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Growing up in a sheltered existence where an individual is protected and has few life experiences results in unhealthy behaviors which can be detrimental to one’s growth. However, growing from experiences one can gain a new perspective on life and can help the individual mature their understanding. In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time written by Mark Haddon, where the protagonist Christopher John Francis Boone is trying to solve a murder but, discovers the truth along the way. As Christopher uncovers the truth he develops from a sheltered child to a more mature teenager throughout this novel, this is demonstrated when he overcomes numerous difficult life situations, is exposed to society, and gains independence.
Firstly, Christopher becomes a more mature and understanding teenager as he overcomes various difficult life situations. Moreover, Christopher overcomes challenging life situations when he finds out his mom is not dead. Christopher’s father, Ed Boone states “‘I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie’” (Haddon 114). A part of life is going through tough situations and coming out stronger from it. Tough situations give a better perspective on life, teach rights and wrongs, and how to grow mentally. Christopher loses his mother, who plays a huge role in his life and routine, especially as an autistic child. Many autistic children follow a strict and detailed routine because it provides a sense of structure to make their lives less overwhelming. However, as he is trying to solve Wellington’s murder he discovers his mom, Judy Boone has an affair with their neighbor, Roger Shear, and moves to London with him because she assumes she is an unfit mother and could not help Christopher with his autism. Christopher’s father, Ed keeps Judy and her affair with Roger a secret until Christopher discovers the truth himself. Finding out a parent is thought to be dead but alive takes an emotional toll on a person’s mental health. However, Christopher overcomes and forgives his mother, and wants her to be in his life, which takes courage. Forgiving someone for their mistakes is to gain control and to feel at peace with the situation. Hence why Christopher has overcome difficult circumstances in his life. Additionally, Christopher overcomes difficult life situations when he finds out his dad murders Wellington. In the seconds that lead to Christopher’s life-changing, he noticed his “Father rubbed his face with his hands and pulled his chin down with his fingers and stared at the wall. I could see him out of the corner of my eye. And he said, ‘I killed Wellington, Christopher’” (Haddon 120). Christopher not only has to go through a tough situation with his mother’s affair, but he also has to go through an even worse incident with his father. Finding out both your parents have done wrong can really affect a person on many levels. Christopher spent hours of time and effort talking to strangers, writing a book, and disobeying his father to find out who murders Wellington. He never imagined his own father would commit such a cruel act. However, he is scared for his own safety, which is why he runs away from home and finds his mother. This taught him not to trust anyone, even if they are family. The way he overcame this situation is by focusing on his mother being back in his life and completing his A-level maths. Christopher may never forgive his dad, however, some things are not meant to be forgiven they are meant as life lessons. All in all, Christopher has overcome a number of difficult life situations, including his mom’s fake death and his father being the murderer of Wellington.
Secondly, Christopher develops from a sheltered existence to a more mature understanding as he is exposed to society. Furthermore, Christopher exposes himself to society when he goes door to door talking to strangers for his novel. A conversation that demonstrates this statement is when he says “‘Do you know anything about Wellington being killed?’ And she said, ‘I heard about it yesterday. Dreadful. Dreadful’” (Haddon 39). As an autistic child, Christopher has many social difficulties which include not being able to converse with people for an extended period of time. He has been sheltered his whole life and never got to experience talking to strangers, alone. However, a part of solving Wellington’s murder is to figure out if there were any witnesses. This involves him going door to door asking his neighborhood if they knew who killed Mrs. Shear’s dog Wellington. He has many in-depth conversations which are out of character for him. This exposes him to society because he is meeting new people. Even though Christopher may see these people every day, he has never got to talk to them as he is told not to and dislikes conversing with strangers. He is stepping out of his comfort zone to achieve a personal goal of writing a novel about Wellington’s death. Thus, Christopher is exposed to society. Consequently, Christopher exposes himself to society when he navigates around a train station to get to London. Christopher states:
And Then I looked at my watch and 3 minutes had gone past since I was at the ticket office, which meant that the train would be going in 2 minutes. And then I went up to the door and I pressed the big button and the doors slid open and I stepped through the doors. And I was on the train to London (Haddon 154-155).
A part of maturing is exploring places alone without relying on others to help. After Christopher discovers his father murders Wellington he runs away for his own safety and goes to find his mom. His mother, Judy, however, lives in London and the only way to get to his destination is by train. Christopher navigates himself to the train station, buys a ticket, and gets on the train to London. He does this all by using the amount of social knowledge he gathers from books and by asking strangers for assistance. He pushes past his behavioral problems and finds a way to get to London. Taking risks to go to an unknown place, and knowing many obstacles can occur takes determination. Therefore, Christopher is exposed to society as he goes door to door talking to strangers and navigates himself around train stations to get to London.
Lastly, Christopher develops from a sheltered child to a mature teenager as he gains independence. To begin with, Christopher gains independence when he makes his own decision to live with his mom. Christopher states “So we moved into a room in a big house that was made of red bricks” (Haddon 216). After a long journey to find his mother both Christopher and Judy get to go back to their hometown. Judy is welcome in Ed Boones home, however, when Christopher finishes his A-level maths and his life is going by smoothly Ed decides to kick Judy out. Christopher still feels unsafe around his dad because he murdered Wellington, so he makes a personal decision to live with his mom. Being independent means when one does not rely on others for permission or approval which Christopher demonstrates. Christopher made the decision of leaving his dad for his own safety. Recognizing that one’s needs, sometimes come first takes a lot of strength. Making a decision as big as where one will live and call home takes courage and control. When he decides to move he shows growth in his autism because he does not rely on others to control every step. In the final consideration, Christopher matures as he gains independence. Furthermore, Christopher gains independence when he decides to solve a murder mystery and write a book about it. For example, Christopher states “Also I still didn’t know who had killed Wellington and my book was where I had kept all the clues that I have discovered and I did not want them to be thrown away” (Haddon 91). In addition, to solving a murder mystery Christopher is also writing a book to keep the clues safe. Writing a novel not only shows courage it demonstrates independence. A part of gaining independence is discovering society and growing your knowledge from it. As an autistic child, Christopher has many social difficulties, therefore, solving the murder of Wellington alone helps him to not rely on others in social situations. Also, the fact that Christopher is an autistic child and is solving a murder plus writing a novel at the same time, which takes adults years to master, shows he is growing skill sets that are helping him gain independence. To further add while writing his book Christopher receives help from Siobhan his teacher. She encourages and helps him edit his book. A part of gaining independence is not only about doing everything all alone, it is about accepting aid when needed. Asking for help shows how an individual can choose when to rely on others for different situations in life. Thus, Christopher matures as he gains independence from making his own decision to live with his mom and write a book about a murder mystery.
As Christopher Boone goes through his bizarre journey, he develops unique skills to go from a sheltered child to a more experienced teenager. Christopher demonstrates his maturity when he overcomes various challenging life situations, as he is exposed to society and gains independence. Christopher decides to write a murder mystery novel all while finding out his mother and father betrayed his trust making him navigate himself through his own problems instead of relying on someone else. As an autistic child, he faces many incidents that no child should go through, but it helps him gain his mature understanding quicker. An individual’s understanding of the world comes from experience and lessons learned from those experiences which are why these lessons are so crucial for personal growth.
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