BLOG ONE
Pages 1-83
Describe the character of Christopher. Explain his likes/dislikes, personality, and relationship with other characters. Provide two quotations that demonstrate his “voice.” Explain what these quotes reveal about his personality. Is he an “unreliable” or “reliable” narrator?
Christopher has a different personality from most others. Christopher had Asperger’s and as such it affects his personality. He does not like being touched or asked too many questions at once, he also hates the colors brown and yellow. However, he loves math and science. His personality is very logical. Christopher thinks things out in many steps and does things sequentially. He also does not understand the concept of lying since it is not logical, which makes him incapable of lying. “And I said, ‘I have been out.’ This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all,” (Haddon 48). Christopher in the book is explaining what something that many people reading the book is. He explains everything that happens in the book in a very logical manner, showing his personality. This personality helps and hinders many of his relationships.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has many interesting relationships with the people around him. Christopher’s relationship with his dad is a strained one. His dad has to take care of him because he knows he would not be fine on his own, however, he quit often is angry with him. This is probably because of what happened between his dead mom and Mr. Shears. Christopher’s relationship is much better with Siobhan. She is Christopher’s counselor and helps him out. She encourages him quite often and is why he is writing the book. She is able to help him understand the world and is able to help him express himself better because of her. “Father was a more levelheaded person, which means he didn't get angry as quickly and he didn't shout as often. So I was surprised when he grabbed me,” (Haddon 82). Christopher does not know that he angers his father with his detective work. He tries to reason in his head why and how often he gets angry, but still gets surprised when he grabs him since he does not know he broke his promise unintentionally. Between his personality and how his relationships are with his dad and Siobhan it can be reasonably be concluded that Christopher is a reliable narrator. Siobhan encourages him to write the book truthfully as well as the fact that he cannot lie since he does not understand how it works.
Alexander Schrader
Christopher Boone is a fifteen year old boy that is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. His favorite color is red and he dislikes the color yellow. For example, when he sees a red car he decides that it will be a good day and he will take risks. However, if Christopher sees a yellow car he decides that it will not be a good day and avoids talking to anyone he encounters. He also has difficulty understanding facial expressions and other social etiquette. Because of this, Christopher states, “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they mean...I took it £out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying.” (Haddon 3). Christopher was able to use this piece of paper to help him in conversations so that he could respond correctly to whomever he is communicating with. Although he is not very good at the social aspect of the world, Christopher accels in mathematics and is able to take the highest offered math classes at his school. This is an achievement that he often brags about while he is narrating. Another important characteristic about Christopher is that he does not like to be touched. He lashes out when his personal space is invaded which can sometimes get him into trouble. Anna Smith
ReplyDeleteThere are two very important relationships that Christopher has in the book. The first relationship is with his father. Since Christopher’s mother died, his father has had to take care of him. His father is especially supportive in his math education and Haddon tells us that, “Father said he would pay someone £50,”(45) to provide for Christopher’s tutoring. This shows the dedication, support, and love that Christopher’s father has for him. The second important relationship is with his teacher Siobhan. Christopher tells his readers that he does not trust a lot of people. He shows us that he trusts Siobhan when he shows her the book he is writing. Christopher allows her to see the secrets that he is finding out and trusts her to keep them to herself.
DeleteI find that Christopher is a reliable narrator. I think this because he will not lie to us about what he does or what he was thinking. Christopher says, “I do not tell lies...It is not because I am a good person. It is because I cannot tell lies.” (Haddon 19). This is what leads me to believe that the information he gives is truthful and factual. Another reason I believe that Christopher is reliable is his attention to detail of his surroundings. He does not do a good job of describing the people he encounters, but he is very good at letting us know every little thing that he found different about his day.
As brilliant and logical as Christopher Boone is, there is no denying the flaws of his personality. Christopher is a character with Asperger's Syndrome in which the entire book flows through as the narrator. Considering how bland some of his writing and communication skills are, it is surprising that he has such a unique personality which is hard to clearly define. He appears to be very sensitive as he hates being touched and is easily offended when people laugh at him. At the same time, Christopher comes off as insensitive because he shows little awareness of people’s emotions and feelings. This is evident in certain situations throughout the book like when Mrs. Alexander told Christopher about his mom’s affair. Mrs. Alexander said to him, “Are you OK, Christopher?” after telling him about the affair and he responded with, “I’m scared of being in the park with you because you’re a stranger”(Haddon 61). This response from Christopher is not how people would typically respond to being told such new and shocking information. Instead of pondering on what he was told, Christopher is concerned about being in the park with someone he does not know very well as he fails to understand Mrs. Alexander’s sympathy. It is situations like these that make Christopher a more complex character than he appears to be on the surface.
