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.