Pages 84-164
Christopher’s
evolving
relationship
with
his
father
is
one
of
the
central
dramas
of
the
novel.
Pick
three
scenes—one
from
the
beginning,
one
from
the
middle,
one
from
the
end (up to page 164) —in
which
Christopher
interacts
with
his
father,
and
discuss
what
each
scene
reveals
about
their
relationship. How
does
the
scene develop
each
character? How
does it
work
to
move
the
plot
forward?
ReplyDeleteChristopher Boone has many qualities that make his personality unlike any others. He always tells the truth no matter what the circumstances are. And during his detective work we see that Christopher is adventurous, determined and always keeps his thoughts organized. He also abhors the colors yellow and brown, but instead he admires the color red. “4 red cars in a row made it a Good Day, and 3 red cars in a row made it a Quite Good Day, and 5 red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day…” (Haddon 24). Through this quote we can see that Christopher has a more abstract way of seeing the world and by including red, he demonstrates how it is a pleasing color to him. Christopher continues to show his intelligence when explaining prime number and doing high level math and physics.
Christopher is unlike the other characters in the novel. He does not like to talk to strangers and when not being asked questions, Christopher tends to walk away or not continue a conversation. He has a difficult time distinguishing emotions and expressions others use in normal conversations. “I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying” (Haddon 3). The paper helps Christopher communicate with other characters in the book.
With the knowledge Christopher has of always telling the truth, he would make a reliable narrator. He exhibits the traits of honesty, memorization and determination. In the text you can tell that Christopher is always telling the truth, or a white lie, but admits to what the truth is. Understanding that he tells the truth makes Christopher a reliable narrator, but he will have to discover the truth in order to solve this mystery.
Ben Gregory
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s relationship with his father is one that relays on trust and patience. That is why when Christopher’s father hits him he rewards him. “He said he was going to take me on an expedition to show me that he was properly sorry”(Haddon, 85). Christopher's father showed a lack of patience when he went off on his son the day before. His father knows that he has to be patient with him so he had to make it up to him. Also his father knows that he has been keeping secrets from him about his mother and the neighbor’s dog, so he knows that he has to be good to Christopher. The relationship changes significantly when Christopher realizes that he has been lied to and his father has broken the trust between the two. When his father encounters Christopher with the letters his father says, “I did it for your good, Christopher/Honestly I did/I never meant to lie”(Haddon, 114). But the moment Christopher figures out his mom had been alive, the trust between the two was broken. Christopher thinks of father more as just another person rather than a family member now. When the police approach him he even asks for him to be arrested. “Have you arrested father/He killed a dog/With a garden fork”(Haddon, 159). From the moment Christopher runs away we learn that his father is a good person despite his unethical deeds. He truly does care for Christopher. Unfortunately, Christopher sees the world differently and is not forgiving when he is lied to. The relationship between the two will forever be changed for the worse
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher Boone and his father have an interesting relationship. In the beginning of the novel, Christopher gets brought into the police station after the suspicion of killing Wellington the poodle. His father comes into the station in an outrage because he knows his son would never do anything to hurt someone or something. He ended up questioning his son, however, just for cautionary measures. After that, his father told him that he loved him. This goes to show that Christopher’s father must be strict but will always love him. Another scene that shows the relationship between Christopher and his father is the continuous scene of Christopher’s detective work. His father is very against Christopher going around and asking people about Wellington the poodle. He is against it because his father has secrets that he did not tell Christopher. Every time that Christopher is out of the house, his father questions his whereabouts, and since Christopher can not lie he always gets yelled at by his father. The last scene is the detective work in Christopher’s own house. Christopher was searching in his father’s room without him knowing and found letters addressed to Christopher. Christopher opened the letters and they were from his mother. Christopher became extremely confused because his mother had been dead for a couple of years and the letter is from a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteThese scenes go to show how the father loves Christopher very but has lied about his mother. This means that Christopher will continue his detective work, but with two different cases. One being Wellington and the other being his mother. These scenes are very important to the novel as they progress the mystery into more mysteries making the novel more entertaining.
Blog 2-Abby Heyroth
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s father has an important role in Christopher’s discovering of his true self. For example, Christopher’s book was discovered by his father. This book holds many of the discoveries and secrets that Christopher is keeping like his father’s affair with Mrs. Shears. His father bursts through his bedroom door and inquires him about his whereabouts. Christopher denies “investigating” but rather just chatting with Mrs. Alexander. As Christopher was explaining his reason, his father aggressively grabbed Christopher and he tried to swing at him, but his father didn’t let go, but continued to shout. Christopher was bleeding. The next day, his father apologized. This reveals that their relationship is very capricious. At times, his father’s patience is lost and Christopher becomes distant thus causing tension. Through this quarrel, the father learns the consequence of bottling up his emotions from past experiences like losing his wife and having a disabled child. Christopher develops a conscience in which he senses change in something.
Christopher is adventurous. One instance occurred when his father was off at work and Christopher had been seeking for his book that his dad took away from him back in the previous scene described. He searched upstairs in his father’s bedroom and found a box of letters. He cautiously went back to his room as soon as he heard his dad arrive at home. Eventually, his father came into Christopher’s room to check on him while he was reading one of his “forbidden” letters. His father asked him what he was up to, but Christopher gave a white lie and he left. This scene reveals the sense of secrecy and seclusion between the two men. Christopher develops some independence and his father shows trust towards him.
From one scene in the book, Christopher had discovered letters that his mother had been sending to him telling about her new life, but the letters had been intercepted by his father for many years in order to “protect” him. One evening, Christopher learned that his father was off at an emergency water break fix and ran upstairs to his room so he could continue to read these letters. As he was reading, he became ill and passed out on his bed. When he woke, his father was in his room and immediately became panicked as soon as he saw the letters surrounding Christopher. Eventually, his father explained to Christopher what had happened to his mom, with Mr. and Mrs. Shears and that he had killed Wellington. Christopher convinced himself that his father was a murderer and that it was not safe for him to stay with him, so he ran away from home. This scene describes the incompatibility between Christopher and his father. They do not understand each other completely. The father develops honesty and Christopher encounters the consequences of betrayal. Overall, all three of these scenes work towards the plot by helping Christopher realize his purpose and maturity. He is able to expand his view on the world a little wider.
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Lauren VanGheem
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the novel Christopher’s father comes to see him at the police station.
He yells, “I want to see my son,” and “ Why the hell is he locked up?” He wants to protect his son and knows that he needs protection. Christopher also treats his father with respect and honesty. Christopher knows that his father loves him but does not quite know what love feels like, which makes it hard to love his father back. Christopher and his father do this thing with their hands when they touch fingertips. This symbolizes the love and affection for one another. Christopher thinks that his father is the only that he can trust because he keeps him safe. Things change when Christopher finds out the truth.
In the middle of the story the father is much more aggressive toward Christopher. He tells Christopher that he can not investigate who killed Wellington. He makes him promise that he will not dig deeper into the mystery. Christopher then talks to Mrs. Alexander and finds out that his mother had an affair with his neighbor. He writes this information down in his book. His father then finds the book and is very disappointed that he found out. Through this argument Christopher realizes that he can not trust his father as much as he thought he could. This changes the relationship between Christopher and his father.
Closer to the end, Christopher finds out that his father was lying to him this whole time and his mother his still alive. While searching for his book Christopher finds letters from his mother and is not very happy with his father, who he at one time depended on. Christopher also found out that his father killed Wellington. Christopher was so furious with his father lying to him that he wanted to run away from his father because he thought that he would get killed, like Wellington. Christopher hopped on a train and was on his way to live with his mother in London. This lie may have ended his relationship with his father forever. Now Christopher will not trust his father at all.
Scott Russell- Blog Two
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between Christopher and his father seems to be simple at the beginning of the story, but as the novel unfolds, it becomes apparent that there is more to it than what is initially presented. However, through the course of the book, one theme of the relationship stays clear; Christopher’s father loves him. At the start of the book, Christopher is taken to the police station for assaulting a police officer. Immediately, Christopher’s father goes to the station to make sure if Christopher is okay. He questions Christopher and tells him to stay out of trouble, but this is only for Christopher’s well being. Later in the story, another layer of their relationship is revealed. On page 114 Christopher is found reading the letters from his mom. “I’m sorry, Christopher. I’m so, so sorry” his father says (Haddon). Christopher’s father goes on to apologize for his mistake and lying to Christopher. His father explains that at the time he did not know how to explain what happened to Christopher, so he said his mother went to the hospital. After that the lie just kept getting bigger and bigger. After this point in the story, Christopher is aggravated and frustrated with his father for lying to him and hiding the fact that his mother was still alive. Christopher then runs away from home and boards a train to see his mother. While on board, a policeman says “We’ve got your father at the police station… He’s looking for you” (Haddon 159). At this point in the story, Christopher wants nothing to do with his father because he killed Wellington and he lied about his mother’s death, but even though Christopher wants nothing to do with him, his father still comes to look after him. This shows how much Christopher’s father loves him. Despite the rough times that Christopher and his father are going through in their relationship, it is clear that Christopher’s father loves him more than Christopher can comprehend.
Christopher is very reliant on routine and familiarity in his life. He does not do well with strangers. Christopher even struggles to find comfortableness when holding a conversation with his neighbors that have lived next to him for years. Although he has known them for a significant amount of time, the lack of personal connection between christopher and the people in his neighbor lead him to become anxious and untrusting in social situations with these individuals. This personality trait that Christopher possess makes his relationship with his father extremely important. In the first few pages of the novel Christopher's relationship with his father is already relevant. In the beginning Christopher is brought jail after and assaulting a police officer. In this scene readers are shown how Christopher’s father cares for him when he is angry for how his son was treated. “He was shouting ‘I want to see my son,’ and ‘why the hell is he locked up?”(Haddon,16).“ He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out like a fan/we do this because father sometimes wants to give me hug, but I don’t like hugging/it means that he loves me”(Haddon,16). This shows how accommodating Christopher’s father is for the special needs of his son. This scene also allows readers to enter into the mind of Christopher boone and discover how he processes situations. This scene is a critical point to the story because it is the beginning of the search for the killer of wellington that makes up this murder mystery.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the Novel Christopher and his father have a fight about the book Christopher had been writing and about information he was beginning to discover. Christopher father ended up hitting Christopher. This shows that although usually very patient, due to Christophers difficult and sometimes stubborn personality, his father can sometimes lose his temper and show his dark side. This leads to him doing and saying things that he regrets.“How stupid are you?”(haddon, 80).“But father grabbed hold of my arm really hard. Father had never grabbed hold of me like that before”(Haddon,82). This shows that Christopher is a can be a difficult person to handle and someone who loves him as much as his father can lose their temper from time to time. This scene is a key component to the progress of the plot because when Christopher’s father took the book he had been writing, it caused to Christopher to go searching for it leading to discovery of the letters that told Christopher his mother was still alive.
Christopher finds comfort in knowing that he can trust his father and that his father loves him, but this same trust is what almost breaks him when learns his father had been lying to him. Christopher found out that his father had been lying about why his mother was longer in his life, and made the discovery regarding who killed Wellington the dog. Because Christopher relies so much on honesty and trust he feels as if being in the presents of his father is no longer safe. “And then I knew it wasn’t a joke and I was truly frightened”(Haddon,122). Through this scene we learn that Christopher cannot fully understand the meaning and capabilities of people's actions. When his father tells him that he killed Wellington, Christopher automatically believes that his father will kill him using the logic that “if his father killed the dog he is surely capable of killing him too.“Father murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him”(Haddon,122). Through this scene we also are informed of his father intentions behind his actions. He kept the whereabouts of Christopher's mother a secret from him for the soul purpose of protecting his son. His shows readers how deeply his father cares for him and would do anything to protect him. “I did it for your own good, Christopher”(Haddon,114). This scene is very significant to the movement of the plot. This event causes Christopher to flee his home in search of his mother, as well as change the relationship he once had with his father.
Bella Weslow
Luke Biese
ReplyDeleteThe first scene I chose from the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time to show the evolution of Christopher’s relationship with his father is when Christopher is picked up at the police station and he is taking Chris home. On the way home Chris has a conversation with his father where he is told not to get into trouble and not to look around for an answer to who killed Wellington. Christopher is shown to love his father in this scene and is shown to be obedient and trusting. His father loves him but he is slightly annoyed about what happened. This scene advances the plot because it is human nature to press on and continue to do something especially when we are told not to. This leads to the rest of the events shown in the story.
