Themes in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

1. Themes in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

2. The autistic world vs the non-autistic world • Shared traits • Differing traits

3. Diversity • Being different • Being “other” • What makes us similar to or different from others • Inclusion into a group vs exclusion from a group • Disabilities—how you define such a thing and what sets you apart from others

4. Education • How we learn • What we teach

5. Perception • How we see the world around us • What shapes our perceptions

6. Family • Parents • Parenting • Children • Separations • Divorces/reconciliations • Functional vs dysfunctional families

7. Growth and change • What makes us grow and change • Why we stay the same

8. Emotions • The things we feel • Why we feel them, and how we express them

9. Journeys • The places—literal, figurative—that we go to • The paths that we take to get there

10. Epistemology • What we know, and how we know what we know • Means of knowing ourselves and the world

11. Communication • Methods of communicating with others • What we communicate • What we withhold, and why

12. Truth and Reality • What is real or true, or not, to you or to others, and what shapes our notion of truth and reality • The degree to which truth and reality are distinct things

13. Good and Evil • What is good in Christopher’s world? • What what is evil? • Does he have a concept of good and evil? • What is right or wrong to him, and why? • How do Christopher’s morals differ from your own?

14. Coping • Getting by in this world • What we do to survive

15. Philosophies of life and living

16. Themes and ideas that you have discovered!

17. Christopher Boone – Positive Qualities • A mathematical savant • Has a photographic memory • Is extremely observant • Has a pathological inability to tell lies • He owns a pet rat named Toby

18. Christopher-what separates him from others because of his perception of life • He is unable to recognise and comprehend facial expressions besides happy and sad • He has difficulty in understanding metaphors and jokes • He likes lists and facts • Has a fear of strangers and new places • His favourite dream is one in which all “normal” people (those who are unlike him) die

19. Christopher • He is over-sensitive to information and stimuli • He screams and reacts violently to people who touch him • He doesn’t mind pressing his fingers against those of his parents as a gesture of love • He curls up and groans to protect himself against overwhelming noise or information

20. Christopher • Hates the colours yellow and brown, but loves red. • Also red food dye to brown—or yellow-coloured food (and being unable to eat two different kinds of food that are touching) • Also his belief that seeing 3, 4 or 5 red cars in a row means it’s a “good”, “quite good”, or “super good” day • While 4 yellow cars signify a “black” day, on which he will not eat his lunch or talk to anyone • -he dislikes eating food from new places and the furniture being moved.