GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Historical Context of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
Christopher is presumably autistic, although this is never explicitly stated in the book. Autism
was not recognised until the twentieth century, and for years, it was regarded as a disorder
for which a cure needed to be found. The autism rights movement began in the late 1980s
and is led by autistic people who believe that they need no cure; instead, society needs to
change its perspective on autistic people. People on the autism spectrum, they argue,
function differently than others, but not in a lesser way. In fact, they have many qualities that
allow them to excel in particular areas. “Curious Incident” could certainly be read as
expressing support for this point of view. For his part, Mark Haddon claims to know little
about autism (and makes it clear that he never specifically diagnoses Christopher), saying
that Christopher matters more as a character for his unique perspective on the world than for
the fact that he is probably on the autism spectrum. Thus, one of the main themes of this
novel is our differing perspectives on the world; we all see the world in different ways and
react differently - and some people’s reactions/ behaviour is more noticeably different than
others.
THEMES:
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD/ INCIDENTS/PEOPLE
GROWING UP ( the innate sense of trust that we place in our parents and the
consequences of discovering that this has been misplaced)
LOGIC (“Mother was only 38 years old and heart attacks usually happen to older people”)
TRUST ( the consequences of losing trust)
DECEIT/ THE REVELATION OF THE TRUTH
THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF SECRET/ CLANDESTINE RELATIONSHIPS (this
is a sub-theme of the preceding theme ‘deceit…’)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Historical Context of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
Christopher is presumably autistic, although this is never explicitly stated in the book. Autism
was not recognised until the twentieth century, and for years, it was regarded as a disorder
for which a cure needed to be found. The autism rights movement began in the late 1980s
and is led by autistic people who believe that they need no cure; instead, society needs to
change its perspective on autistic people. People on the autism spectrum, they argue,
function differently than others, but not in a lesser way. In fact, they have many qualities that
allow them to excel in particular areas. “Curious Incident” could certainly be read as
expressing support for this point of view. For his part, Mark Haddon claims to know little
about autism (and makes it clear that he never specifically diagnoses Christopher), saying
that Christopher matters more as a character for his unique perspective on the world than for
the fact that he is probably on the autism spectrum. Thus, one of the main themes of this
novel is our differing perspectives on the world; we all see the world in different ways and
react differently - and some people’s reactions/ behaviour is more noticeably different than
others.
THEMES:
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD/ INCIDENTS/PEOPLE
GROWING UP ( the innate sense of trust that we place in our parents and the
consequences of discovering that this has been misplaced)
LOGIC (“Mother was only 38 years old and heart attacks usually happen to older people”)
TRUST ( the consequences of losing trust)
DECEIT/ THE REVELATION OF THE TRUTH
THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF SECRET/ CLANDESTINE RELATIONSHIPS (this
is a sub-theme of the preceding theme ‘deceit…’)
