to “ Leave it”(Haddon 20) he decides to just be quiet and not talk anymore about Wellington because he does not know what his father means but he does not want to make him angry. This interaction between him and his father keeps the plot moving because it sets up a base for their relationship and it allows their relationship to progress further as the story goes on.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the story Christopher and his father get into a fight because Christopher is still writing in his journal and their neighbor told Christopher about his mom leaving them. Christopher and his father get in a big fight and end up hitting each other. The next day Christopher’s father feels awful for hitting Christopher so he decides to take Christopher to the zoo. He takes Christopher to the zoo when it is raining out because he knows that Christopher does not like crowds and likes when it is raining outside. This shows interactions shows that Christopher’s father loves him very much and even though they do not relate well to each other all the time he still loves Christopher very much and wants to make him happy. This helps the plot move forward because Christopher views love as when you can trust somebody and that person wants to care for you. When his father does this nice thing for Christopher, it shows Christopher that his father loves him and that he wants him to be happy.
Towards the end of our reading we know that Christopher has found the letters from his mother to him. In these letters, Christopher’s mother reveals the truth about where she is. Christopher gets sick after reading the news and his father finds him unresponsive laying on his bed in shock. Christopher’s father immediately realizes what has happened and he tries to explain to Christopher that he was just trying to protect him. Christopher could no longer trust his father. He would not talk to him and he thinks that his father could now murder him because he now knows his father killed Wellington. This interaction keeps the plot moving because this situation happened with Christopher and his father results in Christopher leaving the house. He eventually decides he will travel to London. If Christopher would have never read the letter and had that experience he would most likely have never left his house for London.
Part One:
ReplyDeleteChristopher does not have many relationships with people. He is very afraid of strangers, which makes him very antisocial. One of the only relationships he has is with his father. Their relationship is different from a normal father-son relationship, as Christopher’s father is constantly trying to deal with Christopher & Christopher is discovering more & more who his father is. This makes for some very interesting situations between the two of them.
At the beginning of the novel, the reader is introduced to Christopher’s father when he comes to pick up Christopher from jail. He is shouting at the police officers, trying to understand what has happened & trying to get his son out. Eventually Christopher hears nothing, reasoning that his father has calmed down. Christopher is then let go & sees his father who “held up his right hand & spread his fingers out in a fan,” (Haddon, 16). Christopher repeats his father’s actions & they touch thumbs. This is a living action between them, as Christopher does not like hugs so his father does this action to say he loves Christopher. It calms his father down & seems to be the only loving gesture Christopher ever makes. So this is huge for Christopher as he is willing to sacrifice his fear of being touched to comfort his father & his father’s acceptance of his son's wishes. Each do care for eachother in some ways, even if they do not do right by each other all the time.
Christopher’s relationship with his father does have problems. When Christopher is trying to solve Wellington’s murder he finds out that his mother, who presumed was dead, had an affair with Roger Shear, his old neighbor. Upon finding this out, he put it in his little book he is writing & unfortunately leaves it out for his father to find. His father is angry that Christopher continued to try to find Wellington’s killer & even more upset at the fact that Christopher found out his mother had an affair. This begins a back & forth argument between the two with Christopher’s father shouting questions at Christopher & Christopher trying explain himself. The situation escalates when “Father interrupted me (Christopher) & grabbed hold of my arm really hard,” (Haddon, 82). Christopher fights back & his father shouts back, but Christopher could not remember what happened after saying he “had no memories for a short while,” (Haddon, 82). The reader can infer that Christopher’s father pushes Christopher causing him to black out. His father does not apologize for his actions until days later, but there relationship only deteriorates after this point.
Part Two:
DeleteThe truth begins to unfold as Christopher finds letters from his mother in his father’s room. The more he reads, the more he begins to see the lie that his father created. It makes him sick to know his father lied to him & this overtakes him. He is confused & lays in a pool of his own vomit with letters surrounding him. This is how his father finds him. The truth is out & his father begins to explain his reasoning, hoping for his son to come back to him. Christopher cannot trust his father anymore & he cannot “live in the house with father anymore because it was dangerous,” as he feared his father may kill him (Haddon, 128). He hatches a plan to find his mother & live with her. This is not easy for Christopher as he has never been outside his town, save for a few occasions, & he doesn't like new things. He musters up all his courage & gets on the train, only to have a police officer catch him saying his father is looking for him. Christopher does not want to go back showing that he does not want a relationship with his father anymore. It is obvious that his father still loves him, but Christopher seems to have abandon those emotions out of fear. Their relationship has fallen apart & Christopher does not want to find a solution to fix it. It is evident that Christopher will try find a way to get to his mom & end the relationship he once had with his father.
The relationship between the two is one of the central dramas in the novel & as their relationship breaks down it propels the story forward. For Christopher there is no relationship, but his father continues to try to mend what was lost. The stresses of their relationship have caused each to lose each other, but this has allowed the reader to understand the characters more & watch them grow.