The second scene I chose to show the evolution of the relationship between Christopher and his father is when his father yells at Chris for trying to find out who killed Wellington. His father grabs Christopher and yells at him and shakes him for disobeying him and digging deeper into the mystery. This scene shows the relationship slowly crumbling apart. It also advances the plot when Chris’s father takes his book forcing Chris to go look into and find out that his mother is not dead.
The final scene I chose in the relationship development is when Christopher finds out his mother is not dead and his father killed the dog Wellington. In this scene, Christopher loses all trust in his father and basically begins to see him as a serial killer. His father, however, is not a bad man who needs to go to prison (other than killing a dog). He still loves Chris very much and wants to make up for what he did. This scene shows us how much his father loves Christopher. It also shows that Chris has a lack of love, empathy, and forgiveness. This scene makes Chris go to live with his mother and is the reason the events of the rest of the story occur.
Blog 2 - Adam Homel
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father have a relationship that is constantly changing throughout the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In the beginning of the book, Christopher was arrested for assaulting a police officer and his father did everything that he could to get Christopher out of jail. This shows that Christopher’s father cared deeply for him and was there for him in difficult situations. Christopher’s father told Christopher that he believed that Christopher did not kill the dog. This scene develops the trust that was built up between Christopher and his father because his father knew that Christopher was incapable of lying. This scene works to move the plot forward because it set the stage for Christopher being very stubborn throughout the rest of the book. This was shown when Christopher would not agree that he did not mean to hit the policeman because that would be a lie.
In the middle of the book, Christopher and his father’s relationship took a turn for the worse when his father found his book and yelled at him about it. Christopher’s father did not want him to be a detective by trying to find Wellington’s murderer. Although Christopher could not see it, his father was doing this to protect him. Because of his stubbornness, Christopher kept writing the book and looking for loopholes in what his father had told him not to do. Christopher’s father was very upset at him about this, but eventually got over his anger and life went back to the way that it was before. This scene develops that Christopher’s father could lose his cool and blow up at Christopher if Christopher persisted in doing something that he was told not to. This scene again develops Christopher’s stubbornness. This is shown through his writing of the book, even though his father warned him not to. This scene works to move the plot forward because it started to show that Christopher’s relationship with his father was dependent on his obedience. This starts to weaken the relationship of Christopher and his father.
Later in the book, Christopher’s relationship with his father became horrible. This happened because Christopher discovered the letters that were sent by his mother, whom his father said had a heart attack and died. After reading several of the letters, Christopher threw up and passed out on his father’s bed. His father found him like that and immediately regretted not telling Christopher the truth about his mother. Christopher’s father also said that the killing of Wellington was his doing. After Christopher had heard this, he became frightened that his father would kill him as well. Early the next morning, Christopher snuck out of the house and decided to go live with his mother in London. This scene develops Christopher as a scared boy who was running for his life. He believed his father would kill him next because his father had told him that he had killed Wellington. His father was looking for him throughout this scene. His father is shown as a man that is distraught that his son has run away. The plot is moved forward because Christopher and his father no longer have a relationship. When Christopher found the letters from his mother, it was too much for him to bear. He no longer trusted his father and wanted nothing to do with him, so he decided that he was going to move to London to be with his mother.
Christopher Boone and his father have an evolving relationship throughout the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. At the beginning of the book, Christopher is taken to the police station after hitting the police officer who grabbed him. Christopher’s father immediately came to the station to do everything he could to get him out of jail. His father cares deeply for him and knows that Christopher’s safety and protection is his top priority. As the scene continues, Christopher’s father tells him how he believes he did not kill the dog. This demonstrates the trust that they had for each other.
ReplyDeleteLater in the book, Christopher seems to ignore his father’s wishes for him to stop “investigating” what might have happened to the neighbors dog, Wellington. Christopher continues to look for clues that may help him figure out what happened to Wellington. His father discovers Christopher’s book and yells at him for it. Christopher began getting frustrated and angry with his father. What he may not have known was that his father was only doing it to protect him. Christopher continued to write his book against his father’s rules. This demonstrates Christopher’s stubbornness and lack of obedience to his father that was not seen in the beginning of the book. Because of this, their relationship starts to weaken and grow tense. Christopher begins to gain suspicion of his father throughout his investigation of the murder.
Near the end of the book, Christopher’s relationship with his father began to worsen very quickly. Christopher discovers that the letters that were sent by his mother, whom his father had said died when he was young. This ruins all trust that Christopher had for his father. At this point Christopher wants nothing to do with his father because he also discovered that his father killed Wellington and lied about his mother’s death. Christopher gained some fear for his father. His father, regretting everything he ever lied to Christopher about, still loves him. Christopher is so distraught, scared, and angry with his father, that he plans to run away. This is the worst point in their relationship. The trust that was built in the beginning of the book has diminished if not disappeared completely.
Christopher and his father had a very close relationship, during the novel they had interactions that changed their relationship more. Their relationship is still evolving, and dramatically changing. Christopher was very close to his father, but through the novel they grew more apart, and lost some of the trust they had.
ReplyDeleteChristopher trusted his father. Christopher did not like to spend time with people he did not know, or even want to talk to them. There were few people in his life that he was familiar with, that he would talk to and interact with. One of these people was his father. He had a very deep relationship with his father, and he trusted him. "He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other"(16). Christopher’s father knew him well enough to know that he does not like physical contact. They came up with this way to show love for each other without physical contact. Christopher thought that he could trust his father, until he finds out he killed the dog.
When Christopher finds out that his father killed wellington, and had been lying to him all these years he lost a lot of trust that he had for him. Christopher did not believe in telling lies. He thought that if he never lied to his father, his father should not be able to lie to him. Then he said, "I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie. It was so complicated. So difficult. And I... I said she was in hospital. And I know it wasn't true. But once I'd said that... I couldn't... I couldn't change it. Do you understand... Christopher...? Christopher...?" (114) This quote shows how his dad is sorry, and wish he didn’t lie. Christopher does not seem to understand, because he will not answer him, or he does not want to talk because of how he can not trust him anymore. He also could not trust his father anymore because he killed Wellington.
When Christopher found out his dad killed wellington, he became scared of him. Christopher was curious about who would have killed the dog, and why anyone would want to do that. Christopher gets scared of things easily, like if someone touches him, or if there are too many people, so when he said “Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me.” (122). it meant that he was genuinely scared of his father, and was curious if he would murder him. That is when Christopher decided to run away.
Christopher thought that he could trust his father, when he convinced him his entire life that he could. Christopher lost all of this trust when he found out that his father had been lying to him about his mother’s death and that he killed Wellington. He felt the only thing to do was to run away, and go live with his mom in London, because there was no one left at home he could trust.
Bennett Schmitz
Bella Zingler-Hoslet
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father have a relationship that is rapidly changing throughout the book. In the beginning, they had a very loving relationship where Christopher’s father is very patient with Christopher and very forgiving. This is seen in the scene where Christopher is in the police station. His father comes to get him out of the holding cell and when he sees Christopher he does not yell or become angry but instead shows the sign for a hug, spreading their fingers out like a fan and having their fingers and thumbs touch. This scene shows how patient Christopher’s father is with him and how loving their relationship is. The fact that Christopher’s father is compassionate toward Christopher moves the plot along by showing how their relationship gradually changes throughout the book. Towards the middle of this book their relationship changes. Christopher is told not to investigate the death of Wellington anymore and to not investigate Mr. Shears any longer. Christopher does not listen to his father and continues to play detective about the death of the dog all the while writing about it in his book. This makes Christopher’s father very angry and he grabs and hits Christopher. Christopher and his father's relationship changed then and showed the reader that although the father is a patient and loving one, he also can get very frustrated and aggressive. The detail about the fight helps carry along the plot of the story by showing the consequences of Christopher’s actions and helps show the later downfall of the two’s relationship. Near the end of the book Christopher and his father's relationship changes again. This time Christopher discovers that his mother is actually alive and that it was his father that killed Wellington. This causes Christopher to panic and run away from home. This scene helps show that Christopher can no longer trust his father, showing that the father who once was a trusted man is now depicted as corrupt. The idea that their relationship changed moves the plot along and explains why Christopher had to run away, it also explains who Mr. Shears is and how Wellington died.
Anthony Jaslowski
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s relationship with his father is a very complicated one. At some points in the story, they seem to be getting along very well. However, at some points, they are at each other’s throats, even going as far as to hit one another. The first scene I want to talk about is the part where Christopher’s father hits him because Christoper will not give up on trying to find out who killed Wellington. His father had told him multiple times to just drop it, but Christopher continued to do his detective work and try to solve the crime. On many occasions, we see Christopher’s father raise his voice to him because he is unhappy about something. When Christopher’s father is driving him home from the police station after he was arrested for hitting a police officer, his father bans on the steering wheel to make his point about how Christopher should drop the whole Wellington deal. This caused the car to swerve a bit, putting both of them in danger. This is not the only time his father’s anger endangers Christopher. Another scene that portrays the love that he has for Christopher is when his mother cheats on his dad with one of the neighbors. Christopher’s dad made her leave, and to protect Christopher from the ugly truth, he had told him that his mother had a heart attack and died. He also hid all the letters that his mother had sent him so that Christopher wouldn’t figure out that she was still alive. His father had intended to tell him at some point, but just not until Christopher was much older, so it would be easier for him to understand what happened. It was wrong of his father to lie to him, but he did it in Christopher’s best interest. It is something that he didn’t want his son, whom he loved very much, to have to experience. Another example of how Christopher’s father is how he stands up for Christopher when the teachers at his school won’t let him take A level maths. He went into the school to talk to the principal and even offered to pay an extra fifty dollars to a teacher that would stay after school and teach him A level maths. I wouldn’t say their relationship is love hate, but it has lots of drastic ups and downs. Most relationships have these swings, but the swings in Christopher’s relationsip with his father seem to be especially significant. I feel like in the end though, everything is going to work out between Chris and his dad, because his dad only wants the best for him, and he loves him very much. Once Christopher realizes this, they will have a much better relationship. It hard to trust someone who lied to you before, especially something as big as your mother being dead, but once he realizes that his dad only lied because he loves him and wants to protect him, he will forgive him, and they will all work out.
BLOG 2
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the book of “The Curious incident of the dog in the midnight” Christopher Boone at the start of book after he is sent to a jail cell, his dad comes to bail him out. With this it shows that his dad and Boon are close. Not only does they show this through that action of bailing buut Chris Boon says he trusts his dad and doesn't even get scared of him. Boon doesn't like to be touched and so when his dad touches him it shows that he trusts his dad and he is very loving of his dad even though he doesn't know/understand what love is.
Sometime in the middle of the book when he starts to become more unlike himself as in, breaking more and more rules by finding loopholes in his dads rules, the relationship between Chris Boone who is fifteen years of age only starts to break more and more and we can see this when originally in the start of the book it shows that Chris is not even willing to break a rule or try to find a loophole of any sort. For example, Christ is not supposed to be looking for the book his dad said he threw away and some other rules that Chris is supposed to follow that keeps him from snooping around the house or messing with his dads stuff.
Getting close to the end of the book his relationship with his dad starts to completely evaporate. Reason being….his dad is restricting him from doing what he wants, he was hit from his own dad. After snooping around some more and finding out more things, he finds out that his own dad lied to him about his mom being dead, after he found out that his mom was alive and one other thing we becomes to distrust his dad and hence, stop listening to him and leaves him up and dry eventually. Christopher becomes less and less respondent to his father and ;therefore, the relationship between the two gets more and more tense and steadily worse and worse.
Writer:Ryan Reinke
Alana Bergin
ReplyDeleteThroughout the novel we see how strong of a connection Christopher Boone has with his father. Although Christopher may not fully understand love, he knows that his father loves him very much. It is through difficult situations that we see how much Christopher’s father supports, loves and protects his son. An example of when we see this is when Christopher is taken to the police station after being accused of murdering Wellington, and hitting a police officer. Before he knew it Christopher’s father was there to protect him and explain what had happened in a way Christopher would understand.
This bond between father and son continue to grow until Christopher is told to stop his detective work. Christopher's father seems to be preventing his son from discovering something that could could be confusing in his life. Through this we see further how much Christopher’s father cares for his son and wants to make sure he is safe and loved. Christopher makes a promise to his father to stop his detective work and they show their affection by touching fingertips. Christopher's father knows he does not like hugs, so by touching fingertips demonstrates how much he cares for his son. However, later in the novel we discover that Christopher’s father has been hiding a truth from his son. This is something that Christopher would not be able to understand very well, and when his father comes home to Christopher laying in bed with sick over him, he knew something was wrong. All this time Christopher thought that his mother was dead, but his father was lying to protect him from finding out that his mother was alive. But Christopher feels betrayed and that the bond of trust between him and his father was now gone.
