Questions Regarding Conflict

System of a Down-Question!

I was responsible for 10 questions regarding conflict.  Here they are:

1.       1. What do you think the main conflict is in the story: Character vs. Character, character vs. self, or character vs. environment? Why?

It’s more of a character vs. environment conflict.  No one really understands Chris (poor chap) or his motives.  All he wants to do is solve the mystery of who killed the neighborhood dog, but people aren’t accustomed to his behaviour and mentality, so, in a way, they’re slightly afraid of him.

2.     2.  Do Chris and his father have a good relationship?

I’d say, yes, they do have a good relationship with his father, even in the worst of times.  They get along and his father is very patient and understanding of Chris.  Even then, Chris pushes the limit of each other’s trust and does things that he knows are risky in his father’s eyes.

3.      3. What really triggered Chris’ curiosity surrounding his mother’s “death?”

Well, obviously, whenever he talked to Mrs. Andrews about Wellington at the corner store.  Suddenly, a huge veil was lifted and a completely other mystery was revealed, adding further complication surrounding the plot.

4.      4. Do you think that Chris’ dad overreacted when he found Chris’ book and read what he wrote down?  Was it really necessary to bring on violence?

He was perfectly sensible up until he hit Chris, in my opinion.  I’ll be honest, he was fed up with Chris disobeying his orders and breaking his promises, but violence wasn’t the answer.

5.       5. Chris seems to go off topic a lot.  Does this in any way help progress the story, or hinder its progress?

This is tough.  Personally, I see it progresses it in a strange way, because his off-topic things aren’t really that off-topic.  They just give lots of explanation to an inquiry or to why someone has done this or that.

6.       6. Dramatic Change: Chris’ Mother May Still Be Alive.  Does this plot twist make the story more interesting than before, or is it still a dull read?

I really don’t know why I asked that question, because it isn’t a dull read in any way whatsoever.  I do find that when Chris finds those letters in his father’s room, that everything suddenly changes, and that the story is no longer just about dogs and maths.

7.      7. Chris’ mother never died.  Why do you think his father told him so?

This is tough.  We first must understand that Chris doesn’t understand human behaviour that well.  It’d be too complicated for Chris to understand what went on.

8.       8. The initial mystery of the book was pretty bland, do you find?  Do you find that people are brushing off Chris as some kind of message?

It seems like more of a kid-ish mystery to solve.  If he was a younger kid trying to do it, the neighborhood would think that it’s cute.  Since he’s 15 and should know better, everyone in frustrated.

9. How does Chris' character add to the conflict?

He's an interesting fellow that handles situations differently.  This creates a bit of a barrier between him and the rest of society that is a huge obstacle for him to overcome.

10. How does Mrs. Alexander's part in this mystery add conflict?

She revealed everything about Chris' mother's death--I mean, affair with Mr. Shears.  Enough said.

Second Journal

Journal on the second quarter of the book

The second half of the book is rather boring. Despite the book going through a serious plot and conflict change, the book is uneventful and uninteresting. Christopher finds out his mother is still alive, and the story is taking a major turn and switches from the death of a dog to finding his thought-to-be-dead mother, and why his father was hiding his mother from him.  We also get a glimpse of the relationship between Christopher and his father tensing. The problem with this quarter is that it seems uneventful, with distractions of Christopher's humor. 

In this section we see foreshadowing of the information Christopher gets on his mother being alive. Mrs. Alexander tells Christopher earlier in the book that his mother isn’t really dead. In this section Christopher finds out his mother left his father to live with Mr. Shears (the ex-husband of the neighbor).

Chris and his father’s relationship takes a dark turn when the father finds Christopher's book full of evidence, after him repeatedly telling Chris to not get involved. This results in Chris and his father physically hurting each other. Yikes. 

The humor in the book is great, but continues to take away from the conflict and the storyline. This leaves the reader unsure of how to respond, like the first quarter of the book.  Despite all the excitement and mystery, the book is uneventful. The humor has a huge role in that.

The book is bay far a unique read, but is not really a great book. It’s good for laughs, but the storyline is weak, and on top of that too much distraction from the main storyline. The conflict also seems to change halfway through the book. I don’t know what that’s about. It needs to start focusing on the storyline more, rather than Christopher’s strange thoughts. Though, that IS how someone with autism would see the situation. So maybe it’s just not good to read the mind of an autistic boy.  Not sure yet.  

