An Interpretation of Christopher Boone

1111 Words5 Pages
My interpretation of Christopher Boone, the main character from the novel “The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime” by Mark Haddon, is a representation of innocence. I believe that he is a proper depiction of this because to begin with, he is blunt without being aware of it. Secondly, he is oblivious to other facts, such as danger, when something overtakes him. For instance, the allure of mystery surrounding the murder of Wellington the dog. Lastly, he makes decisions based on his own present moment feelings without considering the future. These facts tie Christopher Boone to innocence as they seem to mirror actions of a young child, who most certainly would represent innocence. Christopher Boone’s character is very straight to the point, and can even sometimes come off as rude. For example, in the novel on page 8 Christopher has an encounter with a police officer, “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him." Clearly, these are not the actions a normal 15- year old boy would undertake in the presence of a figure of authority such as a police officer. Yet, a young boy may feel this way and take these same actions because his innocence shelters the boy from knowing the difference between a police officer and any other man, or from knowing whether these actions are wrong or right. The innocent mind truly has no filter, and it is completely up to the parents to reinforce the idea of what is wrong, and what is right. And with time, this is how a young boy would eventually learn that it isn’t correct to act in such a way to a figure of authority. Conversely, because of Christopher’s condition, he doesn’t really have that filter. Another example from the novel is on page 184 when Christopher is on his journey to London and quickly becomes overwhelmed as he isn’t a fan of new
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