ReplyDeleteMost of what Christopher is willing to express with people depends on the relationship he has with them. The biggest thing with Christopher’s communication skills is his ability to trust people. The two most influential people in Christopher’s life are his father and his teacher Siobhan. Because they have lived with each other for his whole life, Christopher’s father has gained Christopher’s trust. Christopher does not understand humor at all, but there are times when he picks up on some of his father’s jokes because he has built a relationship with him. Even though his father understands him quite well, Siobhan is one of the few people who can actually talk in language that Christopher understands all the time. She says exactly what she means when talking to him which is perfect because he was a difficult time understanding things like metaphors. For example, after Christopher asks questions about Mr. Shears to Siobhan she responds by saying, “I don’t know, Christopher. I don’t know because I don’t know anything about Mr. Shears” (Haddon 52). This may not seem like a lot, but clearly explaining to Christopher exactly why she does not have answers to his questions helps him to understand her without being confused. This bond they have together is full of motivation and challenges for Christopher that inspire him to do things like write his mystery novel.
I believe that Christopher is in fact a reliable narrator for the story. Even though Christopher does not understand the lingo of chatting and joking around, he still adds these encounters he has with people who joke with him and use metaphors. This is important when he adds these details because he knows that we, the readers, will understand what is being said or at least understand it better than he is able to. In addition to this, he never tells lies which he claims he is unable to which allows for us to read accurate information. This results in Christopher including almost all of the conversations he has and all the details from these encounters. Although people around him might not believe he is reliable, as a reader, Christopher’s honesty is the most important factor in knowing that he is a good source for us to read his story from.
Isaac Johnson
Christopher is very different from other kids his age. A specific number of cars and a certain color will determine his entire day and what he does, feel, even eat. Christopher says, “The next day I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it a Black Day, so I didn’t eat anything at lunch and I sat in the corner of the room all day and read my A-level maths coursebook” (Haddon 53). He thinks that everything, including cars, has a different meaning. Christopher is well behaved, he does not lie, follows directions. But he is very smart and can always find a way around the rules where he technically is not going against them. “And I said, ‘I have been out.’ This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth” (Haddon 48). Christopher is determined when he sets his mind to something he will do everything in his power to find the answer, even if it means compromising relationships with others.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, Christopher has created relationships with many different characters. He has a very hard time trusting and meeting new people, but he truly relied on one person and that was his therapist Siobhan. Christopher’s mom died and so this resulted in him becoming close with his dad. Christopher pursuing his investigation with the dead dog Wellington has created tension in their relationship. “Then he said, ‘Holy f***king Jesus, Christopher. How stupid are you?”’ (Haddon 81). The investigation has made Christopher go against his father’s wishes and made problems that could affect him in the future.
I think that Christopher is an unreliable source. He claims in the story that he never lies, but everything that is told is from only one persons point of view. He is only 15 years old, so it is from a very young perspective. He is strongly opinionated, you will never know if he left something out just because he did not want to talk about it at the time.
Brooklyn Onell
Christopher is generally a stoic and blunt person. He struggles in social situations. Part of this is because he is unable to lie or understand jokes. “And if I think about something which didn’t happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn’t happen”(Haddon 19). He also has difficulty understanding metaphors because, like lies, they describe something unrealistically. Because of all this, he is almost always speaking literally and often needs clarification for things that most people understand easily. He tends to use run-on sentences in his writing, likely because he cannot pace his thoughts and wants to say everything at once. He tends to go into great detail when describing certain things, often leading him on tangents that it seems he uses to talk about things he is familiar with, like when he begins describing the beginning and end of the universe after commenting on the stars in the sky.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, Christopher explains his affinity for math and science. When talking about a difficult math problem, he says, “And this shows that intuition can sometimes get things wrong. And intuition is what people use in life to make decisions. But logic can help you work out the answer”(65). When talking about this math problem, he says that math problems can be very complicated, like life. He shows that one must rely on logic, rather than intuition, to solve the math problem. This shows us that Christopher is a logical person. Another thing Christopher likes is space, which he mentions frequently. Multiple times, he says that he wants to be an astronaut because he is intelligent and likes to be far away from other people.
As mentioned before, Christopher says he is unable to lie. This is part of what makes him a reliable narrator. Christopher explains that he usually dislikes novels, but does like detective novels, especially Sherlock Holmes. Because he has the opportunity to write a real detective story, it makes sense that he would want to portray the events with accuracy. Additionally, he claims to have a photographic memory, which makes him a very reliable narrator.
Justin Lee
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s personality is being an extremely rational and logical person. He likes everything to be in complete order. He likes the color red. He also likes to be in order and red cars and as well as prime numbers. He hates the color yellow and brown. He also dislikes people and people that tell him lies. He really does not understand human emotions and how it works.“I think I would make a very good astronaut, To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I’m intelligent” (Haddon 50). The meaning of this quote is that he has hope and a dream to be an astronaut.“And this shows that intuition can sometimes get things wrong. And intuition is what people use in life to make decisions. But logic can help you work out the answer”(Haddon 65). He is talking about math questions and those are really hard for him. He is also thinking that he is smart and smart enough to be an astronaut. Christopher has many relationships with his dad and Siobhan. These relationships affect him throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s relationship with is dad is that they love each other most of the time, but some occasions they have a tense and hard relationship. He has a hard time meeting and trusting new characters in the story. Christopher’s relationship with Siobhan is that it is his teacher at school. He seems really liked and fond of him. Siobhan is the only one that can speak Christopher’s language. Christopher often mentions Siobhan when describing the aspects of human communication with which he has trouble. Christopher in the story has very good ways of explaining himself has a narrator.
