Theme questions

 

1. Is there more than one theme in the book?

Answer: Yes, there are several themes to the book such as honesty, however they are pretty hard to find.

2. Are any of the themes in the book linked?

Answer: Some of the themes in this book are linked such as Honesty and the struggle to become independent. Christopher's father lies to him many times throughout the story such as when he tells Christopher that his mother was dead. Honesty links to the struggle to become independent because if his father had not lied to him Christopher would not have felt the need to leave his home.

3. Out of the following themes which one in your opinion is more important? The struggle to become independent, subjectivity, honesty and relationships. Why?

Answer: I think honesty is the most important theme in the book because, because of Christopher’s fathers dishonesty Christopher runs away which. Without the Dishonesty of Ed there would not be a story

Is the theme directly stated or implied?

Answer: The themes of this book are implied

4. What message do you think Mark Haddon is trying to get across to the reader *

Answer: One message that Mark Haddon is trying to get across is you cannot judge someone before considering things from their perspective.

       5. Did this book lead you to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?

Answer: This book made me reassess how I deal with problems because, when there is a problem people generally only consider things from their perspective. People like Mrs. Shears do not understand how people like Christopher, someone who has autism, function.

6. What kind of conflict does Christopher face? (Ex. Person vs. Person) *

Answer: The conflicts Christopher faces in the book The Curious incident of the dog in the night time are:

Character vs. Self, Character vs. Environment and Character vs. Character. In the book Christopher pushes himself to leave his home in Swindon after he finds out about all the lies his father told him even though he is scared of other people and loud sounds. Therefore there is a Character vs. Self-conflict. Many things in the environment Christopher lives in oppose him as not a lot of people understand him. Therefore there is a character vs. Environment conflict. Finally there is a character vs. Character conflict because Christopher cannot trust his father because he told Christopher that his mother was dead.

7.       What kind of relationship does Christopher have with his family?

Answer: Christopher has an untrustworthy relationship with his family. Christopher’s Father lies to him several times throughout the book.

8.       What does Christopher fail and succeed to accomplish?

Throughout the book curious incident of the dog in the night time Christopher Succeeds at becoming more independent, facing his fears (loud noises, people) and completing his A- maths. However he fails to forgive his father.

9.       Do you think that if the novel would had been written in any other point of view (other than Christopher's) that one would have understood Christopher's thought process and been able to truly get insight to his character? Why?

 

Answer: Not at all. Since Christopher is narrating the book we hear a lot of his thoughts that and feelings that we would have not heard otherwise. We learn so much about Christopher’s character because it is written in 1^st person.

 

10.   Mark Haddon uses different language and grammar through-out the book to help us understand Christopher’s character. Do you think it was distracting? Would the story have had the same impact if the language had been different? I liked how the book was written it made Christopher’s character more real; I thought it added to the book. If the language had been different the story would have been boring.