Christopher's relationship with his father is quite similar to any relationship that a father has with its son. Throughout the book we see how the relationship between christopher and his father changes. In the beginning of the book the relationship between them starts off fairly good. One of the first times we encounter Christopher’s father is at the police station when he was going to get Chris out of jail after he slapped the police officer. “He was shouting, ‘I want to see my son,’ and ‘Why the hell is he locked up?’ and ‘Of course I’m bloody angry’” (Haddon 16). This shows right away how much Christopher’s father cares about him and that he will to do anything for him. Even though christopher's father comes to support his son, he's upset and angry about the decisions that christopher makes. This scene in the book is the first time the reader get to see what Christopher's father character is like. This shows how the father may react to other problems that can arise later in the book. Christopher's character also develops from this because he knows that he can count of his dad than any other person.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the book christopher and his dad have been getting into more fights but at the end of the day Christopher's dad loves him. Christopher's father decided to hit him but he felt horrible after the fact and decided to take him to the zoo to make it up to him.. “And Father said, ‘I love you very much, Christopher. Don’t ever forget that. And I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you to get hurt’” (Haddon 85-86). This shows how christopher and his father relationship is all about love and forgivenesses. In this scene the reader sees how the father reacted towards christopher but he loves his son unconditionally. Christopher's character develops also because he notices how much he can count of his dad and he sees the love that his father gives to him. This plot helps the reader to understand the bond they have with each other and how there one for the other.
Lastly in the book we see how the relationship weakens a little. Christopher finds letters that have been addressed to him and sent from his mother. At first, Christopher does not think they are actually from his mother because his father told him that she had passed away. He does not think that his dad would lie to him. Christopher then realized that they were actually from his mother and that his mother did not actually die but rather left to go live with another man. This made christopher sad about the fact that his father lied to him about something very important. Christopher even writes that he does not like being lied to because he feels like he is not loved. His dad finds christopher acting melancholy and went to see what was going on. Christopher's dad felt bad for lying to him. He did not know what to say but to apologize to him. “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie… I just thought it was better if you didn’t know…” (Haddon 114). In this point of the book christopher believes that his relationship with his father is ruined all because is father lied to him. His father did not show or mention the letters to christopher because he did want to him suffer over his mother. Christopher is unable at this point to move on because he feels betrayed by his father.
Christopher has a dramatic, impactful relationship with his father. They have a unique way of interacting and communicating with each other, formed because of Christopher’s differences from others. For example, in the beginning of the story Christopher is taken to the police station. When his father comes to get bail him out, he does not yell at him or speak any words at all. Instead, he holds up his hand, and Christopher does the same. Haddon describes it saying, “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other”(16). This was their own way of showing affection to each other. Christopher does not like being hugged, but realizes that his father wants to show his love for him so they developed their own personalized “hug”. Despite their different habits and expressive manners, Christopher and his father were just like any other father and son.
ReplyDeleteWith just the two of them being home, Christopher and his father talked a lot. They knew everything about each other. Because of this, as hard as his father may try, Christopher could usually tell if his father was lying. Christopher did not like lies because he did not understand them. In chapter 79, Christopher comes home to supper made for him by his father. When he brings up Mrs. and Mr. Shears, his dad gets angry. He banged the counter and Christopher realized something was wrong. When he asked about Mr. Shears, all his father responded with was, “‘That man is evil’”(Haddon 49). Christopher decided that if his father believes that Mr. Shears is evil, he probably killed Wellington. This shows the relationship between his father and him, because his father is his only role model. What his father says is true. What Christopher’s father says, reflects on what he believes. This scene is important to the plot because it foreshadows in the disliking the father has towards Mr. Shears, and its shows Christopher’s curiosity towards the subject.
Christopher’s curiosity can get the best of him. His strong curiosity led him to his father’s closet one night to read the 43 unopened letters addressed to him. After discovering his mother was still alive, his father decides to come clean to him. He confesses to killing Wellington. Although the mystery was solved, Christopher was in shock and confused about why his father would do such a thing. When his father was apologizing he explained, “‘We all make mistakes, Christopher. You, me, your mum, everyone. And sometimes they’re really big mistakes. We’re only human’”(Haddon 122). This quote is extremely important for many reasons. First, it shows his father’s true guilt for the crime he commited, and shows how important it is to him to have Christopher’s forgiveness. Also, it shows his fatherly role model come out while teaching his son a lesson. Finally, it moves on the story to explain the reasonings behind what he did, why he did it, and how he felt about it. It gives clear detail that needed for the reader to visualize what going on.
ReplyDeleteJake Gryboski
Blog 2
Christopher’s relationship with his father is constantly evolving throughout the book. In the beginning of the book Christopher’s dad was very protective of him and concerned for his well being. An example of how Christopher’s Father looks out for him, is when he defended Christopher while he was in jail, and ensuring that his interview was fair. During the interview he said things like, “Why the hell is he locked up?”. And “Of course I am bloody angry” (Haddon 16). This quotation perfectly illustrates Christopher’s relationship with his father as a caretaker rather than a friend or an adult.
Although Christopher is dependent on his dad for his daily functions, his father does not let that stand in the way of their father son relationship. It seems that as Christopher learns more and becomes more mature his father begins to transition from the phase of caretaker to friend. An example of their evolving relationship is when Christopher and his dad went out to lunch at a cafe and had a bonding experience. During this experience his father said, “ I love you very much Christopher. Don't ever forget that” (Haddon 87). In this quote his father is taking him on a fun excursion and having a heart to heart with Christopher; much of this is attributed to his greater understanding of things.
As Christopher begins to understand more things his father realizes that he must tell the truth to Christopher. During this time Christopher’s father told him that, he in fact killed Wellington the dog. He did this in hopes that Christopher would trust him more and not keep secrets. Although his intention was to strengthen their relationship, Christopher interpreted the situation much differently. Christopher ended up thinking thoughts like, “That meant he could murder me, because I couldn't trust him, even though he had said “Trust me”, because he had told a lie about a big thing” (Haddon 122). As an end result, this discussion only severed Christopher and his father's relationship even further.