Through these scenes the characters seem to develop and grow into independent people who are figuring things out on their own. This helps move the plot along because Christopher is learning to be more independent and not rely on people he knows for help. He is being adventurous and motivated and after he discovers that his father killed Wellington, Christopher takes a leap of faith to leave and find his mother. By seeing how fast Christopher had to make decisions and go into the world, proves how he can conquer his worst fears in order to reach something he needs.
Christopher Boone’s relationship with his father is one major plot line in the book and it is a good way to examine how Christopher with people that he actually trusts and interacts with. The first interaction we see between them is when Christopher is sitting in the police station after he hit the police officer. Christopher’s father rushes to the station in order to help Christopher as soon as possible and when he gets there he shows compassion and patience and they touch hands instead of embracing like we would expect people normally would. It is clear that Christopher’s father cares for him a great deal and that he wants desperately to provide for and understand Christopher to the best of his ability. Christopher shows unconditional trust for his father when it seems like he really would not trust anyone fully.
ReplyDeleteLater in the book, we see what happens when Christopher pushes his father’s patience to the breaking point. His father finds the book Christopher is writing and he loses his temper at Christopher. Christopher did not even realize his father was mad at him unto he grabbed his arm. Christopher hates to be touched so he hits his father and they have a violent but brief physical altercation that ends with Christopher being in a daze and his father returning to normal after having blown off some steam. Even though his father touched him, Christopher’s trust in his father remained more or less the same. We see that they both still cared immensely for each other and that they both wish to forget about things like this. If anything, this shows how much Christopher’s father cares for him and that he wishes the best for him. But on the flip side, it shows the stubborn side of Christopher and how he is failing to see what his obstinate behavior is doing to his father’s emotional health. Without noticing it, Christopher is adding more and more stress to the already fragile relationship between him and his father.
In one of the next interactions between Christopher and his father the situation flies off the rails and his father quickly loses control of what is happening between him and his soon. Christopher discovers the letters his mother has been writing to him when he thought that she was dead. To make matters worse, his father had been hiding the letters from Christopher. So Christopher, now knowing that his mother is not dead and that his father had been lying to him, the one person he truly trusts, he goes a little crazy. He becomes distant for a bit and then he comes to the conclusion that he is no longer safe around his father because he also knows that his father killed Wellington. Christopher takes his rat and some food and decides to run away. Whatever trust and companionship there had been left between him and his father is now completely gone. In Christopher’s eyes, his father has completely destroyed any chance of Christopher continuing to trust him. His father, on the other hand, still cares for him but Christopher has made up his mind and there is no changing it. The once loving and caring relationship this father and son had is now completely gone and it has been replaced with a sense of betrayal and unhappiness.
Alex Broullire
In these chapters the relationship between christopher and his father unfolds. In the beginning of the story christopher and his father were fairly close and his father would share stories about him and his mom. Christopher enjoyed talking to his father even though there were a few topics they always argued on. However, this does not stay consistent throughout the entire story.
ReplyDeleteStarting towards the middle of the story, some things change drastically. Christopher and his father begin to get into fights more often and about more serious topics. He begins to question his father’s judgement and reliability. He also starts to become very unaware of what his father likes and does not like which creates more fights. Neither of them trust each other and do not know how to act towards each other anymore.
The ending of the story is where their relationship falls apart. Christopher’s father finds the book he has been writing and gets angry at him for continuing to talk to Mrs. Shears. He is also angry with him for writing the book. Christopher just gets overwhelmed and confused and his father continues to yell at him. He takes Christophers book and hides it in a pretty bad spot. Unfortunately when he is looking for the book he wrote he finds something else, the letters his mom has been writing him. He immediately feels betrayed and confused. Information gets out and his father admits to killing wellington. This sets Christopher over the edge to the point where he is worried about his father killing him.
Megan Zasuly
Molly Rader
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding emotions are one of the topics that Christopher struggles with which has caused his relationship with his father to change often. When Christopher’s father came to pick him up at the police station after he was suspected for killing Wellington, his father “held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan” as a sign of love and protection (Haddon, 16). Christopher did that back to him because he does not like to be touched, but his father wants to give him hugs. That interaction showed how Christopher’s father is so protective of him and tries to show that he loves him even if Christopher does not completely understand.
Christopher’s father has a very short temper. When his father discovered that he was investigating the murder of Wellington, he got mad, told him to stay out of other people’s business, grabbed him, and hit him. Christopher does not remember much else from that night. Christopher said, “The next day Father said he was sorry that he had hit me and he didn’t mean to”(Haddon 85). Even though his father is sorry for what he did, his short temper could cause issues in the future because he could end up scaring Christopher away.
Lying is another subject Christopher does not understand because he struggles to read people. He was so disappointed when he figured out that his father had been lying to him for two years about his mother being dead. Christopher got sick when he found the letters that his mother had been writing to him because he was in such disbelief. His father tried to cover it up by saying “‘I just thought it was better if you didn’t know’”(Haddon, 114). Christopher lost his trust and his father, and he may have ended his relationship with his father.
Christopher’s relationship with his father, Ed Boone, evolves throughout the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In the beginning of the novel, Christopher is taken to jail for hitting a police officer. His father eventually arrives to take Christopher home. Christopher’s father greets Christopher with an act of love: “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other (Haddon 16). This is their way of expressing their love for each other. This scene reveals the trust Christopher has built with his father and the care his father has shown for Christopher. This example gives the reader insight into how Christopher’s brain processes events that take place and his unique personality. It also displays the loving and caring side of Ed Boone. This scene shows the curiosity building in Christopher to find out the truth of who killed Wellington.
ReplyDeleteChristopher continues to investigate the mystery of who killed Wellington even after his father told him to stop. His father becomes very mad when Christopher finds and reads the letters from his mother. He tries explaining that lying to Christopher for all these years was better than telling him the truth about his mother. This scene reveals a weakening of their relationship. Christopher has started to lose trust in his father and is very confused by the fact that his mother is still alive. This scene also shows the hurt the Christopher’s father still has from his wife leaving him. This part of the novel urges Christopher to find his mother and learn more of the truth.
Later on in the novel Christopher finds out that his father is the one who killed Wellington. This scene has a major impact on the relationship between Christopher and his father. “I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him” (Haddon 122). After this scene Christopher no longer feels safe around his father and he now feels betrayed and alone. Ed Boone’s apology in this scene also shows how much he cared for Christopher and was trying to protect him from the truth. This scene provides the final push for Christopher to leave his home and go on a journey to find his mother.
Mariah Michalski
The relationship between Christopher and his father changes sufficiently between each encounter. In the beginning of the novel his father is protective of his son and constantly has to remind to stop trying to figure out who killed Wellington. His dad is quite calm but has Christopher repeatedly asks the neighborhood about who killed the dog, his dad slowly becomes angrier. Although they have a few arguments their relationship is still strong and Christopher obviously can not survive without his father. “I don’t like it when people grab me. And I don’t like being surprised either. So I hit him” (Hadden 82). Towards the middle of the novel, Christopher’s father loses his temper on him and they fight. His father is getting sick of Christopher’s constant curiosity and his need to try to solve the mystery. It can be inferred that his father does not like the topic of the killed dog, which is explainable speaking they we learn later in the novel that he actually committed the murder. Their relationship is slowly boiling over the top and something is bound to happen that could be catastrophic. At the end of the assigned reading, Christopher finds out his father has been lying about his mother’s death and has been hiding the letters she has been writing. Christopher loses his trust in his father, and in the aftermath his father confesses to killing Wellington. “I had to get out of the house. Father had murdered Wellington” (Hadden 122). Christopher is beyond confused at this point and has completely lost faith in his father. Their relationship is practically destroyed and his father does not have a clue that this has happened. He thinks he may have restored the relationship by telling the truth, but this caused Christopher to flee to his mother.
ReplyDeleteErik Sladky
Christopher’s relationship with his father changes drastically throughout the book. In the beginning, Christopher obviously trusts his father and this is shown their actions at the police station. Before saying anything, his father holds up his hand and Christopher does the same. This is a sign of love and trust between the two, and because this is the first interaction between Christopher and his dad in the book, it is evident how different Christopher is, contrasting how he was with the police officer. This scene moves the plot forward because it foreshadows a break in this relationship, du to the fact that it is the only real one Christopher seems to have at that point.
ReplyDeleteThe reader starts to see cracks in Christopher’s relationship with his father when they fight about Christopher’s detective work for his book. His father finds the book on the counter and when their argument starts to heat up, they both hurt each other physically. The scene shows that Christopher’s father is very frustrated with the way he must handle these situations. Christopher does not seem to fully understand what happened, but he knows this is different than other arguments they have had because it became physical. Although it all looks like it worked out, it is evident that there is trouble in their relationship.
The breaking point comes when Christopher’s Father returns home to Christopher with his mother’s letter and decides to tell everything. He lets it out that he killed Wellington and that seems to be when Christopher mentally cuts it off. It really shows that his father didn’t know how to handle the situation. For Christopher to truly understand, it would take time. In contrast to the instance at the police station, Christopher does not accept his father’s hand. This shows that the relationship was shattered and makes Christopher unable to be a part of his father’s life. It propelled his desire to find his mother and drive him as far away as he can be from his father.
Clara Blumreich
Christopher and his father have a unique relationship, one that requires patience and understanding. For the most part, Christopher’s father knows Christopher very well, however, sometimes he has to ask Christopher questions in order to understand the truth. Although Christopher’s father may be short-tempered in some ways, he reminds Christopher of how much he loves him. After picking his son up from the police station, Christopher tells his father about how he plans to solve the murder. Reminding Christopher, and telling him to stay out of other people’s business, Christopher continues to tell his father what he plans to do. Becoming mad at Christopher, his father slammed the steering wheel with his fist, “I said leave it, for God’s sake” (Haddon 21). Christopher could tell he was mad, so he stopped talking and did not say anything else. His father’s anger is brought to the audience in a way we could see as dangerous. Christopher’s father cares for his son. Through Christopher’s questioning, we realize that the actions of his father, and why he is telling his son to stop may have a deeper meaning, as to what happened to the dog.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s father always looks out for him and tries his best to protect him. Warning his son not to go around and getting involved in other’s business, he sees a side of his father that is hardly ever seen. Christopher describes his father as a levelheaded person, and barely ever got angry. After discovering Christopher’s book, his father begins to yell at Christopher because of him writing about other people’s business and getting involved with it. He grabs Christopher hard, in which Christopher does not like. As we know from earlier on in the book, is that when people grab Christopher, it usually ends with him hitting someone, and that is what he does to his father. Recalling what he remembers, “He took hold of my arms and lifted me onto my feet. Father would not let go, and he was shouting. And I hit him again” (Haddon 83). Losing himself and forgetting what he was doing, Christopher feels as though he loses his memory and does not come to the realization of what he has done. Although Christopher and his father do not always get along, his father is just looking out for his son to ensure that he does not get in trouble again.
After discovering the letters from his mother, Christopher learns that she is still alive. Reading through the letters while his father is away, Christopher cannot believe that his father has made up a lie telling him that his mother died. In the end, we discover that Christopher’s mother never died, but ran away with Mr. Shears and that his father was the one who murdered Wellington. Sobbing because he has lied to his son, Christopher’s father apologizes to him, “I did it for your own good Christopher. Honestly, I did, I never meant to lie. I thought it would be better if you did not know” (Haddon 114). In this part in the book, we can see a connection between Christopher and his father. Christopher’s father shows emotion, not only when he is angry, but when he is sad and cries. Getting sick due to the situation, his father helps clean Christopher up, and we come to see how gentle he can be, and Christopher does not hit or scream at his father while he is helping him. From this scene in the book, we can understand that Christopher’s father cares for his son, and throughout the book so far, he truly wants to protect his son and keep him safe. However, Christopher does not believe that he is safe in his own home, and decides to gather his things and leave.