Christopher Boone is an exceptionally reliable narrator because of his excellent memory and unsentimental nature of life. Christopher is uniquely observant and remembers every physical detail of his surroundings, including entire conversations, facial expressions, and even smells using his nose. Christopher will never lie to anyone ever so that’s why he is a very good and true, reliable narrator
Thomas Coyle
ReplyDeleteChristopher is not the typical main character of a mystery novel. As a teenager with Asperger Syndrome, his personality is comprised mainly have his eccentric likes, dislikes, and rules for life. His favorite color is red, but he does not like the colors yellow and brown because of the undesirable things that they represent to him. He is very particular about the color of his food, and will not eat it if it touches other food. The main thing that Christopher likes in life is patterns. Christopher explained, “Mr. Jeavons asked me whether this made me feel safe, having things always in a nice order; and I said it did” (Haddon 25). The way that Christopher lives his life is based on patterns. His interactions with others, expectations for the day, and levels of comfort are all determined by the presence or absence of patterns. Christopher’s life, as unusual as it is, is still an incredibly meaningful and functional life.
Christopher has numerous relationships with people in his neighborhood and school, but his most important relationships are with his father and Mrs. Alexander. At school he interacts with students, who he dislikes, teaches, and counselors. In his neighborhood he speaks to several people to find information about Wellington. Mrs. Alexander, however, provides him with special information. She answers his questions that no one else will by explaining his father’s anger with Mr. Shears. His father, as his only parent, is the person in charge of protecting, providing for, and guiding Christopher. Christoper noted that, “Father said he would pay someone £50 to do it after school and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer” (Haddon 45). His father was standing up for him and providing Christopher the support he needed to succeed at school. These positive relationships that Christopher was able to develop demonstrate that he was able to function in society despite his social struggles.
Even though he may be an honest narrator, Christopher is not a reliable narrator. Given the way he views the world, Christopher is incapable of understanding and explaining nuanced events correctly. He tells the story as accurately as he can, but he still gives only his side of the story. He does not offer reasons for apparently unreasonable actions. Considering the necessarily one-sided nature of Christopher’s narration, he is clearly an unreliable narrator.
Christopher Boone has a knack for specific areas of study but struggles with emotions and social etiquette. As a fifteen-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, he has an affinity for mathematics such as prime numbers. Among other things, he likes geography and Blue Planet’s oceanic videos. Christopher does not have an innate sense of emotions. He struggles to differentiate between facial expressions and what they imply. He takes things literally, and “cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them” (Haddon 8). Jokes often have double meanings, and Christopher feels overwhelmed and uncomfortable when faced with multiple things at once. This can lead to incidents when he is around people who don’t understand his boundaries and comfort level.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has varying relationships with those around him. It ranges from his caring therapist, Siobhan, to a police officer who arrested him. He has a strong aversion to touch and reacted negatively when an officer attempted to lift him off the ground. Christopher hit him and was promptly arrested. He mainly interacts with Siobhan and his father. Both of them are much more understanding of who he is but deal with it differently. With Siobhan, she knows what Christopher needs to hear. He said “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this” (Haddon 29). Christopher is not good at reading between the lines. He likes things straightforward and wants strict rules to follow. It is harder to do something wrong when you know exactly what to do. Christopher’s relationship with his father can be confusing. His father loves him and does his best to work with his condition, but he can also be exasperated and angry with him. He doesn’t always say what he means, which leads to confusion on both ends. Christopher only understands things from his point of view and therefore is lost when it comes to his father’s emotions and experiences.
This makes him a reliable narrator. He tells things exactly as they happen to him, and he can’t lie. What happens to him is true. Christopher also only tells of his experiences. He doesn’t try to explain other people’s stories or points of view. He remains objective and factual.
Olivia Berndt
Dominic Vanden Elzen
ReplyDeleteBlog #1
Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. Because of his Asperger’s he is different than most kids his age. Christopher does not understand emotions and he often has to ask people what they mean or he uses a sheet of paper with faces on it and he states “But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people’s faces move very quickly”(Haddon 3). Since Christopher cannot understand most emotions, he lacks empathy and thus also does not understand most jokes. He likes math, science, and machines, because of this he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. Christopher likes math so much that he memorized every prime number up to 7,057. He likes the color red and detests the colors brown and yellow. On pages 46-47 he lists some of his “Behavioral Problems” which include; Screaming when angry or confused, not liking being in really small places with other people, not smiling, hating France, and getting cross when someone has moved the furniture.
Christopher also has very few people that he trusts in his life. These people include his father, his schoolteacher Siobhan, and his school psychologist Mr. Jeavons. Christopher and his father’s relationship with each other is very strong and his Father would do anything to keep Christopher safe. His father also supports Christopher, like when he talked Christopher’s principal at school to let him take the Maths A level course, or when he came to the police station in the middle of the night to pick up Christopher. Siobhan gives Christopher advice on writing his book, reading emotions, and social interactions. Christopher and Mr. Jeavons talk a lot about Christopher’s needs and why he is so logical, orderly, and organized. He only has few relationships because he is shy and it takes him a long time to open up to people “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” ( Haddon 35).