Part 1: Christopher and his father’s relationship is complicated as for most parent and child relationships. Christopher always thought that he and his father had a decent trusting connection, but as Christopher explores more aspects of his life, he discovers secrets that he never would have imagined possible. Christopher feels hatred at his father for his mistakes and unveils feelings he has never felt before with his father. Christopher’s eyes are open to the secrets of the world and realizes that people are not always perfect. Christopher and his father experience connections of hatred with short effects of forgiveness, lack of emotion and communication, and unconditional love in their relationship.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, his father is upset with Christopher because Christopher did some investigating and talking to people when his father thought he had already mentioned to not do these actions. In Christopher’s mind, he created five rules from his father’s instructions, but in reality, his father was trying to set some boundaries. Christopher works well with numbers, therefore, he comprehended the “five rules,” which in the end caused confusion and disagreement between him and his father. Christopher’s father says “I ask you to do one thing for me, Christopher. One thing” (Haddon 82). The father and son get physical in their argument, which causes Christopher’s father to grab him harder than he ever did before. In retaliation, Christopher hit his father. At many moments in their relationship, they have much hate for each other, which causes physical harm to one another. Christopher’s father felt extreme remorse, so he brought Christopher to the zoo for forgiveness. This scene is one final moment of peace between Christopher and his father before Christopher runs off, which is every father’s nightmare.
In the middle portion, Christopher discovered the letters his mother has been writing to him and discovers the truth about where his mother really was. Christopher was at first shocked and did not believe it, but finally was convinced. His father found out that Christopher learned of the letters, and his father had no words to help Christopher in his confusion and anger that Christopher had for his father. Even though Christopher unveiled this lie his father has been telling, they went about life with their normal routines, but talking minimal words to each other. In their relationship multiple times, they pretend like nothing happened which causes feelings to be unexpressed and poor actions to occur later. Christopher’s father tries to gain his love from his son when “he (Christopher’s father) held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan” (Haddon 122). In reply to his father’s action, Christopher “screamed and pushed him (Christopher’s father) backward so that he fell off the bed and onto the floor” (Haddon 122). Christopher is a person who does not like to express his emotion, and his father does not aid Christopher in getting better with his physical abuse. The lack of communication causes Christopher to feel fear from his father, which causes Christopher to live outside the house in the shed, and have thoughts of running away.
Part 2: In the end, Christopher decides to go to his mother in London through the information he has received in the letters. When he makes his decision, he is still in the shed and sees his father trying to look for him. Christopher escapes without his father noticing and realizes that running away will be harder than he thought. He got on the train to London and feels as if he is free from his father, until he encounters a police officer on the train. The police officer explains to Christopher that “I (police officer) think that your father might have something to say about that” (Haddon 159). The police officer is referring to that his father still cares about him, and that there is a stronger connection of love that Christopher does not see. The police officer finally convinces Christopher to go back home, but the decision is too late and the train is already moving to London. Christopher does not feel the love that they have when their hands connect, whereas Christopher’s father does and is longing for his son’s forgiveness. This scene causes there to be uncertainty in their relationship of what is next for them.
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father hold a unique relationship that changes drastically throughout the story. Readers see the characters interact in a special way because after christopher’s mother is gone, he does not have the comforting relationship with a mother figure. Christopher’s father values his relationship with christopher because he is not only a dad but he also has a friendship with him.
ReplyDeleteFirst, when readers first meet Christophers dad they see the love and protection he gives to Christopher. “I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left 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). The first impression is of a loving dad who cares about his son. This interaction reveals the connection the two characters have. The plot moves forward after this point because readers have a better understanding of Christopher's family and how it shapes him in a positive way.
When Christopher and his dad go to the zoo the day after they were in a fight, it is an example of their strong and valued relationship. “The next day Father said he was sorry that he had hit me and he didn’t mean to. Then, because it was Saturday, he said he was going to take me on an expedition to show me that he was properly sorry, and we were going to Twycross Zoo” (Haddon 85). The day before they went to the zoo, Christopher got hit by his dad and did not fight back but instead, took the punishment. This shows the endless respect that Christopher gives to his father. His father knew he did not handle the situation in the best way so he apologizes and makes it up to Christopher. This develops both christopher and his father's character because they grow together. They learn from their mistakes and the plot continues to move forward because it shows that all the little mishaps in Christopher’s life will not affect him in a negative way. They forgive each other and move on.
Lastly, Christopher’s relationship with his dad exemplifies a relationship where his dad has Christopher’s best interest in mind. When christopher got caught by his dad reading the letters, his dad immediately turns to violence but soon starts explaining how sorry he is. “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie. I just thought... I just thought it was better if you didn’t know... that... that... I didn’t mean to... I was going to show them to you when you were older” (Haddon 159). This changes the entire plot because now, their relationship is officially damaged. At this point Christopher has a decision on how he should respond to this situation. His response could damage their relationship by being upset or he could strengthen it by being okay with the decision his dad made.
As the book continues, readers will see how Christopher’s relationship with his father as a friend and father figure affects his decisions and way of thinking.
Ben LaLuzerne
ReplyDeleteBlog 2
Christopher and his father have a very difficult and unstable relationship, but they both love each other very much and want nothing bad to happen to each other. Their relationship starts out tight and they were very close, but then as the novel goes on they begin to part away from each other with Christopher doing the detective stuff and his father completely despising what he is doing.
In the beginning of the novel, Christopher and his father have a pretty decent relationship, that we know of, and they are close. And just as every father would for their son, Christopher’s father protects and argues for Christopher when Christopher is arrested for assaulting a police officer. Christopher’s father yells at the officers “I want to see my son,” and “Why the hell is he locked up?” (Haddon 16). Christopher’s father cares a lot about his son and he wants to make sure he lives a decent life and will do anything to keep him safe and out of trouble. Although I feel that Christopher’s father has a hard time taking care of him all alone, without Christopher’s mother.