Maddie Vincent
Christopher’s father loves his son very deeply and will accommodate Christopher’s needs. In the book, Christopher does not like many things, especially being touched. One of the most basic ways to show affection is through a hug. Due to Christopher’s condition, he despises being touched by anyone and if he is touched, he will hit whoever he near him. “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me,” (Haddon 16). In this scene, Christopher describes how he and his father show each other love. Through this scene, we can see that Christopher’s father tries to do his best to work with Christopher’s likes and dislikes. This moves the plot because it gives insight into how Christopher’s father expresses his love for Christopher. There are moments where Mr. Boone is blinded by his anger.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 127 of A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Christopher leaves the book he is writing in the kitchen. Mr. Boone ends up finding the book and he gets seriously angry. Mr. Boone did not want Christopher snooping around and asking people about Mr. Shears or who killed Willington. Out of anger, Mr. Boone grabs Christopher and since Christopher does not like to be touched, Christopher hits his father. After this memory, Christopher does not remember anything prior to him waking up with blood on his hands. “Father had never grabbed hold of me like that before. Mother had hit me sometimes because she was a very hot-tempered person, which means that she got angry more quickly than other people and she shouted more often. But Father was a more levelheaded person, which means he didn’t get angry as quickly and he didn’t shout as often. So I was very surprised when he grabbed me,” (Haddon 82). Although Mr. Boone is very patient with Christopher, sometimes Mr. Boone’s emotions can get the better of him. Christopher’s father was extremely disappointed with Christopher because he had told Christopher many times to not investigate the murder of find clues about Mr. Shears. Christopher had repeatedly disobeyed his father and that created a tear in their relationship. Christopher’s relationship with his dad was not ruined by this. The next day, Mr. Boone apologized for what he did. Moving forward, Mr. Boone tried to show Christopher that he loved him and was truly sorry, so Mr. Boone took Christopher to the zoo. Later in the book, Mr. Boone will be the one to disappoint Christopher.
Christopher’s main goal throughout the whole book was to find out who killed Wellington, the dog who was impaled with a garden fork. The whole book was leading up the big reveal of the murderer but to our surprise, the murderer confessed to Christopher. “And he said, ‘I killed Wellington, Christopher,’” (Haddon 120). In chapter 167, it is revealed that Mr. Boone was the person who murdered Wellington. This came as a gigantic shock to Christopher and this moment caused him to lose all trust in his father. Christopher thinks that his father will murder him next, so Christopher makes a plan to escape and live with his mother. Mr. Boone’s actions made lost Christopher’s trust and that trust might never be regained. Christopher’s father realizes his mistake and is now searching for Christopher and bring him back home. The story is continued by Christopher trying to find his mother while simultaneously evading the cops who are trying to bring him back to his father.
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ReplyDeleteMarcus Hornacek
ReplyDeleteChristopher has a relationship with his father that is constantly evolving throughout the book. At the beginning of the book, Christopher spends some time in the police station after hitting a policeman over the incident of the dog. Christopher’s father comes and is enraged witht eh police and demanding that he let his son out. This shows the loving and protectiveness of Christopher's father. Christopher then gets let out and on the way home he and his dad share a conversation. Christopher apologizes and his father is trying to be patient with him because he knows that Christopher did not kill the dog, so this shows that their relationship at the beginning of the book is very tight and trustworthy. His father is sometimes hard on him, but is always somebody that Christopher can trust. This relationship develops each character to trust each other and know that they will always be there for each other. This is really helpful in moving the plot along because this is the foundational relationship that every other grows off of. This next relationship between Christopher and his father changes very quickly when Christopher decides to take it upon himself to find out who killed Wellington. This is strange because his father is very against him doing this and is very strict on what Christopher can and cannot do in relation to this detective mission. The tables really turned thought when Christopher discovers that he has been lied to by his father about the death of his mother. Christopher uncovers letters from his mother that his father had been hiding in his room. Christopher becomes confused and angry with his father because he has been lying to him this whole time about his mother and what really happened to her. Christopher now is in a positive of distrust and utter disbelief that his father would keep this a secret from him. This discovery really changes how Christopher views his own father in a negative way. This scene developers Christopher’s feelings towards his father and how they have changed in a negative way. The plot is continued in a way that Christopher feels a sense of distrust from his father and his father may even feel a little bit of guilt. The final key relationship change is when Christopher finds out that his father is the person who killed Wellington. Now Christopher has become scared of his own father in fear that he will kill him too. Christopher waits until his father is gone and escapes and makes a plan to go to his mother in England and live with her. Christopher hides out until he can get to the train in hopes that his father will not find him. The relationship between father and son in this story has gone too “good” to terrible and fear. Christopher is forever changed because of this relationship and is in fear of his father. His father, however, continues to search for Christopher and is worried about him. Throughout the book, the plot is consisted of many stages of this relationship and it eventually changes into something very traumatic and unfortunate for both Christopher and his father.
Christopher has a very complex and ever changing relationship with his father. This causes the story to take turns every time they interact. The first interaction is at the very beginning of the book right after Christopher is released from the police station. “‘I wonder if the police will find out who killed him and punish the person.’ Then father banged the steering wheel with his fist and the car weaved a little bit across the dotted line in the middle of the road and he shouted, ‘I said leave it, for God’s sake”’(Haddon 21). This is an interesting interaction and begins to show a great picture of their relationship. It first shows that Christopher’s father deeply cares about Christopher and his safety. Also, this shows that Christopher’s father may be angered very easily and this may end up causing a problem in the future. After this conversation, Christopher ignores his father and goes on investigating the crime.
ReplyDeleteThe next big interaction between Christopher and his father is just after Christopher’s father finds out about his investigating. Their conversation goes like this; “And I said, ‘I didn’t want to talk to Mrs. Alexander. It was Mrs. Alexander who—‘ But father interrupted me and grabbed my arm really hard” (Haddon 82). This quote further shows how Christopher’s father is quickly angered and sometimes physical. After this quote Christopher and his father hit each other and Christopher bleeds from the fight. This could be explained by the fact that Christopher's father is a single dad of a child with a disability. This probably gets frustrating for him and he probably gets angry when things with Christopher go wrong. This scene also shows that Christopher is not a fan of physical contact and is not very good at following directions. His father strictly tells him to stop investigation, but Christopher does not follow his orders.
Another interaction in the reading is towards the end when Christopher’s dad finds out that he found his mother’s letters. This interaction is very different than the previous ones and gives a new aspect on Christopher’s dad. “And then he was silent again for a while. Then he said, ‘I’m sorry, Christopher. I’m so, so sorry.’ Then he said, ‘You read the letters”’(Haddon 114). This quote is different because it shows that Christopher’s father has a soft side. He shows his vulnerability and is very contrite towards Christopher. He also shows that he truly cares about Christopher because the reason he hid the letters was to protect him. Throughout these three quotes we see many different personality traits and different aspects of their relationship and it helps to move the story along.
Will Urick
Christopher Boone’s relationship with his father has been shaky at many times in the story. The first scene that we see Christopher’s relationship with his father is when Christopher is taken to the police station. Christopher’s father shows up to bail him out. We see how the father does not get mad at Christopher even though he just got arrested. With his father not getting mad we can assume that he was not mad because he understands that Christopher does not like being touched. We also learn how calm his father can be in situations where other fathers would scold their sons. This interaction helps move the plot along that his father is a very calm person and in the future we see that it might not always be this way.
ReplyDeleteAnother scene that we see Christopher and his father’s relationship is when his father gets mad and the have an argument. This argument was about Christopher going against his dad and doing detective work about the dog. His dad finds out that he is doing this because he finds Christopher's book he left on the kitchen table, reads it, and gets mad at Christopher for talking to Mrs. Alexander about his mother. His father grabs him and Christopher does not like this and begins to hit him. Christopher blanks out and when he comes to his father is bleeding and he has a black eye. His father puts his sons book in the garden and then does not talk to Christopher the rest of the night. We see that even when they had such a bad fight his dad still does not punish Christopher. This helps move the plot when we see that even after a physical fight there is no punishment for what Christopher has done and his father is still calm afterwards.
The last time we see an interaction with each other is when Christopher’s father catches him reading letters to him from his mom. This event breaks the trust between father and son. That is because Christopher is a person who cares deeply about being trustworthy and honest. His father breaks both of these when he lies to Christopher about what really happened to his mother and then later tells him he killed the dog. This moves the plot along because Christopher becomes scared for his safety with his father and now knows where his mom is.
Alex LaMere
As a reader, not much is known about Christopher’s father besides the fact that he is generally levelheaded and patient. Christopher does not understand how fortunate he is to have a father who does not get frustrated easily especially while raising a child with Asperger’s Syndrome. It takes a lot to rattle Mr. Boone, but he loses his patience when he finds the book Christopher is writing about finding who killed Mrs. Shear’s dog. Christopher does not understand why his father is so upset when he scolds him and says, “You go around raking up the past and sharing it with every Tom, Dick, and Harry you bump into” (82). Christopher believes he has done nothing wrong, but he does not understand that his mystery novel about the death of a dog is digging up many dark secrets from the past. Mr. Boone tries to protect Christopher from things he cannot understand, but this makes it difficult for Christopher to follow “rules.”
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the story is moved forward as the trust between Mr. Boone and Christopher begins to break when Christopher continues his murderer investigation after being told to stop. This trust is further damaged when Christopher finds letters from his mother hidden in the shirt box in his father’s closet. Upon finding out that “Mother had not had a heart attack, and Mother had not died” (112), Christopher feels betrayed because his father has told a serious lie. Christopher does not know who he can trust anymore.
The trust between Mr. Boone and Christopher is completely shattered when Christopher learns that his father killed Mrs. Shear’s dog. Christopher knows that lying about murder is serious, and he thinks he cannot “live in the house with Father anymore because it was dangerous” (128). Mr. Boone is not sure how to show Christopher that he loves him and will not harm him. He learns the hard way that he cannot lie to Christopher, even if in the moment it seems like the best option. This moves the plot forward because Mr. Boone now has to set out on a mission of redeveloping a trusting relationship with his son.
-Bridget Kapic
Christopher’s relationship with his father deteriorated drastically throughout the story. At the start, Christopher loves and trusts his father and this is shown with how Christopher reacts to his father, one example being how Christopher reacts to his father's hand, the touching of fingers. This is a sign of love for Christopher and is the first real interaction between the two in the book. His father is the only person he really trusts and loves, but with this information in mind, the scene in my eyes is foreshadowing a failing relationship.
ReplyDeleteReaders can begin to see the relationship between Christopher and his father break down when they get into a dispute over the detective work that Christopher is procuring. When his father fiends the book Christopher is writing, he is furious and he confronts Christopher and they both hurt each other physically and mentally. The scene shows how upset and fragile the father is getting at this point in their relationship, the reader can see their relationship falling apart, although this confrontation ended alright, it marked the first absolute physical confrontation between the two. The last straw for the two is when Christopher’s Father returns and sees Christopher with the letters and utterly breaks, spilling everything in the process. How he killed Wellington, how Christophers mother is actually alive and that he lied. Christopher at this point has all but shutdown. For once Christopher's Father was unsure on how to proceed, but for Christopher to truly understand, he would need time. The two have officially split apart for good, the trust and love that was evident at the police station is gone for good. It was at this point Christopher decided he no longer wanted any part of his father and decided to move on, to find his mother.
-Ian Ernst
Cristopher's relationship with his father changes for the worse as the story go on. At the beginning of the story, his father is someone he can trust, which is not a common occurrence. He feels safe around his father, as if he does not have to worry about social cues or understanding why he has a hard time dealing with others when speaking with him. This can be seen when the Mr. Boone says "'Why the hell is he locked up?'" (Haddon, 16). He was not upset in this case, only wanted to know where Cristopher was so he could get him out of jail. He had no anger for Cristopher at this point, only for the men that had locked him up.
ReplyDeleteThis relationship starts to deteriorate as Cristopher starts to investigate the death of Wellington. His father is not okay with Cristopher meddling in other people's business, yet Cristopher disobeys him because he wants to continue writing his book. This can be seen when his father says "'I said leave it, for God's sake'" (Haddon, 21). He does not want Cristopher having anything to do with the death of Wellington because it will just look worse, as they already think that Cristopher was the one that had killed him. The way in which his father dealt with Cristopher, however, had changed, as he was more upset and hostile. This shows the start of the deterioration of their relationship.
Finally, towards the end of the story, the relationship between Cristopher and his father was very poor. He had always felt safe around his father until his father had grabbed him and made him feel unsafe. Cristopher out of instinct hit his father repeatedly, because he did not know how to deal with the situation at hand. "And then I knew that it wasn't a joke and I was truly frightened" (Haddon, 122). This shows how truly scared Cristopher had gotten of his own father, someone that he previously trusted but now was very afraid of, as if he was a stranger. This shows how their relationship deteriorated throughout the story.