Christopher is a reliable narrator because he cannot tell lies. In addition to this he lacks empathy which helps him see life from a more objective point of view. His intelligence and memory combined make a great objectively-based story that focuses on the death of Wellington and his quest to find his killer.
Alli Lamm
ReplyDeleteChristopher Boone’s personality is strongly influenced by his Aspergers, but he has many traits that make him just like everyone else. His feelings towards things are pretty extreme. If he is fond of something, he is obsessed with it. If he hates something, he loathes it to the point where he avoids it as much as possible. He enjoys math, animals, and astronomy, while he strongly dislikes talking to strangers, when someone is not straight to the point, being touched, and the colors yellow and brown. Haddon writes, “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (8). His difficulty dealing with his emotions when confronted with something he holds in disfavor is a key role in the way Christopher acts. This trait causes him to avoid certain scenarios that are large components of most teens’ lives. These themes not only affect him but the relationships he has with the people in his life.
Due to Christopher’s personality, he struggles to form connections with people. Despite this, his father and Siobhan, his therapist, are key people he depends on. He feels comfortable talking to these people while conversing with others is very stressful for him. “I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand” (Haddon, 34). Christopher gets frustrated when things are not straight forward, including people. His desire for people and himself to be truthful and forthright effects the way he tells the story. In my opinion, that does in fact make him a reliable narrator. Lies give him anxiety, so that is something he rarely does. I believe that because of his Aspergers he is even more likely to the truth and the story as it actually played out.
Christopher Boone has a very unique personality with a variety of peculiar character traits that make him stand out. He lives with Asperger's Syndrome which has been a challenge for Chirstopher. This disability has caused him to feel very strongly towards particular things and he does not hold much patience when it comes to things he detests. Some unusual things Christopher does not like are the colors yellow or brown, talking to people for an extended period of time, being touched, feeling trapped in small spaces with other people, when his food touches, and France. Along with these irregular dislikes, he enjoys many things too, such as mathematics, science, the color red, astronomy, and murder mystery novels. For instance, according to Haddon, “Father banged the table with his fist really hard so that the plates and his knife and fork jumped around and my ham jumped sideways so that it touched the broccoli, so I couldn’t eat my ham or broccoli anymore”( 49). The fact that Christopher cannot eat his food anymore that has been touched shows his quirks that he lives by and how important they are to him. He has a difficult time interacting with new faces because he cannot read emotions or understand humor. Although, Christopher has special relationships with a few people that guide him through his day to day life.
ReplyDeleteThere are two people that Christopher has a close relationship with and could not live without. He used to be very close with him mom, but she died which was not as hard on Christopher as many would think. His dad and Siobhan are the two figures that Christopher shares a special connection with in their own ways. His father knows everything about him and how to deal with any sort of behavior Christopher throws at him. There have been times where Christopher’s father has acted out and has not been able to control his temper. For example, “It was like someone had switched me off and then switched me on again. And when they switched me on again I was sitting on the carpet with my back against the wall and there was blood on my right hand and the side of my head was hurting”(Haddon 83). This was after his father found out that he had been investigating people about Mr. Shears and Wellington and his father had enough. Siobhan was one of Christopher’s teachers that he could talk to everyday and feel safe when doing so. Chrsitopher has many trust issues, but Siobhan was not one of them and Christopher trusted him just like his father. He showed Siobhan the book he has been writing which proves how strong his trust is for him.
I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his inability to tell a lie. He has proven that he has trust issues and has trouble understanding people, but that does not make him an unreliable narrator. His determination to seek the truth and find out who killed Wellington displays a strong sense of bravery in someone who has little confidence and proves he is a reliable narrator.
Christopher Boone goes through the daily motions with asperger's syndrome. Christopher is a talented young boy that knows all the prime numbers up to 7,057, aspires to be an astronaut, loves math, and is a very curious soul. His curiosity leads him to find out and write a mystery novel about who killed his neighbor’s dog. Despite everyone’s belief that he killed the dog because of his lack of understanding and empathy, he knew he did not kill the dog because he does not tell lies. Christopher says, “I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can’t tell lies” (Haddon 19). This clarifies how his emotion is almost not present, but rather his astounding logical thinking. Because his life is not full of emotion, it makes Christopher harder to interact with on a personal level.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the beginning of the book, Christopher has harsh interactions with the people around him. This includes his interactions with his mother, prior to when she died, his neighbor Mrs. Shears, and his father. His cold personality turns people off and makes him very easy to get frustrated with. Christopher only really opens up to his teacher Siobhan, he shows some sort of emotional attachment with her and shows a great deal of trust in her. Although his father is patient with his condition, his patience runs out between the death of his wife, the situation with Mrs. Shears, and Christopher’s lack of listening skills. Christopher’s father says this when he finds out that Christopher did not listen to his directions about not digging up the past, “‘Not to go around sticking your nose into other people’s business. And what do you do? You go around raking up the past. What am I going to do with you Christopher?’” (Haddon 82). This shows how frustrating Christopher can get to others around him with his persistent attitude.
Although Christopher has special conditions he lives with, he is an overall talented and smart boy. Throughout the book so far, it seems that Christopher gets side tracked with his thoughts, but he is a reliable author. He writes his raw thoughts and he also is not able to lie. Despite his emotional issues, he has proved that his focus is on this mystery he is trying to solve, making him a trustworthy author and investigator.