Mystery: Zach's 2nd Journal Entry

Suddenly, the book is warming up to be quite the suspensful read.  In this quarter of the book, we discovered new information from Mrs. Alexander surrounding Chris' mother's death.  The hints that we get are that Chris' mother may have never died.  She left with Mr. Shears (the man that Chris accused of killing Wellington) to live somewhere else and had an affair with each other.  In Chris' words, "because he was doing sex with someone else when he was married to Mrs. Shears."

We also see the stress in the relationship between Chris and his dad.  After his dad repeated several times that he didn't want Chris to  go snooping around in other people's business, he finally lost it when he found Chris' book filled with his "evidence" in the murder.  It concludes with Chris grabbing/scratching his dad (I was a bit confused at this point) and his dad hitting him back.

Otherwise, this section was darker than the first half of the book.

Still, I think that it is a generally humuorous read.  At one point in the book, he goes on about he has to take chances with this mystery.  By the end of this digression, we were doing a deep analysis of a newspaper column revolving around luck and how this certain person was deemed wrong by so many people.  We were shown a (rather confusing) mathematical problem and a (less confusing) graph showing the outcome of a game show.  After all that, it left me with a little bit of a "dafuq did I just read?" feel.  It made me laugh how we digressed that quickly.

Near the end of the section is when things get exciting.  Chris ended up losing his book and decided to search in his father's room for his book. Even though he didn't find his book, he did find an old shoebox filled with letters adressed to Chris. Intriguing...

Upon opening one of the letters, he sees that they are in his mother's handwriting and mailed a few months after his mother died.  One letter talks about how his mother is now enjoying her job as a factory worker in London.

Whoah.  Back up.  Slow the **** down.  His mother never really died?  Despite all the talks and apologies from the neighborhood for the family's "loss?"  It means that Chris' dad has been lying the entire time.  And he's all about Chris being honest to him.  Isn't this in the slightest way hypocritical?

Well, sorry, I digressed.  However, further reading of the various letters reveals that Chris' mother is alive, and did indeed split from his dad to live with Mr. Shears, which explains why Mrs. Shears is single and explains the line "Mr. Shears is an evil man." This was said earlier in the book by Chris' dad.

This is turning into a big mystery.  I'm liking the book more and more.

Section 2/4 - Journal Entry

I hate to admit, but the second quarter of the book isn't quite as intriguing. My initial review probably should've been a bit more critical. Nevertheless, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is still an interesting read. I admit I read a little past this quarter of the book, as page 113 is an awful place to stop. A major plot twist is taking place: Christopher's mother is actually still alive, and has been trying to communicate with him by means of letters for years. His father has been hiding all of these letters in a box underneath his bed.

Christopher continues to go off topic with mathematical formulas, but his humour and perception on life continues to shine. His list of why he didn't like brown things made me laugh, particularly his bit about a girl named Melissa Brown:

Melissa Brown (who is a girl at school, who is not actually brown like Anil or Mohammed, it's just her name, but she tore my big astronaut painting into two pieces and I threw it away even after Mrs. Peters sellotaped it together again because it looked broken).

The humour like this though causes major conflict with the dark storyline. It's often hard to know how to react. After getting this far in the book, also picked up on some foreshadowing from earlier on page 58. Mrs. Alexander seemed surprised when Christopher explained that his mother had died of a heart attack in the hospital. This is because she knew that Christopher's mother had not died, and was in London was Mr. Shears.

I'm starting to question whether this was the right book choice for me. It is a good read, and not really comparable to anything else, although I thought this book would have a little more depth. The plot is hardly about the initial conflict anymore, and is more so a window into the autistic mind of Christopher Boone.

I'm also wondering how a film adaptation could possibly work. This book is mostly self-narrated! We shall see. I hope this book can again give me the intrigue it did at first.

journal 1

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon, is one of the most thought provoking and interesting books that I have ever read.

