The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime Analysis

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Happiness can be elicited by different events from person to person, making its true origin a mystery. Mark Haddon, author of The Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, portrays happiness in an unconventional way through the eyes of Christopher Boone, a British special needs student. Christopher is a boy who has a strong opinion about everything, and holds his views above others, no debate. Additionally, he values logic and must always ensure that his life is in perfect order. In order to do this, he gives confusing or abstract ideas specific definitions. But in most every situation, Christopher takes all possible precautions to remain safe from danger, no matter how extreme. The idea that “happiness is only real when shared” does not always ring true for Christopher Boone, for his…show more content…
In one of Christopher’s dreams, “nearly everyone is dead…except…special people like me” (198). In such a commonly occurring dream of his, Christopher never has to tolerate people who do not share his ideas. Simply the absence of possible frustrations gives him a reason to be happy. However, his opinions can sometimes put his morals out of place. Christopher believes “that sometimes people want to be stupid and they do not want to know the truth” (90). His all-around belief that “people do not want to know the truth” can be used wrongly depending on the context of a situation. The “truth,” by his definition, would be his opinion; therefore anyone who does not agree with his opinion is “stupid.” Especially in the context of politics or religion, this mindset can be seen as disrespectful and cause a lot of arguments. In the presence of arguments and disagreement, this happiness that is caused by the self-verification of Christopher’s opinions most definitely would not apply to anyone other than Christopher
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