Rachel VanHefty
Christopher Boone has the inability to understand the thoughts and emotions of other people. Therefore he is unable to empathize or determine the moods of other people through their facial expressions. Although Christopher may have Aspergers, he has a personality that is very unique. He is very rational and logical person, and prefers everything to follow a precise order. Christopher is extremely mathematically gifted, which comes with no surprise due to his fondness of order. Christopher is also a very determined person and lets nothing stand in his way. At times people doubted his ability which only pushed him harder. Determined, Christopher had said, "I am going to prove that I am not stupid. Next month I'm going to take my A level in math and I'm going to get an A grade” (Haddon 44). Christopher always wants to learn new things. At the beginning of the book we quickly learn that Christopher has a strong dislike for the colors yellow and brown. In fact, if he sees three yellow cars on his way to school he feels it is a bad day; therefore he will totally alter his mood. We see how Aspergers affects his ability to socially fit in with other kids his age.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book we are only exposed to Christopher’s relationship with his father, as well as one of his teachers. His mother sadly died, therefore he only lives with his father. His father gets very frustrated with Christopher at times due to his behavioral habits. But he is very protective of him no matter what. His father had said, “I am going to make you promise, Christopher. And you know what it means when I make you promise” (Haddon 50). Since Christopher is very logical, he listens to his father when given specific demands that are straight forward. Christopher did not show much appreciation toward his father, causing him to become frustrated. Due to Christopher’s inability to interpret emotions, he could not develop a deep relationships with others very easily. He does not enjoy “chatting” with people, in fact he feels it is pointless. He does not like jokes because he does not understand them. Christopher does not have many friends; he has a hard time building friendships because it is hard for him to trust many people.
Overall I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator. He is unable to lie, due to the fact that he believes lies are illogical. In fact, he even develops relationships with other people purely established by using the truth to develop trust. He really likes dogs because they never lie and they
are easy to understand. This gives us a better understanding as to why he wants to find out who killed the dog. I feel he is also a reliable narrator because he has an exceptional memory. He also is very attentive to detail, and can even remember certain smells. He retells the events in the exact way he lived them.
Allie Johnson
Christopher is a logical young boy who hates complex issues. He dislikes being touched by other people and getting yelled at. While on the other hand, he likes having structure, naming the prime numbers, and he loves to dream about outer space. His personality is straight forward. He knows himself well, but struggles with trusting others. Haddon writes, “And I like maths and looking after Toby. And also I like outer space and I like being on my own” (55). Although those are the things he likes the most important part is that he likes to be on his own. This is what defines him the most. He is a very closed off person and likes to think things through before they happen. The best chances for him to do this are when he is on his own and can watch others rather than interact with them. This is best shown through his interactions with Mrs. Alexander, his father, and Siobhan.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has a short conversation with Mrs. Alexander that shows us who Christopher is when he is around strangers. Other people he interacts with are his father and Siobhan. His father is someone who is crucial to his life. He helps Christopher with everything and understands how he what to do for him when he needs help. The only thing that puts strains on his relationship with Christopher is the murder. Siobhan helps Christopher understand things and is the only true friend of his that speaks his language. If Christopher does not understand a common saying or social cue she is there to guide him through it. She knows all of his needs and strengths. We begin to see why Christopher struggles with deep relationships when he is talking to Mrs. Alexander and says, “I can’t do chatting” (Haddon 55). He has a difficult time figuring out what to say to people when it is not straight forward questions. He lacks the ability to understand others and why people want to only talk to each other. He can really only see one side of a conversion.
Not understanding how others think or why they see things in a different way makes Christopher an unreliable narrator. He tells everything from one side. We can not hear what anyone else is thinking because that is not how Christpoher understands things. In the book, the stories are told by Christopher and because he rarely describes people the readers can never infer anything about the others point of view. He is an unreliable narrator because he tells the story through his eyes which sometimes give distorted viewpoints.
Alexandra Stover
Christopher Boone is a young boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. This means that he has a difficult time interacting in crowded environments, and understanding social cues. Although Asperger’s can come with many setbacks, Christopher is also very intelligent. He excels in math and science, remembers facts and information, and works to uncover the mystery of who killed his neighbor’s dog. Christopher likes things like the police, prime numbers, machines and red cars. He dislikes the colors yellow and brown, lies, jokes, and people yelling at him and touching him. Christopher’s Asperger’s syndrome makes it harder for him to interact with people he does not know. He tells his teacher Siobhan stuff about his life that he would not normally tell other people. He understands his father more than he understands anyone else and has an easier time making the right choice when talking to his father. During Christopher’s detective work, he decides to go from house to house in his neighborhood and try to figure out who killed Wellington. Talking to strangers scares him and normally is not something he does. Although he does not enjoy talking to strangers, he does not tend to get worked up when people like police officers approach him because he likes police officers.
