A Curious Incident, a Portrayal of Autism?
A Review of Mark Haddon's Novel
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon [Vintage, 2004] tells the story of Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy who goes to a Special Needs school. One day he, discovers his neighbor’s dog dead, stabbed with a garden fork. Christopher cradles the dog in his arms, and the police arrive soon afterward; Christopher hits one of them, and is taken to the station.
Features of Autism Found in Haddon’s Book
Although the word “autism” and its derivatives are never used in the novel itself, Christopher’s behavior is most clearly explained by this diagnosis. Christopher lives in a world which is similar to how a scientist perceives the world, in which natural phenomena and human behavior are identical in their importance, and phenomena are a far more reliable determiner of behavior. For Christopher, human beings are unreliable and confusing. He needs order and stability.
How Christopher Seeks Comfort
The utter unpredictability of the world leads Christopher to seek guidance from superstitious external signs: if he sees cars traveling in certain patterns, he infers the quality of day. This rule-based explanation would provide an explanation for some of the often-erratic behavior of the children with autism: they have rules to make daily life comprehensible, and when these rules are violated, individuals turn inward or explode outward in their behavior.
Behaviors Atypical of Autism
Unlike most children with autism, Christopher has a high degree of self knowledge. He understands that his behavior problems have created stress on his parent’s marriage (43-44), and proceeds to list his Behavior Problems, A- R. He does not seem to enjoy these behaviors, but only considers them necessary parts of his life.
Reaction From the Autism Community
Eric Chen, an adult with autism from Singapore, writes that Christopher is an unrealistic depiction of a character with autism for precisely the reason that Christopher functions as an effective narrator for the story. Eric writes: “Christopher is highly self-aware, and could articulate his thoughts so clearly. This was very different from my own experience. At his age, I was still mostly in a state of sleepwalking. I was unaware of my own emotions, body and situational awareness.” Eric proceeds to note three passages in which diverge significantly from the cognitions of people with autism.
Christopher’s Portrayal as a Person With Autism
Christopher still remains, even with his self-awareness, a profoundly handicapped person who must rely heavily on others in order to navigate a social world he understands far less than he does the natural world. Christopher has learned to use figurative language, yet he still has difficulty taking another person’s perspective, which may explain why “I” appears in nearly every sentence he narrates. This portrayal may not characterize a typical person on the spectrum of autism, but it depicts many experiences which would resonate with those who have known individuals affected, and most likely has built important awareness about the condition.
Autism Is Often Symbolized by a Puzzle Piece.
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