The main character is fifteen year-old Christopher Boone. He is a smart, high-functioning autistic kid whose view on life is particularly fascinating. He likes Sherlock Holmes, and the colour Red, but detests the colour yellow. He narrates the entire book, and gives an amazing demonstration of the autistic mind and thought process, he brings the reader through scenarios that most people would react completely differently to.

 Christopher's descriptions of events are funny and interesting, and keep the first quarter of the book enjoyable, which is good because of the somewhat flavourless settings and depressing story line. For example, one night Christopher finds his neighbours poodle dead, with a garden fork jammed through his chest in the yard of a typical English home.  After discovering that no one had plans to discover who murdered the dog named Wellington, Christopher decides to investigate Wellington's murder (against the wishes of his father), and begins to write a book about his adventure.                                        

I found the first part of this book extremely entertaining as it is written in such a creative and different way, and it makes me think about other people’s perspectives on life and how different they are from me.  I liked how the author introduced the dog’s death so early in the book as it makes the rest of the book more fascinating and attention grabbing.                                                                                                                  

I wish that the author would have developed a better setting in the beginning of the book as the lack of depth made it a bit vague, however from the little amount of setting detail that I did read, it painted a sleepy and dull location which I assume was done so it contrasts the setting later on in the book.                                                             

Overall I am extremely happy with my novel choice by means of entertainment.

Section 1/4 - Journal Entry

After reading the first quarter of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I can say with honesty that I am extremely happy with my novel choice. The book is extremely intriguing (I am in fact already much further past the first quarter!) and has caused me to almost miss my stop on the bus a couple of times.

Being thrown into Christopher’s autistic perspective and the main conflict nearly right away in the book was interesting, and helped reflect his character. The dreary, lower-middle class setting of Swindon sets the dark tone of the book perfectly and reflects the town’s characters’ mostly neutral feelings towards life.

One of the biggest draws of the book is clearly the humour, which Mark Haddon wrote very intelligently as Christopher’s does not usually realize he’s funny. In fact, when he does purposely attempt to tell a joke, it is related to mathematicians and is more insulting than hilarious. The diagrams of things he sees (either literally or in his mind) help the reader grasp a sense of how he thinks, and this is very interesting.

For example, Christopher drew a diagram of a complicated math game he played in his mind to calm him down while he was in stressful situations, though for the average person, it would probably only stress them out more! The rapidity at which things happen often leaves me having to reread a couple of paragraphs back in order to understand, as Christopher hardly stops to breathe, though this is simply a reflection of his personality.

Speaking of Christopher’s personality, he’s incredibly positive given what happens to him. He is constantly swore at and insulted by strangers and authority figures, and can count on one hand the people who actually care about him. He doesn’t even try to defend himself with the police officer. It is really quite a dark book once you look past the humour, and often leaves you feeling guilty after reading it for a while. His mostly mellow way of reacting to others reminds of a recent biography I read of the alternative rock band Radiohead. Lead singer and songwriter Thom Yorke simply didn’t feel the need to defend himself, and did what he loved.

This book doesn’t really have anything to teach you, though it is an out-of-the-ordinary read. I read on its Wikipedia page that a film adaptation is in the works, and I’m certainly looking forward to it.

Journal Entry: Zach

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time starts off with a legitimate bang.  Right off the first page, before any characters or setting are introduced, the main conflict is revealed.

What happens is that Christopher John Francis Boone (the narrator and hero of the story) finds his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, dead, with a pitchfork in the dog's side.  Shortly after, Mrs. Shears accuses Chris of killing the dog, the police come, and basically all hell breaks loose.  This section ends with Chris going against his father's word and trying to solve the mystery of "Who Killed Wellington."

Personally, I find the first quarter of the book slightly strange, as far as structure is concerned.  We learn about the conflict (Wellington's death), we are introduced to some central characters (Chris' dad, Mrs. Shears), and we learn a lot about Chris.  However, we don't learn too much about the setting.

Yes, it's obvious that the story takes place in England.  The language (profanity is introduced on page 4 and continues for the most part throughout the story), culture references ("football" instead of "soccer"), and some geographical references (refer to USA as "America" instead of "US", camping trips to France), tell you that it's a very English story.  But apart from a brief visit to the police station (where Chris stayed in his 2m x 2m x 2m jail cell), not much is really revealed about the setting other than it takes place in a suburban town in England.