ReplyDeleteChristopher often contradicts himself: “Other people have pictures in their heads, too. But they are different because the pictures in my head are all pictures of things which really happened. But other people have pictures in their heads of things which aren’t real and didn’t happen” (Haddon 78). He then goes on to say “And I like imagining that I am there sometimes, in a spherical metal submersible with windows that are 30 cm thick to stop them from imploding under the pressure” (Haddon 80). He claims that he cannot imagine things that did not happen yet he likes to imagine things that did not happen. He says whatever comes to mind and does not realize that he is contradicting himself. “Talking to strangers is not something I usually do. I do not like talking to strangers… If a strange man touched me I would hit him, and I can hit people very hard” (Haddon 34). Christopher says this quote when he is talking about going door to door in his neighborhood and asking his neighbors if they knew who killed Wellington the dog. He is not afraid of stranger danger, he is afraid that he will hit people if they touch him. This shows that Christopher is a sensitive person.
I believe Christopher is an unreliable narrator. He does not write about other people’s perspective on the story, rather it is just his own. He is also unable to understand social cues and he could be missing certain hints as to who killed Wellington. I also do not think Christopher is getting all the information. In the book his father seems to keep a lot from him. Such as Mr. Shear and Christopher’s mom having an affair, or why he does not want Christopher to keep investigating and so on. Mrs. Shears could also be keeping something from him because she is unwilling to talk to him in the first place. Like I said before, Christopher also contradicts himself a lot which could make him unreliable.
Lily Balison
Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, is trying to solve a recent murder of a dog. Christopher is quite intelligent and outstanding at math. He knows what he likes, for example, the color red. When he sees three red cars in a row, he will have a good day. While if he sees three yellow cars he has a so-called “Black Day.” “He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly, they were stacking up in my head like loaves in the factory where Uncle Terry works” (Haddon 7). We get an idea of what it is like in Christopher’s mind. It is known that he likes having order and an even pace setting. When it comes to Christopher, he knows what pleases him and what does not.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has few people in his life he likes. His dad is the only family in his life because his mom died a couple years earlier. Mrs. Shears is the owner of the deceased dog, Wellington, who’s murder Christopher is trying to solve. “I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand” (Haddon 34). When it comes to strangers, he does not really like them, for he knows nothing about them and does not feel safe. Sometimes it takes weeks before he feels comfortable to talk to them.
I think Christopher Boone is a reliable narrator. Not only does he have the ability to not lie, but he is also talking to strangers to figure out what has happened. Christopher does not like talking to strangers. It must have been hard for him to go around his neighborhood asking about the night Wellington was murdered. He also seems committed to trying and solve what went down. He did make a promise to his dad that he would not try to investigate anymore, but he thought if he could get it out of Mrs. Alexander he would not be breaking the promise. Christopher is going out of his comfort zone to get the details and shares them with us.
Kennedi Turriff
Christopher Boone is a regular 15 year old boy, except that he has Asperger’s syndrome. Asperger’s syndrome is a type of high functioning autism, and some people who have this are socially awkward or self-centered. Christopher is both awkward and self-centered because he cannot understand the points of view of other people. As he sees it, the world revolves around him, and everyone knows that. Because of his Asperger’s syndrome, he gets mad quickly, is extremely picky with the food he eats, and he thinks very logically and objectively. “He and I liked maths because it meant solving problems, and these problems were difficult and interesting but there was always a straightforward answer at the end” (Haddon 61). Christopher does not like reading or english because there is too much to interpret, and he is not good at interpreting because one must be able to think like the writer to interpret something. In other words, he cannot interpret what other people have written because he is not empathetic. Christopher also has interesting relationships with others because he cannot see their point of view.
ReplyDeleteChristopher does not have many friends, so he really only talks to his father and Siobhan. He never really introduces Siobhan, but one can assume that she is his mentor in school. He and his father have an interesting relationship because his father knows that Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome, but Christopher can’t understand that sometimes he causes his father frustration. “Then he said, ‘Holy [...] Jesus, Christopher. How stupid are you?’ This is what Siobhan says is called a rhetorical question” (Haddon 81). Christopher’s father is a patient man, but like all men, patience ends and frustration kicks in. Siobhan helps Christopher at school, and helps him sort out both his schooling and his home life. Siobhan tries to help him see things from other people’s perspective and to help him read other’s body language. However, he doesn’t seem to be doing a great job of that and he is still incapable of feeling empathy. I feel as if he is not a reliable narrator because he cannot tell the whole story if he cannot see what other people around him are going through.
Katelyn Grzelak
DeleteMacy Augustine
ReplyDeleteChristopher Boone is different in many ways and I found his personality unique. Christopher has Asperger's Syndrome and is very particular about certain things. Christopher does not enjoy being touched he has trouble reading emotions and it takes him some time to understand things that the rest of us find common sense. The color yellow and brown are like the plague to Christopher. He does like the color red, his rat Toby, and pretending he is out in space thousands of miles away from any other people. He is logical, determined, caring and optimistic. “I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them”(Haddon 12). This quotation shows both Christopher's’ logic and how he struggles to read others’ emotions. Prime numbers take forever to work out most people cant you have to work for years to figure them out. Christopher feels the same as figuring out other people’s emotions.