On page 81 of Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Christopher’s father finds the book that Christopher was writing and sees that he has been talking with Mrs. Alexander. Christopher’s father becomes very upset about this and begins to scream at Christopher, restating things that he has said to him before. Christopher’s dad asks him in a very loud voice, “What the heck did I tell you, Christopher?” (Haddon 81). Christopher answers his father’s question by saying exactly what his father told him and how he did not break any of those rules, but his father cut him off in frustration. This scene with his father creates another reason for Christopher to stop trying to figure out who killed Wellington. Although, I doubt he will stop, his father will either become more upset and angry or he will just give up on trying to get Christopher to stop playing detective.
When Christopher’s father took his book away, Christopher got upset and tried to look for it when his father wasn’t home. He looked in the dustbin where his father had initially put it, but it was not there. He later found it in his father’s room in a box on top of a bunch of letters that were addressed to him. “Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time. And Father had lied about this” (Haddon 112). The letters Christopher read were written after his mother’s supposed death. When his father came home, Christopher was curled up on his bed and feeling very ill. His father came into the room and saw that he had found the letters, and became very sad and was crying. He tried to explain his reasoning for hiding the letters, and telling him that his mom had died. Christopher had not said a word to his father that day. He was dealing with the stress and seemed to be very, very ill. This damages their relationship for sure, but Christopher will have to overcome this because his father loves him very much and he was doing what he thought was best for Christopher.
Christopher’s relationship with his father is an ever ameliorating situation, as the relationship radically changes throughout the book. In the beginning of the story, Christopher and his father appear to have a very common relationship. In chapter 79, Christopher and his father are eating dinner and Mr. Boone is asking Christopher what he was up to that day, as he was out all day. The subsequent discussion shows Mr. Boone’s extreme distaste for Mr. Shears as well as his wanting for Christopher to end his “bloody detective game” (Haddon 50), perceivably because he doesn’t want his son in other people’s business. This chapter also shows Christopher’s penchant for white lies, as he attempts to keep his father in the dark as to what he was doing that day. This scene moves the plot as it sustains the conflict between Christopher and his father as well as showing his father’s large but limited patience with Christopher’s shenanigans.
ReplyDeleteLater in the story, Mr. Boone discovers that Christopher had found the letters that his mother had sent him over the past years that Mr. Boone had been hiding. Finding Christopher in a puddle of his own vomit, Mr. Boone then tries to explain his actions to the betrayed Christopher, to little avail. Showing that the past couple years of their relationship had been built upon lies, Christopher loses his trust in his father and Mr. Boone regrets his choices, yet still wishing to retain the life he had before with Christopher. This revelation shows the hidden side of Mr. Boone, a damaged man who is trying to spare Christopher from the same emotions he is experiencing. Christopher’s loss of trust in his father is only multiplied by his disability where he cannot empathize with his father or rationalize his decisions.
After cleaning up Christopher and the sheets, Mr. Boone attempts once again to explain the situation to Christopher and give him the truth. Mr. Boone tells more of what happened between him and Mrs. Boone and reveals that in a fit of rage, he was the one who killed Wellington. Mr. Boone displays his desire for a partner, as the cause of the rage was the fact that Mrs. Shears would rather be by herself rather than with Mr. Boone and Christopher. This revelation was the final straw for Christopher, as he flees that night out of fear for his own life. Whether or not that fear is legitimate, this is a defining moment of Christopher’s life and his relationship with his father. At this point in the story, Christopher decides to run to his estranged mother in London, with his father as the reason.
In the novel there are several incidents that deal with the ever changing relationship between Christopher and his father. One of which occurs in the beginning when Christopher is riding home from the police station with his father. He spends time there explaining to his father that he is sorry and he had nothing do do with Wellington’s death, but continues pressing the issue of who could have done it. Christopher evan says that “[he] didn’t know [he] was going to get into trouble” (Haddon 20). His father then becomes aggravated because Christopher keeps digging into the mystery, and actually swerves the car on the road. He does not want to make his father angry so he left it there, but it shows that Christopher really loves his father. He could have gone on pressing into the minute details of the case, but because of his love for his father he leaves it there. It also shows Christopher’s father to be concerned for him, and truly want him to be safe. This loving nature takes a sort of turn, though, when his father finds out about the book he is writing. He proceeds to drag Christopher by his arm, which then in turn leads to Christopher hitting him. His father clearly has deeper issues going on further than what Christopher knows at this point, and he takes it out on Christopher. Even he “was very surprised when [his father] grabbed [him]” (Haddon 82). This continues until his father is left with a rip in his shirt and Christopher against the side of the wall. It clearly depicts the relationship to be growing darker and more volatile. Later on it is shown that Christopher’s mother has been alive all along, and that is what his father has been keeping from him. His father decides to try to explain why he kept this secret from him and for so long, but still Christoph does not respond. Christopher is hurt by two of the people he loved most. One being a mother who chose to leave him, and the other being his father keeping that secret from him. Not only that, but his father comes out as being the one who killed Wellington. This leaves Chrisopher without an ounce of trust in his father, and his father trying to pick up the pieces to a damaged relationship. His father tries to aid him to bed then, and Christopher “didn’t fight...didn’t scream...didn’t hit [his father]” (Haddon 115). Throughout this novel so far the relationship between them has evolved vastly. From this it can be said that the killing of Wellington is not the basis of the story, but rather it is the secrets and ever developing relationships that Christopher comes to know because he wanted to solve a mystery.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book, Christopher and his father love eachother, but Christopher's father must deal with how Christopher acts with his mental disorder. Christopher's father has to put up with a lot of behavior that other parents do not have to deal with. Like when Christopher is arrested, “We made our fingers and 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). In this part of the book Christopher is arrested for hitting a police officer and all his father cares about is if Christopher is okay. Christopher will not even hug his father after such a stressful situation, just because of his mental disorder. In the beginning of the book, Christopher and his father both love each other, but Christophers disability makes it difficult for that love to shine through.