In the first scene when Christopher is with his father, they are arguing about Christopher wanting to uncover the murder mystery of Wellington. His father seems to be very easy to anger and has no patience with Christopher. As they continue talking, his father becomes more and more aggressive. It seems to me that Christopher’s father is really frustrated about his son’s situation and mental disability, and the fact that he’s taking care of him all by himself. I can understand his frustrations, but he still needs to treat his son with care. Although Christopher knows he is angry, he never afraid of his father. This is good. It means that they have a foundation of trust. Christopher trusts his father enough to know he will never hurt him. I can only hope and assume that as the story moves along, their relationship will get better. Sadly, that is not true.
ReplyDeleteIn the second scene, Christopher disobeys his father by continuing to investigate on the Wellington mystery. Christopher does not know what a lie is, only a white lie, which is to not say the complete truth or leaving out specific details. So, when his father discovers his book, he is furious. He told Christopher to leave it and he did not listen. The way Father handles it is not right to be honest. He grabs him by the arm hard. Of course, Christopher does not like to be touched, so he hits his father and violently. There seems to be blood involved as well as name calling. I still believe that Father does not know how to raise a child with this kind of disability. It is not easy, but you at least have to try. If Father continues with this, their relationship might worsen, which gives the story more drama and anticipation of what Christopher is going to do next. Christopher at some point could potentially be afraid of his father if Father is not careful.
The third scene is the worst and most heart wrenching. Christopher find letters addressed to him by someone. Since he is such a curious boy, he opens one and finds out it is from his mother. Confused, he decides to wait until he is home alone to open the other 43 one by one. As he reads, he now realizes that his mother never died and that his father had lied to him. At this point he curled up in bed and just tried not to feel sick. At the same time, Father came in and saw that his cupboard had been messed with. He was upset, but soon realized that his son had finally uncovered the truth about his mother. Father is now feeling desperate into trying to make sense with all of this; for Christopher to understand. This is when Father tells the ultimate truth. He killed Wellington. This shook Christopher to the core. Now he does not trust his Father. Now he is scared of Father. He was so full of emotion and confusion and just overwhelmed that he forgot that he does not like to be touched. He did not scream. He did not move. He simply stopped working for a bit. This is where the climax of the story hits. Everything comes raining down. What will Christopher do next? Will he find his mother? Is this the end of their father and son relationship? This has to obviously affect the two of them. Father is full of regret and guilt, while is son is scared to death and is in hiding. One thing I am certain, although Christopher just had a breakthrough, he will come out strong. He is a strong character because of the way he is. I believe somehow there is hope for their father and son relationship. This is what gives me the interest to keep on reading the book.
~Monica Sosa-Hernandez
The relationship between Christopher and his father is central to how Mark Haddon develops the plot. As this relationship develops, so does the plot. In the beginning of the book, their relationship is pretty strong considering Christopher does not understand human interaction very well. The two of them have had fifteen years to figure each other out, and both have had their struggles along the way. For Christopher’s father, one of his main struggles is keeping Christopher out of trouble. He loves Christopher and deeply cares about him so he gets worried when Christopher gets into trouble with the police at the beginning of the book, as any normal parent would. In the car ride on the way home from the police station, Christopher’s father shows his understanding for Christopher’s actions when he accepts Christopher’s apology. But moments later he is telling Christopher that he needs to stay out of trouble and other people’s business. This conversation shows that Christopher respects his father’s authority over him, and that his father patient but demanding with Christopher. This is a great combination for a healthy father-son relationship.
ReplyDeleteBut as the book goes on, the relationship gets continuously soured by Christopher’s investigation. And it reaches one of its worst points when Christopher’s father discovers the book that Christopher has been writing his investigation in. His father is infuriated by the fact that Christopher continued to get into other people’s business, but perhaps more so because Christopher has just reminded him of why his wife left him. Normally, his father is level-headed and does not shout at Christopher. But on this occasion he starts shouting almost right out of the gun, and this scares Christopher because he does not like shouting or very loud noises. This interaction between the two of them ends with Christopher blacking out from information overload after his father smacked him. Through this interaction, and based on prior knowledge, it can be inferred that Christopher’s father has a breaking point, and that point can be found when either Christopher’s mother or Mr. Shears is brought up. This thickens the plot because the reader now wants to know why those names are so sensitive, and why Christopher does not know why those names are sensitive. It introduces a new mystery to be solved.
It would be many days later before the answers to those questions are revealed to Christopher when he goes looking for his book in his father’s room. Christopher discovers in letters addressed to him that his mother has actually been alive and she is living in London with Mr. Shears. These letters rattled Christopher’s head so much that he actually became outwardly dormant while he tried to think and he eventually threw up on himself in his own confusion. When his father finds him and sees the opened letters, he tries to defend his actions and he pleads forgiveness from his son. But Christopher remains silent, but his silence speaks volumes to how shook Christopher feels. After getting cleaned up with the help of his father, Christopher finally comes back to reality and lets out a scream and hits his father. This would be the last interaction before Christopher would try running away. This seemingly one-sided interaction shows the lowest point his in their relationship. Christopher suddenly loses all trust in his father and does not feel safe around him. And his father becomes aware of how big of a mistake he has made. Needless to say, this destructive news of Christopher’s mother being alive sees the plot progressed far beyond a dead dog in a neighbor’s yard.
-David Scolare
Christopher’s relationship with his father in the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is very important. Christopher learns from other people on how to behave and how to interact with others. Since Christopher is awkwardly social, he looks up to people that care for him and help him learn to become the best person he can be.
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father have a strong relationship. When Christopher needs help, he knows that his father will be their for him. Even if it is as bad as getting arrested. “I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan,” (16). In this quote, the father came to see his son after he has been arrested, because he cares about him and wants to make sure he is alright. Christopher cares about his father and does not want to do anything to disappoint him. Since Christopher found out that their next door neighbor’s dog has been murdered, he has been keeping secrets from his father. In the middle of the novel, Christopher’s father asked him to not go around and try to solve this murder. Christopher said that he would not, but does anyway. “He said, ‘Where have you been?’ And I said, ‘I have been out.’ This is called a white lie,” (48). Christopher does not tell his dad the whole truth, because he does not want to get into trouble. From there, their relationship was getting worse. “Father said, ‘We all make mistakes, Christopher. You, me, your mum, everyone. And sometimes they’re really big mistakes. We’re all humans.’ Then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. But I screamed and pushed him backward so then he fell off the bed and onto the floor,” (122). After Christopher found out his father killed the dog, Wellington, he was very upset. In the beginning they had a strong bond and Christopher trusted him, but at the end he lost his trust and did not want to be with his father anymore.
Christopher is a reliable narrator, because he says what he thinks. He hates lying and would not lie about something he did or thought. Even though Christopher is different from other people and is autistic, he is more reliable than someone who is not autistic. Christopher has a strong heart and strives to be the best person he can.
Yana Williams
The relationship between Christopher and his father evolves, and as a result, develops the plot throughout the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The first example of Christopher and his father’s relationship is when Christopher is in the police station. Christopher hit a police officer and is accused of killing Wellington -the neighbor’s dog. Christopher’s father knows that Christopher is incapable of lying and, therefore, knows that Christopher is innocent. He knows Christopher struggles in social situations and he wants to save him from the uncomfortable situation in the police station. This event shows that the two have a close relationship, and also it shows the obedience and trust Christopher has for his father. On the way home from the police station Christopher’s father tells Christopher that he cannot pursue the investigation of the death of Wellington. This warning foretells the future fall of their relationship.
ReplyDeleteThe second incident between Christopher and his father is when Christopher’s father finds Christopher’s book. He had told Christopher not to investigate the murder and Christopher had disobeyed his command. Christopher’s father was just trying to protect Christopher from the truth because he knew that Christopher could not handle the truth. Christopher’s father became furious and the two had a physical altercation. After the altercation Christopher’s father calms down, but he had already shown what would happen if he found out if Christopher had disobeyed again. It shows that a healthy relationship between Christopher and his father is completely dependent on Christopher’s obedience. This event also is what helps Christopher make the decision to run away later in the book.
Near the end of the book the relationship takes a turn for the worst. This final event occurs when Christopher discovered the letters from his mother who is father claimed passed away. Christopher reads a couple of the letters and has an anxiety attack. He throws up and passes out, and his father finds him with the letters. Christopher’s father decides to tell Christopher the truth about his mother and Wellington. Christopher finds out that his father killed the dog and he becomes frightened that his father will do the same to him. As a result of his suspicions, Christopher runs away to London to live with his mother. Christopher had dealt with too many emotions than he could handle and he decided to escape the situation. Christopher’s father thought he was protecting Christopher by hiding the truth, but it ends up being the reason why their relationship is ruined. This final event shows the fall of their relationship from the beginning of the book to end which progresses the novel forward as Christopher learns the truth and solves the mystery.
James Adams
Christopher’s evolving relationship with his father is the main experience that allows Christopher to advance in the story. One of first scenes that demonstrates Christopher’s relationship with his father is when he first finds Wellington. When Christopher is taken to the prison, his dad hurries over and gets him out. The first sign of their strong, yet fragile relationship is when Christopher and his dad both touch hands instead of giving him a hug because it scares him. This shows that his dad is loving and respects Christopher’s needs and what he must do differently to allow his son to be comfortable. Christopher trusts his father and Siobhan unlike many other people he interacts with. This scene demonstrates the strong side of their relationship.
ReplyDeleteThough his father shows his love and compassion for Christopher, he is human and sometimes he can get overwhelmed and impatient. Since Christopher has a hard time recognizing his father’s emotions, it makes his father even more impatient if he gives the wrong response at the wrong time. When his father was angry and Christopher didn’t realize it, his father grabbed on to him. Christopher hates to be touched and his father knows that but he was too angry to care. They get into a little altercation, but he still trusts his father afterwards. Christopher’s stubbornness keeps piling on stress for his father and their relationship. This shows the fragile side of their relationship.
When Christopher finds out about the things his father had hidden from him, he feels betrayed and unsafe. He finds out that his father had been lying about his mother’s death and also found out that he had killed Wellington. Christopher doesn’t know what to do since the person who he trusted the most lied to him and hid things from him that were very important. Christopher runs away and distrusts his father. His father still loves him but Christopher won’t recover from his untrustworthy actions.
Evan Walczyk
Christopher and his Father have a hard time understanding each other in their relationship. Christopher's Father has been taking care of Christopher alone for the past three years. He’s remarkably patient with him, and throughout the book we can see that he loves Chris deeply. So when Christopher's father asks “Christopher, do you understand that I love you?” (Haddock 87). Christopher says yes, but he doesn’t understand it completely. He understands that his father looks out for him, and takes care of him, and tells him the truth, but he doesn’t understand love any deeper than the actions associated with it. This will become an essential part of the plot later in the book.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s relationship with his father becomes strained once he finds letters from his mother. He starts to be distrustful of his father, although his Father still wants to be close to Christopher and shows no signs of hostility towards him. We can see this when Christopher is trying to read the letters behind his father's back, “Thank you for supper, because that is being polite,” “Good man (Christopher's Father) said,” (Haddock 96). Although Christopher's father is still trying to interact with him, Christopher is no longer being completely honest with him. He then goes off to read more of the letters from his mother, and their relationship takes a dramatic turn.
After finding out that his father lied to him, Christopher is in complete shock. A “normal” person would be distressed immensely by a revolation like this, but for Chris it shakes his reality completely. To top it off Christopher's father admits to killing Wellington, explaining why he was so hostile to Christopher investigating it, and further shattering the trust between the two. This is shown after Christopher's father confesses “Then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out like a fan. But I screamed and pushed him backwards so that he fell off the bed and onto the floor,” (Haddock 122). Christopher isn’t just mad at his father, he is terrified of him. He can’t understand that his father is repentant, and that when people get emotional they can make mistakes. Christopher thinks that his father no longer loves him, and that he may even hurt him. Christopher is so scared of his father, he deems it necessary to run away from home.
Christopher’s Father in the story A Curious Incident is the leading plot developer throughout the whole of the story. The first thing the reader is introduced to, the death of Wellington, the reader comes to later realize was caused by Christopher’s father. This reveals the most noticeable trait about Ed Boone, his temper. It seems everyone in the Boone family suffers from this debilitating trait. As well as Ed, Judy Boone repeatedly writes to Christopher to apologize for her quick temper. Christopher inherited the traits of his parents and repeatedly gets into trouble at school for hitting children he views as “Idiots”. This quick temper is one of the most shared things between Christopher and Ed.