“But I said that you could still want something that is very unlikely to happen”(Haddon 25). Christopher is aware of his quirks but he still has goals and ambitions like any of us. Christopher is optimistic in this sense never jumping to conclusions and being logical about situations. The main relationship we see in the story is Christopher and his dad. Christopher’s dad seems like a man with good intentions who is under a lot of stress. We can tell through the way Christopher talks about his dad that his dad loves him very much and that he is someone Christopher can trust and rely on. The second major relationship we see is between Christopher and his counselor Sioban. Sioban seems patient and she is someone who listens to Christopher's and helps answers his questions about important topics. Sioban helps Christopher navigate emotions and tries to explain why people act in certain ways in different situations. Christopher refers to Siobhan and what she has said in the past proving her to be a very important person who he relies on daily.
Christopher Boone is a reliable narrator. Although his story is hard to follow from his point of view you know he is being honest. We get to see the processes going through Christopher’s mind and we know he is logical and can not lie making him a great source.
Christopher Boone is a young fifteen year old boy living with Asperger's syndrome. He is a heavily logic based individual. His relationship with those around himself is limited due to his inability to connect with the emotions of others. Others thoughts and feelings are unimaginable to him. Leaving Christopher without empathy. Christopher is always curious, searching for the most accurate answer. He will not lie, to him there is only one side to a story because there is truly only one thing happened. Christopher loves logic, making math and science particular favorites. He constantly fixates on a topic of interest such as primary numbers, then applies it to everything around him. "Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them"(Haddon 12). Christopher finds out all that he can if he finds interest in a topic, this being a prime example.
ReplyDeleteCertain things bother and attract Christopher. Such as being touched, even his own father is not allowed to hug him or he becomes uncomfortable. However, if Christopher sees something that is attractive to him he will immediately jump to obtain it. Christopher and his father even developed a special way of showing affection to appease his sensitivities. "He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other"(Haddon 16). This moment was immediately following Christopher’s father retrieving him from the police. Even in extreme moments Christopher does not change his habitual and preferred practices.
Christopher Boone is not a reliable narrator. Despite that he is extremely honest and tells events like he sees them. However, it is simply from his own personal perspective containing a one-sided viewpoint. There are parts of the world that are difficult for him to understand. The way he retells stories comes from a limited perspective. Due to his inability to properly interpret certain events, it makes him an unreliable narrator.
Kyra Merriman
Will Zellner
ReplyDeleteBlog One
Christopher Boone’s defining characteristic is his lack of ability to take in the thoughts and feelings of other people. Christopher says, “it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people’s faces move very quickly” (Haddon 3). Due to Christopher’s inability to empathize, he cannot tell when a person speaks sarcastically, or determine a person’s mood by his facial expression. This inability to empathize is one of the most prominent features of autism-related disorders. Christopher has characteristics such as having difficulty understanding metaphors, his interest on certain topics, and his computer-like ability with numbers strongly suggest that Christopher has a mild form of autism. This condition has made him extraordinarily gifted in math and science but severely underdeveloped socially, leading Christopher to frequently misunderstand other people, especially his father. As a result, he greatly dislikes social interaction and avoids it when possible.
Christopher and his father have a loving but at times tense relationship. Christopher’s father lovingly cares for Christopher, yet he also struggles with the frustration he feels as a result of not always being able to understand Christopher’s behavior. He carefully prepares all of Christopher’s meals according to Christopher’s rigid list of likes and dislikes, but he also becomes angry with Christopher when Christopher misunderstands him. Christopher’s quirkiness is displayed when Haddon writes, “Father banged the table with his fist really hard so that the plates and his knife and fork jumped around and my ham jumped sideways so that it touched the broccoli, so I couldn’t eat the ham or the broccoli anymore” (49). Christopher’s father is a man that becomes easily agitated by the little things Christopher does.
One thing that Christopher cannot do is tell a lie. I believe that characteristic makes Christopher a reliable narrator in this story. Christopher is a boy who is determined to find what he believes is right and to prove his point. Even though he may be socially awkward and quirky, that does not make Christopher an unreliable narrator.
Christopher is the main character in the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. He has Asperger's Syndrome and is different from most 15-year-olds. He does not like being touched, he despises the colors yellow and brown, and he does not like being asked too many questions at once. He also struggles to read other people’s emotions and does not like being laughed at. On the other hand, Christopher loves the color red and is very good at math. “I think I would make a very good astronaut, To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I’m intelligent” (Haddon 50). This quote explains that Christopher is smart and he is very proud of it. It also shows how Christopher dreams of being an astronaut and how he is willing to learn new things to achieve his dream. Christopher is different from the other main characters in the book and this sometimes causes their relationships to go through rough patches.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has many relationships in this book including his father, his teachers and his neighbors. One of the main relationships he has with his teacher Siobhan. They have been friends for eight years and she understands him. “This is what Siobhan says is called a rhetorical question” (Haddon 81). This quote demonstrates how Siobhan helps Christopher understand certain aspects of life that he does not understand. Christopher made a relationship with Mrs. Alexander when he was investigating Wellington’s death. She answers his questions and he seems to be comfortable around her. She told Christopher that his mother had an affair with Mr. Shears, their neighbor. This persuaded Christopher to continue investigating Wellington’s murder. By doing this, it created problems in his relationship with his father. Christopher went against his father’s rules when he talked to Mrs. Alexander and continued investigating. Christopher’s father threw away the book he was writing about Wellington’s death because he was so angry. The relationships that Christopher has made have influenced him to detect Wellington’s murder and to write a book about it.