ReplyDeleteTowards the middle of the book, Christophers disability makes it even more difficult for his father to love and care for him. Christopher constantly does not follow his father's directions, which are there for Christopher's care. An example of this is, “Not to go sticking your fucking nose around in other people's business. And what do you do? You go around sticking your nose into other people’s business” (82). In this example, Christopher directly disobeys his fathers command not to talk to Mrs. Alexander. When Christopher disobeys for no go reason, his father finally snaps and gets really angry. Their relationship at this point in based on Christopher's father making strict rules for Christopher out of love for him and Christopher disobeying those rules in part because of his mental disorder.
Near the end of the book, Christopher uncovers how much his father loves him, and how much he tries to protect him. Christopher’s father’s love and protection of Christopher proves to be a little more than Christopher ever thought. That is proven in this scene, “It’s bloody hard telling the truth all the time. Sometimes it’s impossible” (120). Christopher's father lied about Christopher's mother just because he cared about Christopher. This is not okey, Christopher's father tries to protect Christopher out of love, but his father should have told Christopher that his moms alive. Toward the end of the book, the truth comes out that Christopher's father lied about Christopher's mother’s death, showing how Christophers father is too protective.
At the beginning of the book, Christopher is put in jail for hitting a policeman. A few hours later, his father arrives at the station. Obviously, his dad cares about him and his well-being. He greets Christopher by holding up his hand with his fingers outspread. Christopher does this as well, allowing their fingers to touch. Christopher then explains that they greet each other this way because he does not like to be hugged. This shows that his father is very considerate and wants to let Christopher live his life in the way that works best for him. This greeting depicts the love Christopher and his dad have for each other. Christopher is then released from jail with a stern warning. On the drive home, Christopher tries to apologize to his father for making him go to the police station, but his dad says “Leave it,” (Haddon 20). His father does not want to talk about it. Christopher realizes that his father would do anything for him, and his father is extremely patient and tries not to let it show when he is angry. This scene moves the plot forward by getting Christopher out of jail, and he is now inspired and determined to find out who murdered Wellington.
ReplyDeleteMidway through the novel, Christopher returns home from school one day, but his father is still at work. Christopher goes into the kitchen and puts his things on the table, including the book he has been writing about his detective work. He makes a raspberry milkshake and sits down to watch a documentary on underwater life called Blue Planet. A little while later, his dad comes home and goes into the kitchen. He returns moments later holding Christopher’s book. He speaks quietly, and Christopher does not realize immediately that his father is angry. His dad asks Christopher if the conversation that he had with Mrs. Alexander, a neighbor, is true. Because Christopher is unable to lie, he replies that it is. His father then grabs him hard. This is one of those rare occurrences when his dad lost his temper. Frightened, Christopher starts to hit his father and then his memory goes blank. He can not stand when people touch him. When he finally comes to, he has blood on his hand and the side of his head hurts. His dad’s shirt is torn, there is a big scratch on his neck, and he is still holding Christopher’s book. After a minute, his father goes into the kitchen, and then out into the garden, where Christopher hears him drop the book into the trash can. Christopher does not understand that why his father is so upset by all of his detective work, but his dad is really just trying to protect him. The next day, his father apologizes for hitting him and decides that he will take Christopher to Twycross Zoo to make up for it. His dad is quick to forgive and then attempt to make reparation for his wrongdoings. “Christopher do you understand that I love you?” his father asks and then goes on to explain that he was only angry because he does not want to see his son to get hurt or in trouble by sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong (Haddon 87). Christopher remembers all that his father has done for him, like going to the police station to bail him out of jail, making all of his meals, and always telling the truth. They press their hands together in their substitute for hugging. They do not like to remain mad at each other and by the end of this scene, both know that the other cares deeply about them.
In the last chapters of the reading assignment, his father has to leave at night for work, so Christopher decides to sneak into his dad’s room and to read more of the letters he found in there last week. Christopher feels deeply hurt by the information that he gains from the letters. This is portrayed by the strong physical reaction he has. When Christopher recognizes that his mother abandoned him and his father to run away with Mr. Shears, a neighbor, and that his father kept the truth from him for two years, pretending the whole time that his mother had died, Christopher passes out and vomits all over himself and his dad’s bed. Christopher appears too shocked and feels too betrayed by his father to even be the slightest bit relieved knowing that his mother is alive. Christopher measures love in large part by a person’s honesty, and at this point he realizes that his father, the person who cares for him more than anyone, has deceived him. Later that night, his father finds him and at first is mad that Christopher is in his room, but then he sees that Christopher has read the letters from his mother and his whole persona changes. He begins to formulate a plan to get everything cleaned up and straightened out. Christopher feels so distraught that for a moment he even forgets his great dislike of being touched and lets his dad guide him to the bathtub. After a bath, his father dries Christopher off and puts him in bed. Then, his father apologizes for lying about his mother and for keeping the letters from him, “I’m sorry, Christopher. I’m so, so sorry” (Haddon 114). Because his dad does not want anymore lies between them, he confesses that he was the one who killed Wellington. Christopher screams in terror at the news and pushes his dad off the bed. His father retreats downstairs, but not before begging Christopher to go to sleep so that they can talk about the situation in the morning. Christopher decides he can not trust his father anymore. He now feared his father because if he murdered Wellington, Christopher reasoned that he could also kill him. Christopher decides it is best to run away and try to make his way to London. However, his father only did what he thought was best, and he truly loves Christopher. This scene moves the plot along because the crime was just solved, and Christopher learned the truth about his mother and figures it is best to go and find her and then live with her.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book, Christopher’s relationship with his father, Ed, is quite different from the relationships he has with the other characters in the story. It is both a loving yet very tense relationship. Ed is very patient and caring with his son. After Christopher is sent to the police station, he is met by his father who desperately argues to see his son. “ Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his 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” (Haddon 16). Ed knows Christopher better than anyone. Christopher’s father truly does his best to make sure that Christopher is well taken care of and he tries his hardest to do what he thinks his best for Christopher. Although sometimes it may not seem like it sometimes, Ed puts Christopher’s best interest first even though it may not seem that way to Christopher and his audience.