ReplyDeleteOften blinded by his anger, Ed acts irrationally. When Judy leaves Ed to be with Mr. Shears, Ed completely cuts her out of both Christopher’s and his own lives, even going as far as to tell Christopher that his mother had died. This lie eventually catches up to Ed as seen when Christopher discovers the letters that his mother had been writing for him. Upon this discovery, Ed does everything within his power to try and console Christopher, but Christopher does not understand Ed’s compassion, at least not wholly. Christopher cannot see past his father being a liar and a killer, so Christopher leaves to go live with his mother.
Concerned for his son, Ed furthers shows his commitment to his son by leaving to try and stop him and bring him home. Ed shows that he wants nothing more than for his son to be happy, he just doesn’t always go about trying to convey this love in the right way. This lack of conviction is made worse by Christopher’s lack of understanding of social cues and emotions. Christopher does not love his father, not because he’s scared, because he doesn’t know how to.
Joe Waystedt
On pages 20-21, Christopher interacts with his father in the car after he had to come pick up Christopher at the police station. During this scene, Christopher is telling his dad how he is going to find out who killed Wellington so that they can get punished. Christopher's father gets angry very quickly with him. This can show how Christopher and his father may not have a very strong relationship and his father has a very short temper with him. This develops Christopher's character because, his father saying not to investigate the murder acted as a challenge to Christopher. This also helps him get out of his comfort zone and explore and because Christopher knows that he will be able to solve this murder and bring the criminal to justice. For the father, having Christopher talking about finding the murderer could make him very nervous because he does not want Christopher to know the truth. Overall, this scene moves the plot forward because this starts Christophers interest in the murder of Wellington and pushes him to start his investigation.
ReplyDeletePages 80-83 consists of Christopher and his father having an argument after his father finds Christophers book that he has been writing. His father again gets extremely angry for Christopher going against his direct orders to not investigate and get into other people's business. This argument then turns physical when his father grabs Christopher very hardly, and Christopher hits him. This shows how their relationship with one another can be very hostile and even become violent. We could even go as far as saying he is a abusive parent, but I think we can agree that he was just very angry in the moment. Christopher also says how this as the first time his father has done anything like this. But this overall shows how his father gets extremely angry and has trouble talking to him calmly and rationally when Christopher does something wrong. This makes Christopher scared and very surprised because he has never seen his father act like this. Also, Christopher only has a few people in his life that he can trust, one being his father and another being Siobhan. So by his father acting like this, Christopher may feel as if he can not trust his father as much as he thought he could. But, this helps his father realized that he overreacted and that he never should have acted like that. The scene makes his reflect on what he have done and improve his parenting skills for the future. This moves the plot forward, by Christophers anger and curiosity. He was very angry when his father threw his book away, so Christopher decided to go into the trash and find his book. But, when he did not find the book, Christopher was confused. So, he started looking all around for it and that is when he found a box of letter addressed to him. And this brings us to our next mystery that could lead him one step closer to the murder of Wellington.
-Christian Remington
In pages 119-121, Christopher's father discovers that Christopher has found his mother's letters and found out that she is still alive. After Christopher gets sick, his father is very nice to Christopher and is very caring. This shows how even though their relationship might be tough sometimes, his father still loves him very much. Then, after Christopher gets cleaned up, they have another calm discussion. The father tells Christopher how it is very hard to be truthful all the time, and he begs Christopher to trust him. He then tells Christopher how he is going to be honest from now on; and he tells Christopher that he had killed Wellington. Christopher was not sure if he was joking or not. This shows how their relationship does not have very much trust because his father has lied in the past, so he is not sure if his father is lying to him right now. This develops Christopher, because he soon realized that his dad actually was the one who killed Wellington. This causes Christopher to feel very scared and unsafe around his father; something he never felt around him. Also, Christopher has solves the mystery, but not in the way that he taught. This scene develops the father's character because he feels regret and guilt about not telling Christopher the truth about his mom and the dog. So, this causes the dad to commit himself to always telling the truth because as he says, “If you don’t tell the truth now, then later on… later on it hurts even more” (120). This scene helps move the plot the plot, because Christopher no longer feels safe being around and living with his father. So much that Christopher decides to run away and go the live with his mother. This leads him to going to the train station and catching a train to London and beginning his next adventure.
Delete-Christian Remington
Katherine Walch
ReplyDeleteDue to Christopher’s syndrome and his father’s impatience, Christopher and his father’s relationship includes moments of madness as well as genuine love. The novel begins with Christopher finding a dead dog in his neighbour’s lawn. Christopher is accused of the action and is then taken to a police station where his father picks him up. In the car on their way home, Christopher apologizes to his dad and tells him how he’s innocent. Christopher then goes on about how he is going to find who the true murderer is. His father tells Christopher to keep his nose out of other people’s business, yet Christopher continues on wondering what will happen to the dog’s killer. With growing annoyance, his father banged the steering wheel with his fist and began shouting at him. This first event reveals that the two’s relationship is slightly fretful. Christopher’s father is usually patient with Christopher until he does or says something that annoys his father. This starting scene foreshadows more fights between the two by displaying Christopher’s unawareness and his father’s anger.
Christopher’s father’s anger is personified in the middle of the book when his father reads the murder mystery that Christopher is writing. This is when his father learns that Christopher knows about his mother’s affair and how Christopher is disobeying what he said by continuing to investigate the murder. His father starts yelling at Christopher and proceeds to grab him. This took Christopher off guard as he thought, “But Father was a more level headed person, which means he didn’t get angry as quickly and he didn’t shout as often. So I was very surprised when he grabbed me” (Haddon 82). Christopher became extremely uncomfortable and started hitting his father while his father kept shouting. This scene demonstrates another point of hostility in their relationship. The scene again shows his father’s impatience, but gives Christopher’s perspective on his father. While there are multiple altercations between him and his father, Christopher still sees him as level headed, most likely because his mother was much more impatient with him. The scene also shows how Christopher will resort to anything, including violence against his own father, to make himself more comfortable. This works to move the plot forward because it causes Christopher to attempt to get his book back from his father and to continue writing. This leads Christopher to find his book, as well as all the letters his still living mother has been sending him for months.
When Christopher’s father finds Christopher reading the letters that his mother has been writing to him, his father emotionally breaks down in front of Christopher, telling him the whole truth. His father admits that his mother lives in London with Mr. Shears and how he has kept the letters hidden from Christopher. He also tells Christopher that he is the one that killed the dog. At this point, Christopher shuts down as well and allows his father to take care of him. This somber scene shows the softer side of his father as well as his dishonest side. It displays Christopher’s way of reacting to tough news, which is becoming sick and him trying to disengage entirely from the world. The scene moves the plot forward through Christopher feeling of lack of safety. This makes him want to leave his father, which pushes him on his adventure to go to London and move in with his mother.
ReplyDeleteIn the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Christopher and his dad have a complex relationship. Throughout the book, their relationship is sometimes unsteady and as a result, one of them can end up being hurt.
At the beginning of the book, Christopher and his dad have a fairly good relationship. They both love each other and trust each other but we can see their relationship slowly begin to deteriorate when Christopher begins investigating Wellington’s killer. We can see that Mr. Boone tells him over dinner that Christopher needs to not get involved in others business. When Christopher mentions Mr. Shears his father loses his temper and shouts “I will not have that man’s name mentioned in my house” (Haddon 49). From this scene, we can gather that Mr.Boone gets easily angered by the mere mention of Mr. Shears name. This scene advances the plot forward because the readers can start to see Mr. Boone’s temper tantrums and that when he gets angry he can lash out.
We can see this anger later on in the story when his father grabs him hard out of anger and annoyance. When Christopher hits his father he doesn’t let go and Christopher says that “I was sitting on the carpet with my back against the wall and there was blood on my right hand and the side of my head was hurting” (Haddon 83). We can infer that Christopher’s dad hit him because Christopher had no memories for a short while and because his head was hurting. This scene reveals that Christopher's father can get impatient with him and they can often have big outbursts which involve one of them getting hurt.
As the book continues, their relationship gradually declines. Christopher finds a box of letters from his mom that were sent after her death, and he finds out that his father lied about his mother's death, and that he killed Wellington the dog. This greatly traumatizes Christopher and he flees his house to go to London to see his mother because he feels unsafe at home with his dad. This reveals the lowest point in their relationship because Christopher feels like he needs to escape his father and distrusts him greatly. Before, Christopher got along well with his dad, but now he is fearful of being in the same room with him. This scene helps move the plot onwards because Christopher leaves him home to see his mother in London, the woman he was told was dead.
-Shay Cauldwell
Throughout the reading we often see Christopher interact with his father. During each interaction, we learn more about both characters and their relationship. We also see how these interactions move the plot forward. It is crucial to comprehend the background meaning of these conversations.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the story, we see one of the first conversations between Christopher and his father in the police station. Christopher is sent to jail because he accidentally hit the policeman out of rage. Christoph9ers dad comes into the station and is screaming for his son to be released. This emotion shows that he truly does care and has feelings for his son. Once Christopher is released, there is another conversation between the two. His father knows that he did not kill the dog but, becomes irritated when Christopher talks about solving the murder mystery. His father calmly tells him to stay out of that stuff but, Christopher continuously talks about it. And that is when his father loses it. He slams on his steering wheel and says, “I said leave it for God's sake!”(Haddon 21). His quick anger shows that his father can burst out. But, his father soon apologizes quickly still showing that he does care for his son. It also tells the audience that his father cares deeply about the situation. This can be seen as a foreshadowing as to what could happen later in the story.
Towards the middle of the book, we see another interaction. His father, unfortunately, finds the book he has been writing and becomes angered because he has told Christopher to stop trying to get involved. They begin to argue with each other and that is when Christopher soon becomes dazed and confused. The audience can infer that father had hit Christopher and potentially knocked him out, causing him to not remember what had happened. Although father had hit Christopher, his trust is still the same with him. Father apologizes saying how he was very sorry and he did not mean for things to go as they did. With this being said, it shows how his father really does care for him. Although he may boil over become enraged, he does not try to hurt Christopher. It is similar to how Christopher reacts when he is touched. He does not try to hurt them but, his initial response is to punch to let them go. Just like his father, when he is angry, he may do something he does not really mean. This interaction furthermore tells us how his dad has a wave of bad anger and it could eventually change the way Christopher looks at his father.
The next interaction between the two leads to Christopher losing his trust in his father and eventually running away. While his father is not at home, Christopher goes to his father's room to look for his book when he discovers letters from his dead mother. Christopher reads the notes and learns that his father has been lying about his mother and has been hiding the letters. Once realizing the situation, he becomes numb and cannot think or move. His father returns home to find him and immediately becomes sorry and worried. To make the situation worse, his father tells him he has killed Wellington. The next day, Christopher realizes he has lost his trust with his father so he runs away. His father is hurt and is worried about his whereabouts. This interaction shows the audience that the trust with the father is now completely gone and Christopher no longer feels safe with his father. Although, we know his father still loves him and is trying his hardest find, Christopher, to make things right. This final interaction leads to Christopher setting out to find his mother.
