Christopher’s Achievements
In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the main character Christopher wrote a book containing details of how he solved a murder. To Christopher, he calls this a type of achievement. This is a type of achievement to Christopher because he was able to solve a complex problem by himself without anyone else. This shows Christopher that, despite his condition, he is actually smart. This is proven when Christopher says, “I was brave and wrote a book and that means I can do anything” (Haddon 221). This is only one achievement among many that Christopher has throughout the course of the story. As the story begins, an event happens which forces Christopher to do something he’s never done before. Christopher finds his neighbor’s dog Wellington on his neighbor’s lawn with a fork in its head. Christopher feels sad for the dead animal, so he starts to investigate.
But as time goes by, Christopher’s dad began to tell him to stop investigating the murder and to forget about it. As if compelled by an unknown force, Christopher decides to investigate further, and finds out his dad killed the dog. Through Christopher’s point of view, he must have thought of this as an internal and external achievement. Christopher soon began to develop a feeling of distrust towards his father because his father was the murderer and the one who lied about Christopher’s mother. Christopher’s family life leads to him having an internal achievement later in the story. Christopher’s mother is an important person in this novel because she reveals what his dad has been trying to cover up this whole time. Christopher’s mother apparently dies one day at the hospital a couple years before the story takes place. Christopher remembers certain things about his mom and believes his dad when he says that she is dead. One day, Christopher discovers the truth about his mom while looking into the murder of his neighbor’s dog Wellington.
While looking for the journal that was taken by his father, Christopher stumbles upon letters from his mom dating back to since the day she supposedly died. Christopher became determined to find out the truth. He eventually musters all his courage and heads to London. The train ride must have been hard for Christopher because of his condition and attitude towards people. This could be called an internal and external achievement. Another internal achievement happened when Christopher reawakened the relationship between Christopher and his mom. Throughout the entire length of the book, Christopher starts to mature after seeing that his life is not that perfect after all. This realization of his can also be called an internal achievement.
Christopher, at the beginning of the story, was obedient and naive. He begins to have more courage because he developed a sense of curiosity. He first investigates the murder of Wellington even though he was told not to. He also disobeyed when he discovered his mom may still be alive. He sums up all his strength and makes a trip to London to find her. This shows the Christopher has grown to be independent and daring compared to the beginning of the book. A childish task at the beginning soon became a tale of lies and suspense. In a way, his curiosity helped him become a more confident person. He is willing to take risks where others won’t. And he is willing to find the truth even if it means putting himself in danger. By the end of the story, Christopher achieved many things internally and also externally.
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. London: Vintage Classic, 2012. Print.