ReplyDeleteEd Boone is also a bit fiery tempered which creates a tension in this father-son relationship. “I ask you to do one thing for me, Christopher. One thing” (Haddon 82). After saying this he tightly grabs hold of Christopher’s arm who immediately hits his father like he had hit the policeman in the beginning of the book. His father continued to shout at him and eventually Christopher eventually falls unconscious. Afterwards, Ed apologizes for hitting him. This incident shows that Ed is only human. His wife had left him for his neighbor, he is responsible for caring for Christopher himself, and his past relationships have not really worked out the best for him. This makes his acting out somewhat understandable even though it is unfair to take his stress out on his son.
Finally, after their fight, Christopher discover letters from his mother that his father had been keeping hidden from him. This makes Christopher to become extremely angry. He does not understand how someone thinks it is okay to lie to protect others. Soon, his father found out and said that “it was and accident” (Haddon 114). This causes Christopher to reevaluate his father’s overall honesty. Earlier in the book, Christopher explains that his idea of love is being able to tell the truth to one another. After finding his father in this lie, Christopher loses all trust in Ed and decides to “run” away to London in search of his mother.
Kayla Hawley
ReplyDeleteChristopher has a unique relationship with his father. He is very close to his father and a couple others because he does not like new people and he doesn’t trust them. In the beginning of the book, Christopher trusts his father and his father knows what he likes and dislikes. For an example, he does not like the food on his plate touching. “The supper was baked beans and broccoli and two slices of ham and they were laid out on the plate so that they were not touching” (Haddon 48). His father knows Christopher’s quirks, likes, and dislikes, and basically everything about him. He tries his hardest to keep Christopher happy and wants him to know what’s right even if that means he might lose his temper.
This father is normally understanding towards Christopher but at times he can lose his temper and get angry at him. In the middle, his father truly cares for Christopher and wants him to know what’s right and what’s wrong to protect him. “‘And I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble because I don't want you to get hurt’” (Haddon 86). Christopher’s father knows that his actions towards Christopher when he is mad is not right, but he wants him to understand and learn. Christopher still feels comfortable around his father and trusts him for a bit after.
Towards the end of the section, Christopher starts to lose his trust with his father as he figures out that his father was the person who killed Wellington. He also finds out that his father has been lying to him about his mother's death for the past two years. His father had been hiding the letters his mother had been sending to him and lied that his mother was sick and dead. “I’m going to live with my mother because father killed Wellington and he lied and I’m frightened of being in the house with him’” (Haddon 134). Christopher could no longer trust his father for lying about his mother and Wellington and did not want to live with him any longer. Christopher no longer want to do nothing with his father.
Chapter 41- Stern Yet Caring
ReplyDeleteChristopher was found hugging the neighbors dead dog by the police. There was an altercation and Christopher was brought to the police station. While in the car driving home from the police station, Christopher’s dad tells him,“Just try and keep your nose out of other people’s business.” His dad says this because he wants to keep Christopher’s safe and cares deeply for his well-being. Christopher’s compassion for the dog sparks his curiosity to find the killer. He chooses to dismiss what his dad said by justifying a loophole as not part of the promise because his father was not specific enough. Unknown to the reader, this also creates a fearful event for the father because of his association to the killing of the dog.
Chapter 127- Don’t Drop Your Guard
Christopher was watching television when his father returned home to find a book Christopher was writing on the kitchen counter. This book revealed Christopher’s investigation into the killing of the dog which his father asked him not to do. His father confronts him about the breaking of their promise “I ask you to do one thing for me, Christopher. One thing,” then a physical altercation ensues. After this event his dad feels regretful and we learn how easy it is for Christopher to lose control. He actually blacked out and didn’t remember the altercation. His father hides the book and later Christopher sets off on a mission to find the book so he can begin writing again. He locates the book in his father’s bedroom drawer and also discovers several letters with his name on them.
Chapter 167- Broken Trust
Christopher’s trust with his father is broken when he discovers the letters from his mother. When his father returns home to find the letters opened he becomes hysterical. His father apologizes profusely for lying about what happened to Christopher’s mother. He also then shares that he was the one who killed the dog. Christopher seems emotionally paralyzed by the truths shared and then begins to scream uncontrollably. His father says “OK. Look. Christopher. I’m sorry. Let’s leave it for tonight, OK? I’m going to go downstairs and you get some sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.” Then he said, “It’s going to be all right. Honestly. Trust me.” During the night, Christopher becomes illogical with his thoughts and starts believing if his father could kill the dog then he could kill him. Christopher then takes his pet rat and hides behind the shed in fear.