-Sawyer Scholl
Hannah Guyette
ReplyDeleteChristopher's relationship with his father changes throughout the story. He begins with always trusting his father and believing in him. Christopher trusts that his father will get him out of the police station when he is brought there for hitting a police officer. His father is furious with the police officers for taking Christopher to the station because they do not know his boundaries and what makes him freak out. The police officers were unaware of Christopher's Asperger's and how that affected him. The father stands up for Christopher and makes sure that they have a strong relationship. At this point Christopher and his father still have a very good relationship. This scene moves the plot forward because it is showing the basis of their relationship and how the father is there for Christopher and wants to protect him. But later in the book we see that Christopher’s trust for his father slowly starts to dwindle. Christopher begins to do detective work on who killed Wellington and his father is very against this investigation. Christopher begins to get mad at his father, as the father yells at Christopher for asking strangers about the murder. As readers we stay intrigued through these scenes because of the suspicion between the father and the son. The son is trying so hard to discover something that he believes needs to be found out, and through this investigation Christopher is starting to become more rebellious and distant to his father. Though Christopher is stepping outside of his comfort zone and talking to strangers, his father does not support those actions and wants to keep him reigned in. Christopher’s father took the book that he was writing and hid it because he did not approve of the topics Christopher was writing about, which was the investigation of the murder of Wellington. This investigation moves the plot forward because it shows how Christopher is brave and will figure out and do anything that he want to. That determination will be shown when he makes his way to London to meet his mother after his father becomes mean and Christopher becomes brave. One day when his father was at work Christopher decided he was going to find his book and after looking all over the house he was determined to find the book, so Christopher ventured into his father's room. In the bottom dresser drawer and under a box he found it and under that book were a ton of letters addressed to him. He slowly started to look at the writing and he thought to himself, this is how my mother wrote my name. So he took a letter put the box back and quickly snuck out of the room as he heard his father coming inside. The next day what his father was at work, Christopher read the letter and realized it was from his mother and she was not dead, he began to read more and more letters until he became sick. When father came home, he went upstairs and found Christopher lying in his bed with the letters and sick. Father instantly knew that he messed up and Christopher was angry with him. Later that night after explaining the story about Christopher’s mother, father told Christopher that he was the one who killed Wellington. That immediately destroy every relationship that Christopher had with his father and he was terrified. After father had fallen asleep, Christopher snuck out of the house and hid the night until the next day when he ran away, dodging his father finding him, and got on a train to London where his mother was. This scene moves the plot forward by showing the reader that Christopher can figure out how to be somewhere on his own and shows hope that he will make it to London safely. The bravery and determination of Christopher shown throughout the novel has shown in tremendous amounts from the beginning to the middle of the novel, I predict that he will continue to grow as an individual and succeed in his trip to London.
Emily Landwehr
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father have a relationship that is based on love but that is full of misunderstanding and anger. Christopher’s dad, Ed, loves him deeply, but often gets frustrated because he doesn’t understand Christopher’s behavior. Ed works hard to provide for all of Christopher’s wants and needs. He adjusts his lifestyle around Christopher. For example, Ed makes dinner and packs Christopher’s lunch based off a long list of likes and dislikes, and always makes sure no food is ever touching.
“I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people, so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me” (Haddon 16). Instead of giving hugs, Ed and Christopher do their own form of a hug, as Christopher doesn’t like hugs. This shows a mutual love that they share, and how Ed will do anything for his son. This scene is the first scene where love is involved, it is pure love. This moves the plot along because scenes later in the book might showcase the love between them being damaged or undermined.
Christopher listens to directions very well, but doesn’t follow the implied directions. That is why Christopher kept up his detective work and wrote his book. When his father found out he was extremely upset with Christopher. Ed has kept all his anger from the past in and this triggers him to explode. Ed gets so mad at Christopher that he grabs him forcefully, and when Christopher starts to punch him, Ed hits him across the face. “I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you to get hurt” (Haddon 86-87). Ed says this to Christopher the day after he hit him. He was trying to send a message across that Christopher needs to stay out of trouble, but Ed didn’t know how to send the message clearly and he went about it incorrectly.
Ed is very protective of Christopher, this is why he doesn’t tell him about his mother. He wants him to feel loved. He wanted to tell him, but once he lied once, he knew he had to keep up with the lie. Ed has done everything he could for Christopher to make sure he had the best life he could.
In the second section of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, there are many scenes that develop not only the plot but Christopher’s relationship with his father. The first incident that started the downfall of their relationship was when Christopher’s father hit him after finding out he was investigating the death of Wellington. This was a point of contention and fear in the story and it began the mistrust between Christopher and his father. His father was having a hard time handling that Christopher had begun to disobey him, as any teenager would. But Christopher was not a normal teenager and I believe that this scared his father. During this fight, Mr. Boone took Christopher's book and became so enraged that he hit him across the face most likely without realizing what he was doing.
ReplyDeleteThe second scene that stuck out to me was after his father had hit Christopher, he took him on a day trip to the Zoo to show that he was sorry. In Christopher’s mind, this seemed to fix what he had done wrong because it showed that his father cared. While they were at the Zoo, his father expressed his love for Christopher by telling him, “I love you very much Christopher, don’t ever forget that. And I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you to get hurt. Do you understand?” (Haddon 86-87). This is not only expression of love for his son but it is an explanation to why he had hit him the day before. It seems to be hard for Mr. Boone to keep his cool at some points but in my opinion, it does not give him any right to hit his son. This interaction is especially jarring when you look back after finding out that Christopher's mother is not dead after all.
The next interaction that I found to stick out was how his father took care of and apologized to Christopher after he found him in shock from reading his mothers letters. When Christopher found the letters from his mother and read them, he threw up and had a groaning fit until his father found him on the floor. After realizing what happened his father became remorseful and began to try to repair what had been broken. He told Christopher that he did not mean to keep it from him but he did not know what to tell him when she first left because he was in shock too. This was the final downfall of Christopher's trust for his father and he decides he cannot stay with him anymore. These events themselves move the plot along, not Christopher’s storytelling skills. There is a change in the relationship every time one of these events happens and it brings the plot to a new point. After his father hit him and apologized he did not seem to be as affected but once he found out his father lied to him, their relationship was ruined. Christopher thought his mother was dead for 5 years and there was no way that his father could fix a lie of that caliber. If these events would not have happened I do not believe the plot would have gone for as long as it did or changed as much.
Abby Wittler
Christopher and his father's relationship has interesting chemistry to be sure. His father has expressed various emotions, emotions of panicked worrying, anger, and regret towards Chritopher and his actions. The first instance that comes to mind takes place in the first few chapters of the novel. Christopher is being held in a jail cell at a police station for the incident with Wellington. His father in a frenzied fit of palpable worriment comes into the station and demands that Christopher is let go immediately. He explains in a rather condescending manner to the officers that Christopher should not be held because of his autism. After collecting Christopher’s belongings they head home. Christopher’s father is aggrieved by Christopher’s involvement in Wellington’s death and yells at him to not get involved. Given more time Christopher’s father starts to calm down and regret losing his cool at Christopher. The second instant is when of the more heavy portions of the novel in my opinion. Christopher, despite his father’s incessant warnings, to stop the detective business he continues to detect and write in his book. When one afternoon his father finds the book and confronts him about it. His father’s anger escalates into a rage that terrifies Christopher. The altercation quick plunges into a physical debacle, resulting in Christopher hitting his father twice and his father reciprocating. As Christopher can hardly recall how his father struck him he does remember his father walking out to throw out the book. I think that this hostile interaction of puts Christopher on the fence in making his pivotal decision of whether or not to leave his father or stay. The final and absolutely crucial instance in Christopher aforementioned decision to leave or stay takes place in his father’s confession of Wellington's murder. This is by far the most important stepping stone for Christopher to leave his father and be on his own. His father in a shameful attempt to apologize for the lies he was told about his mother, and keeping Wellington’s killer a secret finally pushed Christopher off the fence and the farthest away from his father he has ever been.
ReplyDelete-Max Hennigan
Henry Wied
ReplyDeleteChristopher's father is very key to the plot development, and is a crucial character to the story line. Christopher and his father have a very interesting relationship that we see throughout the book, the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.
Christopher's father is very important to Christopher. This is because of his lack of a mother, and his need for some guidance in life due to his medical condition. An early interaction that we see between the two is when Christopher is at the police station being held in custody, and his father comes barging in demanding his sons release. It is times like this that truly show how much Christopher's father really cares about his son. However, Christopher's father has his moments where he will snap at Christopher and yell at him to stop doing something. An example of this is when Christopher is talking about Mr. Shears, and Christopher's father has had enough yelling, “I will not have that man’s name mentioned in my house” (Haddon 49). Moments like these really show how quickly Christopher's father can change moods and get angry with his son. Christopher's father will typically apologize for his outburst anyway though, which can calm the situation faster. The two will argue at times, and there was even an instance where Christopher's father struck his son. This is often times normal parenting for certain circumstances, but not always for the parent of a child with autism. What may be most important about all of this is the fact that Christopher's father is aware of what he does and how he acts with his son, and he knows that it is not always right. Christopher's father shows this awareness by stating, “I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you to get hurt” (Haddon 86-87). This is crucial for the plot because it shows Christopher's father's intention for his son to have a good life and to not get himself into trouble. This is a good thing that his father is doing, and is important to the story.
Jacob Conrad
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, we see interactions between Christopher and his father. During each interaction, we learn more about both characters and their relationship. These interactions move the plot forwards, so it is important to understand the background meaning behind these interactions.
We see one of the first interactions between Christopher and his father at the beginning of the book in the police station. Christopher is there because of an incident where he hit a police officer out of anger. Christopher's dad is called to the police station to figure out the situation. His dad starts yelling at the officers to have his son released. This emotion shows that Christopher’s dad does truly care for him and his well being; he was fighting for his son. Later on that night, his father slams the steering wheel and yells, “I said leave it for God’s sake!” (Haddon 21). This shows his father’s quick anger can get the best of him. His father apologizes quickly, showing how he still loves his son even though he makes mistakes. This moves the plot forward because this emotional interaction shows that their relationship is slightly fretful and is foreshadowing fights in the future.
Christopher’s father’s anger is portrayed in the middle of the book when he finds Christopher’s mystery novel that he has been working on. This is where the father learns that Christopher knows about his mother's affair and he has been disobeying his father’s commands. Christopher’s father grabs him and starts yelling at him, scolding him for his actions. In an emotional state, Christopher hits back, worried about his own self comfort. We see again, that his father apologizes for how things went and that he would never try to hurt his own son like that. This is another example of how his father acts out in immense rage towards Christopher, but deep down, he still loves him. This interaction moves the plot forwards because, in the future, it causes Christopher to want his book back and keep writing. This leads Christopher to finding his book, along with letters his alive mother has been sending him for months, but has never received.
When Christopher’s dad finds him reading all the letter his mother has been sending him. The father emotionally breaks down, telling him the truth. He also tells Christopher that he was the one to kill Wellington, the dog. During this, Christopher shuts down as well, disengaging from the outside world. This scene shows the dishonest and soft side of the father as well as showing Christopher's reaction to the tough news. This moves the plot forward because it pushes Christopher to go on an adventure to move in with his mother.
The relationship between Christopher and his father is hard to recognize and interpret. Christopher acknowledges that his father cares for him and provides for his needs. He recognizes that this as love. Christopher does not give many specific details on what his father is like. The readers have to interpret this through Christopher's descriptions of events. Towards the beginning of the book, Christopher goes to the police station and his father has to pick him up. His father is furious with the whole situation, and all he wants to do is get Christopher out. This reveals that Christopher is very reliant on his father and his father cares deeply for him. This shows Christopher how much his father loves him, and lets the reader interpret that his father is looking out for Christopher. This leads the reader away from considering his father as Wellington’s killer.
ReplyDeleteLater in the story during Christopher’s investigation, his father finds his book which reveals that Christopher had not stopped trying to solve the mystery even after his father told him to stop. His father is enraged and ends up letting his anger out physically on Christopher. Christopher was completely caught off guard and cannot remember much of what happened. After this incident, Christopher realizes that he might not feel very safe with his father. This reveals that his father has a hard time controlling his temper. Later his father apologizes and acknowledges that he needs to learn to control his temper. This makes the reader wonder why his father is so against Christopher solving the mystery.
After Christopher finds out his father was lying about his mother’s death, his father tells him that he does not want anymore lies. He reveals that he had killed Wellington. This shows how Christopher’s father has evolved. He recognizes that he had done wrong and he tells the truth to Christopher. This information, however, shows Christopher that he cannot trust his dad. He wondered if his dad killed Wellington, he could harm him as well. Christopher realizes that he cannot live with his dad anymore, so he decides to leave home. This starts his journey to London to see him mother.
Emily Cribben
Christopher Boone’s relationship with his dad is not clearly laid out. Christopher and his dad have many problems and upsides in there relationships. One of Christopher’s first bad interactions with is dad is at the police station. Christopher, the policeman, and Christopher’s Dad all have a discussion. Christopher does not lie but his dad wants him to in the situation given. Christopher tells the truth to the police officer and the police officer gives Christopher a written warning. Afterwards Christopher’s dad yells at him telling him “It’s a bloody dog, Christopher, a bloody dog” (20). This reveals that their relationship is not the greatest. It shows that Christopher’s dad does not care for Christopher’s interests and is not a supportive dad.
