Sherlock Holmes? Christopher Boone?

        In the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the protagonist, Christopher Boone is always interested in the logical view of situations. He is insistently calculating, mathematically predicting and analyzing his surroundings and the people that occupy that area. He can form assumptions void of emotional complications. He likes to do "detective" work and his role model for this aspiration, is none other then Sherlock Holmes.
         Boone and Holmes share some similar characteristics. Although Holmes is not as apathetic as Boone, he still approaches his crime scenes with an analytical and scientific demeanor. Sherlock is, also, always evaluating his setting very critically and thoroughly. Both of these characters are so intense and intelligent, yet they are socially incapable and awkward. Both of these characters' talents are, in some sense, a hindrance. This is seen in a more extreme form in Boone's case.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

          The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, opens to the scene of Christopher Boone discovering Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s now lifeless dog. Wellington’s mutilated body is lying on Mrs. Shear’s front lawn; a garden fork is pierced through his body and wedged into the blood-soaked grass beneath him. To Christopher, this grotesque situation is a mystery that needs some detecting.

            Although this opening scene presents a beginning to what appears to be a typical murder mystery novel, it’s not. This book doesn’t deliver an average mystery story, because Christopher isn’t your average boy. This story highlights Christopher’s struggle with the quirks of Aspergers, while he investigates the suspicious case of the violent death of Mrs. Shear’s mutt.

Along the way, Christopher’s journey reveals more then just Wellington’s killer. As this novel is written from the perspective of Christopher, it shows how a person with Aspergers thinks, functions and feels. It allows the reader to realize the difficulties this syndrome places on the simple tasks and aspects of an average person’s life. This book displays the unusually amount of effort Christopher has to exert to maintain relationships, go into public places, travel, behave in school, talk to strangers,  and understand verbal and non-verbal communication.

            Along with focusing on the personal difficulties that Christopher battles, this novel also accentuates the arduous challenges that the people in Christopher's life face as a result of his condition. Throughout the course of this book, Christopher's parents' relationship with each other strained and tested. Through the fighting and betrayal, they both come to realize what's more important to them. In the end, they decide to suffer through and ignore their own differences so that they can keep supporting and providing for Christopher. This sacrifice of theirs, ultimately, goes unnoticed by Christopher.

Prime Numbers

Random lack-of-pattern, unpredictable and seemingly without reason. This multifaceted definition could be the description of either the inconsistencies of prime numbers, or it could define the whimsical occurrences of our lives. Just like there is no way to determine the next prime number, there is no way to wake up in the morning and know how your day will conspire. And as the mathematicians are hunched at their desks, pounding on their calculators and staring through their half-inch thick glasses desperately trying to find a formula to align those sporadic digits, the world's intellectuals are leaning back, stroking their chins, smoking their pipes and pondering the reason, meaning, pattern of life. And as our philosophy and math theory classes will shows us, there are still no answers.

Henry David Thoreau

"Henry David Thoreau believed that in order to live well, we must reduce the number of material goods we have. Otherwise, these things begin to dominate us."

 Material goods are tools. Tools that help us function, create and discover. Material objects are shaped and utilized to bring beneficial and enjoyable changes to our lives. I do not think that it is necessary to diminish the quantity of goods you have to avoid their domination and control over your life. I think that if you keep in mind that these goods are not goals or idols but that they are instruments, that you can keep them it your life without them presenting a threat.

 The only danger that lies with material goods it the tendency for people to start valuing them above the more important aspects of life. If you have self-control and a vision of what matters, then the amount of material goods you posses shouldn't matter. If you lack those characteristics though, then, perhaps, you should limit your artificial gain.