The Curious Incident

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time Christopher Boone Analysis Christopher’s defining characteristic is his inability to imagine the thoughts and feelings of other people. In other words, he cannot empathize. Because he cannot imagine what another person is thinking, he cannot tell when a person speaks sarcastically, or determine a person’s mood by his facial expression. This inability to empathize is one of the most well known features of autism-related disorders, and this characteristic as well as a few others. Christopher’s difficulty understanding metaphors, his passion on certain topics, and his computer-like ability with numbers, strongly suggest that Christopher has a mild form of autism. This condition has made him extremely gifted in math and science but severely underequipped socially, leading Christopher to frequent misunderstandings of other people, especially his father. As a result, he very much dislikes social interaction and avoids it when possible. Although Christopher does not mention autism by name anywhere in the novel, we see that he recognizes the ways he differs from most people and feels aware of these differences. He says, although most people enjoy chatting, he hates it because he finds it pointless. He doesn’t see social interaction as an end in itself, therefore talking to another person about an insignificant topic serves no purpose. He lives as an outsider as a result. He has very few friends and doesn’t trust other people. He feels content to read in his room by himself, and he even fantasizes about being the only person alive on the planet! Christopher also recognizes and takes pride in the strengths that result from his condition, such as his talent for math and his amazingly accurate memory. His memory allows him to recall an entire event in extreme detail, and he uses it to navigate social interactions
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