ReplyDeleteA second incident that reveals the two’s relationship is when Christopher investigates the crime of the dog after being told not to. The two argue back and forth like this “And I said, ‘I didn’t want to talk to Mrs. Alexander. It was Mrs. Alexander who—‘ But father interrupted me and grabbed my arm really hard” (Haddon 82). This quote reveals that Christopher’s dad is impatient and goes straight to physical abuse before verbal. This tells that their relationship can be abusive and that Christopher’s dad is not good at handling kids, especially with disabilities.
The last incident that tells us about Christopher and his dad’s relationship is when he discovers his mom is still living. Christopher’s dad figured it would be better to not let him know the truth. He said his mom was sick and died, not ran away with Mr. Wellington. After Christopher finds out his dad says, “I did it for your own good Christopher. Honestly, I did, I never meant to lie. I thought it would be better if you did not know” (Haddon 114). This quote reveals that their relationship is not built on trust. Christopher’s dad did not tell the truth to Christopher for his own safety. This shows both protection and lies in their relationship. Overall their relationship is shaky on not clearly laid out.
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ReplyDeleteAs the book continues, the reader gets to witness the evolution of the relationship between Christopher and his father. The first time that their relationship is ever expressed is at the police station when his father comes to pick him up. “He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan… and it means that he loves me”(Haddon 16). This is their way of hugging because Christopher does not like to hug people but it does not mean that he loves them any less. This shows that they both care about each other. It develops his father as a caring man and it shows that Christopher matters to him. Christopher is developed because this is when the reader learns he does not like to hug anyone, even the people he loves
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s father has quite a bit a patience and he normally does not lose his cool on Christopher, however, when he finds out that Christopher is writing a mystery novel he gets very upset. He does not want people to know things about their personal life, which is understandable but he takes it out on Christopher which is not cool. Christopher’s father is just human so things like this happen but at this point in the book, it is happening pretty often. Christopher has a hard time understanding human emotions so he seems to take his father’s anger pretty well. Christopher’s father realizes that he overreacted so from that point in the book and on. He has been very attentive to his actions towards Christopher ever since. From here the plot develops because when Christopher goes looking for the book that his father “threw away”, he finds letters addressed to him from his mother.
Towards the end of the reading Christopher’s father comes clean about a big secret. He was the one who killed Wellington. This all started with Christopher finding the letters that his father has hidden with Christopher’s novel. His father decides that he is going to come clean about everything. He confesses about Wellington and Christopher pushes him off of the bed in anger and is afraid that he will kill him too. Just as the reader thought that their relationship was getting to be really strong, Christopher becomes afraid of his own father. It was the right thing to do of his father to come clean but the way that Christopher reacted was the way that I would expect. Christopher decides to run away from his dad and the cops are informed that Christopher’s dad is looking for him while Christopher was at the train station. I hope that Christopher is able to forgive his father because it seemed to me that he was just starting to figure things out.
Brendan Willadsen
“I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread my fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other” (Haddon 16). This paragraph explains the intimate part of their relationship. That even though it is his father, Christopher will still not let his dad hug him. Which can prove to be frustrating for the father, when one is not allowed to touch their son. It is an important part of the book, precisely because it shows just how apprehensive Christopher is to touch and what his father is willing to do in order to communicate his love.
ReplyDelete“And Father was standing on the carpet a meter in front of me looking down at me and he was still holding my book in his right hand, but it was bent in half and all the corners were messed up and there was a scratch on his neck and a big rip in the sleeve of his green and blue check shirt and was breathing really deeply” (Haddon 83). This scene shows that even though his Father loved Christopher, he could also get very frustrated and lose control. Especially if Christopher did not listen to him. When Christopher did not understand him or give him an acceptable answer to disobeying he got upset, but he rarely lost control, which made this scene so surprising, for both Christopher and us. It was unexpected for him to go so far but showed it from Christopher’s point of view really well. It helps develop the relationship between the two, introducing a new sort of tension.
“Then I noticed that there were lots of other envelopes and they were all addressed to me. And this was interesting and confusing” (Haddon 94). When Christopher found the envelopes, I’m sure we were all surprised that his Father had hid something so huge from him. Though it was definitely a wrong move on his Father’s part, it does help to show the Father’s intentions for his son. Although the action was done a little selfishly, he also wanted to spare any pain for his son and that can be taken good or bad. Christopher was obviously upset but he also could not understand why his Father would have done it in the first place. Since it was from Christopher’s point of view, it only showed the bad parts of what he had done, granted, there were not really any good parts to show either. It really put a damper on their relationship.
Sylvana Windey
Christopher’s relationship with his dad is very messy. Throughout The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Nighttime, Christopher starts to develop a stronger relationship with his father by uncovering the truth. In the beginning of the novel Christopher finds out that his mother has an affair with the neighbor, which his dad had been keeping from him. “Did it make you upset to find out that your mother and Mr. Shears had an affair?” (Haddon 75). Christopher was asked this by Siobhan and he explains it does not make him upset that he found out his mother was having an affair, because his mother is dead and it is not real. Christopher is not mad about this secret but it revealed more to him about who is father is and what his father is keeping from him.
ReplyDeleteChristopher also finds another truth from his father later on in the novel that he had been keeping letters from his mother from Christopher. This caused a divide between Christopher and his father because his father lied about how is mother disappeared. “Mother had been alive all the time. And Father had lied about this” (Haddon 112). This clearly upset Christopher that his father kept this from him. Christopher became very ill after he figured everything out and this put a dent in their relationship.
The last truth Christopher finds out about his father is that his father had killed Wellington. This was the last straw for Christopher and drove him out of the house because he lost so much trust with his father. ‘“That meant he could murder me, because I couldn’t trust him, even though he had said ‘trust me,’ because he had told a lie about a big thing” (Haddon 122). When Christopher found out about this he ran away from home because he felt unsafe with his father. This pushed Christopher even farther away from his father and their relationship is dying.
Christopher’s evolving relationship with his father is one of the central dramas of the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. There relationship was portrayed to the reader as having many highs and lows throughout the book thus far. Christopher and his father both having very strong relationships. The father can appear very harsh at times.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book, the author shows the relationship of the father and son as a great relationship. This is shown when the father goes and picks the son up from police officer station. Although the father walks angrily into the station. However, he does not scream at his son. Instead of punishing the kid severely at this point in the novel, the father used this situation as a teaching moment for his son instead of punishing his son.
Once you being reading more, Christopher wants to be a detective to try to figure out who killed Wellington. So, Christopher goes around the neighborhood trying to solve this crime. At this point in the novel, the tension between Christopher and his’ father begins to build. Christopher writes down anything that the neighbors say in a book. The father ends up finding the book and hits Christopher very violently. Christopher was told specifically not to try to be a detective but did not listen. The reason the father reacted like this is later shown in the book.
Up to this point in the story, the relationship has slowly been falling apart. A scenario that infuriates Christopher is when he finds out the truth about his mother. All his life he as been told that his mother is dead. He found letters in his father’s closet that. As a result of Christopher finding these letters, he becomes angry and runs away in the morning. The trust between to two has became lost as a result of the betters being found.
Katherine Fangman
Emily Groher
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book Christopher and his father seem to have a loving relationship. Christopher's father knows what Christopher needs and wants him to be happy. Christopher's father does everything he can to make sure Christopher is happy. “ And she said if I sat an A level I would have to have a member of the staff looking after me in a separate room. And father said he would pay someone £50 to do it after school and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer” (Haddon 45). This quote shows that Christopher's father was willing to do what he needed to make sure his son was happy. He was even willing to fight as much as he had to in order to do so. Sometimes it seems as though Christopher does not realize the sacrifices his dad makes for him. Although in the beginning of the book Christopher’s father seems to love and care for him, Christopher seems to not have an opinion of his father at all. I do not think Christopher knows how to show his love and appreciation for all of the things his father does, but that does not mean he does not love his father.
Towards the middle of the book Christopher and his father seem to become distant. Christopher’s father started to get frustrated because Christopher would not let Wellington's death go. I think the fact that Christopher does not understand his father's sacrifices can get under his fathers skin and cause him to lash out sometimes. “ I had forgotten that I had left my book lying on the kitchen table I was too interested in the Blue Planet video. This is what is called Relaxing Your Guard, and it is what you must never do if you are a detective. It was 5:54 p.m. when Father came back into the living room. He said , “What is this?” but he said it very quietly and I didn't realize he was angry because he wasn't shouting” (Haddon 81). This shows a more distant relationship because before this a big blowout between Christopher and his father. Throughout the middle part of the book Christopher is not shown as even-tempered as his mother would usually describe him. He starts to get angry with Christopher investigating the murder of Wellington causing a rift in his relationship with Christopher.
Near the end of the book Christopher find out his father lied to him about his mother dying. He also finds out his father lied to him about killing Wellington. This causes Christopher to lose trust in his father. Christopher went through all the letters his mom sent to find out where she lives. He then runs from home to live with his mother. Even though Christopher seems to not want anything to do with his father, his dad fights for him because he loves Christopher that much. “ We’ve got your father at the police station… he’s looking for you” (Haddon 159). This shows how much Christopher’s father loves him because he is not willing to stop looking for him. He thought everything he had done for Christopher was the best thing for him. He lied to Christopher to protect him not to put him through more pain.
Myles Krzewinski
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his dad have a very strong strong relationship as shown in the beginning of the novel. When Christopher gets taken to the police station after hitting a police officer. His father immediately comes to get Christopher out of jail and shows his love for his son. This develops Christopher’s character into understanding how much love his father had for him. By having this scene it moves the story forward by showing what the strength of the father and son relationship.
In the middle of the novel Christopher is trying to figure who killed Wellington so he is asking father for help. He keeps asking his father about what he knows and keeps investigating. Eventually his father gets to the point where he can’t handle it anymore and gets very mad at Christopher. Christopher still searches ignoring his father. This scene shows Christopher persistence and when he wants to do something, he is going to do it. It also shows that his father can get angry with Christopher and some of this may be with constantly dealing with Christopher’s aspergers. This moves the plot forward by showing their relationship is not perfect at all and has Christopher still wanting to find out who killed Wellington.
At the end of the novel Christopher finds out that his dad actually killed Wellington. Along with this he also finds out that that his mother was actually alive and his dad had been lying to him. This shows the true Character Christopher’s dad is. This really hurts Christopher and makes him truly frightened of his dad. With Christopher eventually running away this moves the plot forward by wanting to find out what Christopher will do next.
Jadyn Kulesa
ReplyDeleteChristopher and his father’s relationship started out as very loving and ended up falling apart. Throughout the course of the book, the audience notices that Christopher’s father becomes a little bit unhinged. He eventually let the stress of raising an autistic son get to him and he snapped at Christopher. Before Christopher’s father let all of his resentment and anger out on Christopher, he was kind and considerate towards him. Christopher said, “We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means he loves me”(Haddon 16). Even though raising Christopher was not easy on his father, he still loved and cared for him in ways others did not. This scene depicts the thought Christopher’s father put towards how he communicated with him. The way Christopher and his father chose to communicate showed the audience that the two were close. In a grander scheme of things, this scene of Christopher being picked up at the police station by his father would lead to Christopher keeping a secret from his father and disobeying his orders.
Later on in the novel, Christopher’s father’s temper got the best of him. Mr. Boone finally had enough with the way Christopher had been acting, so he hit him. “Father had never grabbed hold of me like that before”(Haddon 82). This scene demonstrates a transition from the way Christopher and his father used to communicate to how they do now. As seen in the beginning of the novel, the two used to communicate using hand signals that meant things like “I love you”, now Christopher’s father has resorted to physical forms of communication. Their relationship may not appear to be as loving as before, but now Christopher’s father has stopped tip-toeing around him. By Christopher’s father hitting Christopher, the audience can sense a deeper issue going on with Christopher’s father. Thus moving the plot along to what truly hurt their relationship; Christopher’s father lying to Christopher about his mother dying.
Towards the end of the novel, Christopher’s father confesses to lying to Christopher about his mother being dead. “I’m sorry Christopher. I’m so, so sorry”(Haddon 114). As Christopher’s father told Christopher that his mother was in fact not dead, Christopher did not know how to take this news. We know, as an audience, that Christopher does not deal well with feeling emotions and understanding what they mean. However, when Christopher gave his father the silent treatment, it was easy to see that he was feeling betrayed and quite possibly a little angry. This big revelation had between the two lead to a more strained relationship. Everything that had happened in the past, lead to this very falling out between the two. Christopher and his father were mainly the only people each other had. Throughout the course of the novel, it appears that both eventually realized this. Ultimately, this led to a closer bond between the two and a more open and honest relationship.