Task: Choose two of the main characters in the novel and comment on how they are affected by autism.

In Mark Haddon's contemporary novel, "The curious incident of the dog in the Night-Time", Christopher Boone, does seem completely unsuited to writing a novel, because he is suffering from the 'Asperger's Syndrome.' This is a syndrome that enables him to see the world only through his limited perspective, which is closed, frightened and disorientated, which results in his fear of, and inability to understand the perplexing world of people's emotions. To get some knowledge of people’s expressions on their face he keeps a paper with him. “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the pieces of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying”. His description of events can be somewhat unreliable as he is unable to see the real truths that lie before him. You get to know his peculiarities, when the story progresses. Whether it is not liking to be touched, his fear of germs, strangers and crowds to his inability to eat foods with particular colours. However his description of events in his life, and in particular, his description of his oddities those seem completely 'normal' to him, make him an interesting and fascinating person. Christopher always gets frightened when he meets, sees, or has to talk to new people. An example of this is, "It takes me a long time to get used to people I don't know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks”. Christopher also hates when his father or anyone else moves the furniture in his house. An example is when Mrs. Shears vacuum's the Boone's house Christopher hates the movement of furniture, so after she is done Christopher moves it all back into place. Christopher is not capable of lying or understanding lies. He is a highly observant boy, he points out features that are seldom noticed or considered by other people. He finds people confusing for simply two reasons, because 'people do a lot of talking without any words', and because 'people often talk using metaphors', therefore he trusts and takes literally everything he is told, such as the untimely death of his mother. He is also not able of telling and understanding jokes, because of this his reasoning add some hilarity to the story. ' If I...say the joke...making the word mean the three different things at the same time, it is like hearing three different pieces of music at the same time which is uncomfortable and confusing...It is like three people trying to talk to you at the same time about different things'. Sadly for Christopher, the only enjoyment he would attain out of life would be on the notions of Mathematics and Science. “I like maths because it solves problems. And I like The Monty Hall Problem.”

Christopher's behavioral problems placed stress on both of his parents, most notably his mother who left him, as she was not able to deal with him being "different". You could say that Christopher’s father is also affected by autism, because his son suffers from it. He sees how hard some things are for Christopher and because Christopher behaves quite strange, in certain situations, it is hard to deal with for Ed Boone. Christopher's problems required the special attention of his father who has to cook his meals which involve his many eating habits, washing his clothes, looking after him on weekends and when he gets sick or into trouble. Ed knows all Christopher’s habits and understands the way Christopher works. Christopher's behavioral problems are seemingly what broke up his parents' marriage as they both had different opinions on how to deal with him. When Ed finds out that his son is trying to solve who killed Mrs. Shears’ dog he becomes unusually angry and impatient. We learn that he killed the dog and that he lied about Christopher's mother being dead, and this prompts Christopher to leave home and make his first journey alone. As we know, Ed Boone lies about several things. He told Christopher that his mother died, because of a heart failure and he concealed that he had killed Mrs. Shears’ dog. It makes him different to Christopher, because he is not capable of lying and because Christopher is also not able to understand lies, Ed can use this in his own advantage. The big mistake that Christopher's father makes is to hide the information from Christopher that his mother is leaving them because he wants to 'protect' his son. Presumably worrying that Christopher will feel rejected, he hides this vital information from him.