Christopher and his father live alone together after Christophers mother passed away. Early in the book after Christopher finds his neighbor's dog mutilated and killed his father is called to the police station to pick him up. When he sees his son behind bars, in a rage he says “I want to see my son.. Why the hell is he locked up?” (16). The concern he expresses for his son shows the love and care he has for his son. Later in the book Christopher’s Father find his book and is furious. He throws away the book and the two get into a physical altercation. This could be seen as Christopher's father looking out for his sons best interest. He does not want his son to know the complications of the family’s marriage, possible to spare Christophers image of his late mother and even how he sees his father. As the book continues eventually Christopher finds 43 letters from his mother all addressed to him in his Father's room. Although Christopher does not see it as his father hiding something it appears to readers that Christopher’s father has kept a lot from his son. This could be interpreted that Christopher's father does not believe his son can handle the truth. These events point towards more truth and discoveries coming in the novel.
ReplyDeleteAs we were introduced to Christopher and his father, it seemed as if they had a stable, understanding relationship. This can be seen when his father first shows up to the scene to retrieve Christopher and appeared as if he was talking to him in a steady, calm voice in order to understand what was really going on. His father was obviously worried for his well being and instead of jumping to conclusions and going with what the police had told him, he continued to ask Christopher if he was okay and trying to get an honest response out of him instead of yelling and confronting him.
ReplyDeleteAs time progresses, Christopher has started to disappear throughout the day and once he would go back home, his father would be fed up with him poking his nose in the other peoples business. When Christopher continues to talk about Mr. Shears being the prime suspect, Christopher’s father has an outburst and hit his fists on the table in frustration. Here, their relationship is beginning to deteriorate, because Christopher begins to cover up his whereabouts and his father does not agree with his actions. Furthermore, although Christopher hates lies, he begins to embellish the truth and is starting to transform into someone else that was different from his principle values. Christopher’s father also begins to lose his temper more quickly because of the non stop investigation that Christopher is participating in. Clearly he still loves Christopher but he starts to act more aggressive with him rather than talking it out peacefully. At the end of this scene, Christopher’s father makes him promise not to get involved with it anymore, but as we already know Christopher did not follow up this promise and just gets himselfs into a deeper problem with his father and their relationship that is already rocky.
Lastly, once his father discovers his book, he begins to disregard the way he approaches his problem with Christopher and says whatever pops into his head. At first he asked Christopher calmly about what it contained, but once he heard something he did not want to hear, he begins to swear and shout at Christopher. This situation begins to spiral down because Christopher begins too get scared and confused because of all the yelling, so he cannot answer his father’s questions and this makes his father grab his arm in frustration and eventually leads to them fighting over the book although it does not explicitly say it. Both of them are acting without thinking about the consequences and this leads to a crumbling relationship between them because their foundation is no longer stable.
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ReplyDeleteThe three scenes I chose were when christopher thinks that his mother died, when his dad takes him to the zoo, and after christopher reads the letters
DeleteWhen Christopher tells the readers that his mother died
His father said she died of a heart attack. His father is trying to protect Christopher, but I don’t know if its right to lie to him. At the time readers read this they do not know that she is still alive so it makes the father look like a person who just lost his wife. “Father said ‘I’m sorry, Christopher, I’m really sorry sorry.’ But it wasn’t his fault.” Although it really was his fault (Haddon 28)
When his dad takes Christopher to the zoo.
This shows his father cares about him even though they fight sometimes. In this part of the book Christopher trusts his dad still. Since his dad took his book away, readers believe that he will have to start over or stop writing the book. But Christopher finds his book shortly after this scene which progresses the plot. “And father said, ‘Christopher, do you understand that I love you?” (Haddon 87)
After Christopher finds his book and the letters by it.
This scene shows that Christopher is afraid of his father and doesn’t know if he can trust him anymore. This also shows how the father tries to protect Christopher, but he made the problem worse. Christopher did not expect his father to have killed Wellington either. This moves the plot forward by giving Christopher a new goal. Instead of writing the book and investigating the murder of Wellington, he is trying to escape to get to his mother in London. “And he said, ‘We’ve got your father at the police station…He’s looking for you.” (Haddon 159)
Aiden Berndt
ReplyDeleteBlog two
In the beginning of the novel Christopher and his father had a close relationship because he believed that his mother was dead and his father took care of him. This was evident in the very beginning of the book when Christopher was arrested and his dad went to go pick him up and he was not angry but only worried. This scene helps develop and show a loving father-son relationship where christopher and his father are really close. When Christopher and his father get in a fight about him researching who killed Wellington. This scene helps develop Christopher as a more grown up adult character because he realizes that his father was not the perfect loving father. The drove the plot forward cause if pushed Christopher to push his boundaries and attempt to steal his book back where he consequently found all of the letters from his mom. Finally when Christopher decided to run away from home and overcame a majority of his fears just to escape his father for what he had done. This was a tipping point in the plot when Christopher’s true adventure started and he left his usual little bubble and went out into the world. This helps Christopher to evolve and become a different person than the person that was held back by his Aspergers. This would also be a tipping point for Christopher’s father because he had lost the last part of his family and Christopher would never want to come back. As a whole this scene drove the plot into more of an adventure novel versus the murder mystery it had been before.
