Topic > The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

In Mark Haddon's contemporary novel, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," the protagonist, Christopher Boone, seems entirely unsuited to narrating a novel, as he assumes his authorial voice, demonstrating thus the symptoms of his disability, "Asperger's syndrome". It is a syndrome that allows him to see the world only through his limited, closed, scared and disoriented perspective, which results in fear and the inability to understand the bewildering world of people's emotions. His description of events may be somewhat unreliable as he is unable to see the real truths that lie before him. As he tells it, readers are confronted with his peculiarities: from not liking to be touched, to fear of germs, strangers and crowds, to the inability to eat foods with particular colors. However, through Christopher's authorial voice, the description of the events of his life and, in particular, the description of his quirks, the ones that seem completely "normal" to him, make him an interesting and fascinating narrator. As it is possible to prove that he is an unreliable narrator as he is incapable of lying (and understanding lies) and this limits his ability to perceive the entire reality of the world, thus providing him with a strange combination of believable and unbelievable. Again, this is what makes him a wonderful narrator: sometimes readers may distrust his interpretation of such events, or they may believe him. As the novel progresses, Christopher takes the audience on his personal journey and explains his phobias, whether they "don't like yellow or brown things" and "refuse to touch yellow or brown things", "don't eat food if different types of food touch each other' each or... in the center of the paper... ..ic at the same time which is uncomfortable and confusing... It's like three people are trying to talk to you about different things at the same time'. Christopher transforms himself into a wonderful storyteller through this device as he introduces us to a syndrome that we believe alters every perspective of a person's life. Laughter, something many of us take for granted, is unfortunately not really experienced by Christopher, another reason why readers should empathize with him, as the only pleasure he would get from life would be related to the notions of mathematics and science. Therefore, we learn to admire and empathize with him for his intellectual brilliance and courage, evident through his investigative investigations that he undertakes in search of his mother. Let's see how this syndrome alters all perspectives of a person's life; however, we also see how he faces his demons to find the truth.