Other than that structural problem (which really isn't a problem, but more of a different way of progressing the story), the book is quite exciting.  I'm glad I chose it.  It is...uniquely written, with the 233 chapters (which are prime numbers) and multiple graphs and charts.  It also has, personally, the most interesting character in most of the books I read.

...by the way, this has exactly 302 words in it.
--Zachary (aka Zachasaurus Rex)

Journal 1

First Quarter of the Book

The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night time is a rather odd book. It starts out almost directly with Christopher, who is autistic, finding a dead dog and punching a police officer. 

The story itself tells quite depressing and odd story. An autistic boy finds a dead dog, has a single father, and has a dead mother. Depressing. The author seems to try emphasizing on the situation and it's unordinary nature by having a very bland setting. It makes contrast between the story line and the bland setting at the beginning of the book. Which is genius, but I don't think works well because the book really does not focus on the setting in the first quarter. 

The author also seems to use Christopher's autism to lighten up the book. It can be quite humorous at points, and I think the book is creative and funny. Despite that, it is not my favorite book to read for long periods of time. With the humor it leaves me confused to how to react to to upsetting story it and unsure of what my thoughts and opinions are on what is going on in the book. The story is also somewhat hard to catch with the distraction of Christopher's thoughts. Overall the book is depressing, funny, and unique, but not very addicting. S'okay.

-Bethanyonnomnomlettuce-

Setting Discussion!

Discussion questions on the setting and the affect it has in the book

1. How would it effect the story and the characters if the book had started out in a larger city?  

Answer: The setting in the beginning of the books helps describe the nature of the Characters. Particularly Christopher. He does not like strangers or talking with people he does not know. Being in a small suburban area shows this about Christopher. Furthermore, the small, suburban setting helps create contrast between the unexpected death of Wellington and the quiet, normal setting.

2. What contrast was created between the setting and the incident of Wellington's death? Did it put emphasis on anything, and did it benefit the story?

Answer: Because Swindon is such a small, quiet town, the murder of Wellington was even more shocking and unexpected in the book. It puts emphasis on the incident and benefits the story by putting focus on the it, compared to the boring setting of the town.

3. What mood and general feeling does the town set?  

Answer: The town sets a very neutral feeling and tone. Swindon is a small, ordinary town, and tells the reader that it is nothing special.It sets an almost boring feel.  

4. Does the setting help develop or help the reader understand the characters at all? How?

Answer: The town of Swindon, particularly Christopher's street, gives a predictable description of the neighbors, and helps the reader understand the neighbors, without the author having to describe them much. It also helps develop Christopher by showing the reader how he prefers quiet places.

5. What effect does Christopher's autism have on the story of the book?

  

Answer: The overall story of the book is rather dark and sad. The author uses Christopher's autism in a friendly, humorous way. This helps lighten up the book and keep it interesting. It gives a funny, and not-knowing-what-to-expect feel to the reader.

6. What does the town show and tell the reader about Christopher?

Answer: It shows the reader that Christopher is uncomfortable around strangers, dislikes loud noises, and prefers having a quite lifestyle.  

7. Does the book being written autobiographically (first person) affect the setting?

Answer: The book being written autobiographically (first person) does affect the setting. Because Christopher is autistic, and you are seeing the setting through his eyes and thoughts, it dramatically changes the setting and the overall feeling. Christopher takes in little details, and really opens the eyes of the reader to the setting. It changes the feeling of the setting in a way that most people are not used to reading.  

8. What  effect does  an autistic boy writing the book and having a depressing storyline together have on the reader?

Answer: The combination of a dark, depressing setting and a funny narrator creates a paradox, making the reader conflicted.  

9. Do you think having an ordinary setting benefits the story? How or how not?

Answer: Yes, the setting benefits the story to some extent. It creates contrast between the conflict and the setting. The setting also describes the characters. Though, the story also suffers from the setting. The setting makes the story somewhat boring, by having nothing unique about it.  

10. Why would the author create what is supposed to be a normal setting, and put chaos in it?  

Answer: The setting puts emphasis on the strangeness of the murder of Wellington and the whole situation. The setting and conflict work together by being opposite.  

-Bethanyomnomnomlettuce-