Christopher’s relationship with his father is constantly evolving throughout the book. In the beginning, Christopher’s father needs to take care of him and play both the mom and dad role in the family. With Christopher’s mother gone, his father is given a lot of responsibility and gets over protective of Christopher. Whether it’s preparing Christopher’s meals or taking care of his daily needs, he does have a heart and is kind. Christopher and his father's relationship is on a rollercoaster all the time. It is always going up and down with some good days and some bad days. “Father had never grabbed hold of me like that before” (Haddon 82). In this scene, Christopher’s father is very frustrated with Christopher because he is writing a book and talking to people who his father thinks might give away who killed Wellington. He is very aggressive and rude to Christopher and displays that by grabbing him the hardest he ever has.
ReplyDelete“Then Father banged the steering wheel with his fist and the car weaved a little bit across the dotted line in the middle of the road and he shouted, ‘I said leave it, for God’s sake’” (Haddon 21). During this scene, Christopher’s father hits him because he doesn’t want Christopher to keep investigating about who killed Wellington. This shows how his father can have anger issues because of how he reacts to mistakes Christopher makes and how his mood can switch very quickly.
Their relationship only gets worse as the book goes on. Christopher is a very curious boy and can get him in trouble at times. Only this time it doesn't get him in trouble but reveals the truth. “I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie. I just thought...I just thought it was better if you didn’t know...that...that...I didn’t mean to...I was going to show them to you when you were older”(Haddon 114). In this scene Christopher’s father is apologizing to him because he found out the truth and that his father has been lying his whole life. Christopher’s mother has been alive this whole time sending letters from London and his father has been hiding them and stashing them away from Christopher’s reach. This shows that Christopher’s father is not mature enough and he can’t be trusted.
Christopher’s relations with the characters in his story are brief and distracting. The way he portrays the characters to the reader is critical and honest at a surface level. Christopher doesn’t try to make inferences to what a person is thinking and he replies exclusively to questions that he deems not rhetorical. He also has the opportunity to reevaluate his decision every time he meets the character again, and the character he sees the most of is his father, Ed Boone.
ReplyDeleteThe first impression of Ed Boone that the reader gets is at the police station as he picks up Christopher after a little misdemeanor. Mr. Boone is a little hot headed, but he means well for Christopher. As Christopher’s curiosity was the reason for the mess he wound up in. During a conversation afterward, Mr. Boone tells Christopher to “just try and keep your nose out of other people’s business” (Haddon 20), which winds up being a common theme in the first part of the novel. The phrase shows Mr. Boone’s attitude: no trouble comes to those not looking for it.
Christopher’s harshest evaluation of his father comes from learning that Mr. Boone lied that Christopher’s mother was dead and he had killed Wellington, the dog whose death Christopher was investigating. He decided “Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me” (Haddon 122). Despite all the love his father had shown him, Christopher completely feared his father and ran away from home.
The final evaluation of Christopher’s father occurs after the fiasco where Christopher runs away to live with his mother. While Christopher never states his new relationship with his father, he does have to stay with Ed Boone while his mother gets the flu, but Christopher is OK with it because he trusts his dog, Sandy, to protect him. Additionally, Christopher feels comfortable enough to help his father dig out a vegetable garden (Haddon 220), where before the gift of the dog Christopher would scream if his father was anywhere within sight.
Christopher's evolving relationship with his father somewhat shapes who he is as a person. At the beginning of the book, Christopher and his father are living this happy life. No one comes in the way of their relationship and all is good. When the neighbor's dog, Wellington, gets viciously murdered, Christopher wants to solve the case. But his father seems to oppose the idea completely. His father seems to have patience at first, but eventually gets sick of Christopher's sneaking around. "Then he asked, "Did you kill the dog, Christopher?" I said, "I didn't kill the dog." (Haddon 17). This quote is from when Christopher was at the police station for hitting a policeman when he was found in the yard with Wellington. Father was angry during this time but calm with Christopher. Another scene where Christopher interacts with his father is when his father finds out he is continually disobeying his orders. "You go around sticking your nose into other people's business. You go around raking up the past and sharing it with every Tom, Dick and Harry you bump into. What am I going to do with you, Christopher?" (Haddon 82). This was when Christopher's father found out that Christopher was still investigating, and he was talking to Mrs. Shears and Mrs. Alexander. Father got very angry about this, and started yelling and swearing at Christopher after he found out. There is one last scene that helps Christopher and his father's relationship develop. This is when Christopher's father gets Christopher a dog, Sandy. "Then he came back through and gave me the dog"(Haddon 219). The dog represents a start of something new in their relationship, even though the two of them had many struggles. The dog seemed to comfort Christopher in a way that he needed, especially during a time where he had a broken relationship with his father.
ReplyDeleteEd Boone understands Christopher like no one else. Early in the book it describes the way him and his father somewhat hug, or the most comforting way to console his son. He knows that he does not like being touched or any form of close contact, so they do a hand hug. “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other” (16). I believe this quote just shows how much Ed Boone knows his son.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s relationship with his father, Ed Boone, is hard to decipher at times. For example in the middle of the book, his father is the one with the most personal relationship with Christopher. An example of this can be seen in the following quote, “he made me some sandwiches with white bread and tomato and ham and lettuce and strawberry because he knows I do not like eating food from places I do not know” (Haddon 108). This shows the connection that Christopher and his father has, and his father is willing to do a little bit more than enough for his child to enjoy.
At around the end of the book, Christopher comes to the revelation that his father killed the dogs. It is apparent that the relationship between him and Ed Boone starts to get tough, however this just takes us into more depth about how the relationship functioned. Christopher did not understand why his Father lied to him, and it can be seen in the following lines. “I’m going to live with my mother because father killed Wellington and he lied and I’m frightened of being in the house with him” (Haddon 134). His dad knew it was best for him to not come across this, and to let it remain a secret because he wanted what would be best for Christopher.