Although Christopher has Asperger’s and may struggle sometimes, he is still intelligent. He is capable of writing a spectacular novel if he puts his mind to it. Because of this, I believe that he is a reliable narrator. So far in the book, Christopher has only told the truth, because he can not lie, and he speaks his mind. Although he may get sidetracked with his thoughts, it is sometimes good to know what the author is.
Betsy Conard
Christopher Boone has Asperger’s syndrome which hinders his ability to comprehend emotions and interact “normally” with others. Christopher is a very particular boy. His likes and dislikes are set in stone and nothing can change that. For example, Christopher hates the colors yellow and brown, but loves the color red. All of Christopher’s actions are intentional. He tends not to apologize for things he has done because he has a purpose behind all his actions. Christopher hit a police officer because he does not like being touched. He becomes scared and nervous so he uses violence to counteract others. While he was in the police station, a policeman told Christopher and his father that Christopher would only receive a warning because hitting the officer was an accident. Christopher replied, “But it wasn’t an accident” (Haddon 18). This shows that although Christopher is impulsive, he is honest.
ReplyDeleteChristopher is very candid and this can give people the wrong impression of him. Those who do not know him tend to think that he is just rude, but Christopher does not know how to lie. He is very rational boy. He says, “My mind is like a film. This is why I am really good at remembering things…” (Haddon 76). This is similar to a photographic memory which impedes his ability to show emotions to others. When asked about his mother’s death, he just simply says that she is gone and there is no need to be sad over that. This is an intimidating trait to other people and it is primarily the reason why he does not make friends. Other kids do not understand his personality.
Because he does not let his emotions get in the way of logic, I believe that Christopher Boone is a reliable narrator. He is very observant and honest. His honesty stems from his hatred of the untruth. He does not see the point in telling lies, so he simply does not tell them. All of his traits make him a reliable narrator.
Sonja Gapinski
DeleteChristopher Boone is a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome living in England. He loves math and dreams of becoming an astronaut. He has memorized many of the prime numbers and enjoys doing math problems because there is always a correct answer. Christopher dreams of becoming an astronaut because he loves studying space and enjoys being alone like astronauts. Christopher hates jokes and the colors brown and yellow. He says that he does not understand jokes because it confuses him when people do not say what they mean. Also, he bases if his days are going to be good or bad on the color of cars he sees on the way to school. “Mr. Jeavons, the psychologist at the school, once asked me why 4 red cars in a row made it a Good Day, and 3 red cars in a row made it a Quite Good Day, and 5 red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day, and why 4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day”(Haddon 24). Christopher is explaining that he believes that the color and number of cars he sees on his way to school dictates how well of a day he will have. Because he enjoys the color red, his good days correspond with red cars, and his bad days correspond with yellow cars. Christopher’s likes and dislikes greatly influence his personality and relationships with other characters.
ReplyDeleteChristopher struggles with making friends and communicating with people. Christopher has a friendly relationship with Mrs. Alexander, but a terrible relationship with Mrs. Shears. Mrs. Alexander helps Christopher with his investigation, and she tries to be a friend to him. On the other hand, after Wellington dies, Mrs. Shears believes that Christopher murdered him, so she does not allow him over to her house. Christopher is closest to Siobhan and his father. He shares many details of his life with Siobhan and runs his ideas by her. Also, he goes to her for advice, reassurance, and conversation. Now that it is only Christopher and his father, they have a close relationship. His father supports him and tries to help him through life. However, now that he is investigating Wellington’s murder, their relationship is being strained. “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they mean”(Haddon 3). Christopher is explaining that Siobhan is his friend and helps him out with situations that confuse him. She is helping him to understand other people’s emotions based on their facial expressions. Throughout the book, Christopher has a variety of relationships that he details through his narration.
I do not believe Christopher is a reliable narrator because I think that he has difficulty putting together all the details. Throughout the book, Christopher has missed details that could help him to better understand his surroundings. There are details in the story, such as the mysterious reason why Christopher never saw his mother in the hospital or at her funeral, that I believe Christopher is not picking up on. Also, even though he cannot tell a lie, he has found ways around telling the complete truth. He will either tell part of the truth or leave out many of the details that could result in him getting in trouble. Because Christopher is unable to pick up on hidden information and other people’s emotions, I do not believe that he is a reliable narrator.
Julia Augustian
Christopher Boone’s personality falls under a category of his own. Struggling with what we readers can identify as Asperger’s syndrome Christopher struggles with social interactions and understanding other’s emotions. Christopher likes to trail off in his thoughts and talk about whatever comes to mind. He likes to leave the world he doesn’t understand and enter a realm where he can tune his surroundings out and become who he wants to be. Whether that is through reading one of his favorite books, The Hound of the Baskerville or playing chess and consistently winning, Christopher finds joy in the quiet things that he can control. On the contrary, one of his greatest dislikes is his father’s authority over him and the commands he receives from his father. Christopher does not quite understand the concept of social interactions so being told what to do by another individual is something he does not stand for.
ReplyDelete“And this is like me, too, because if I get really interested in something, like practicing maths, or reading a book about the Apollo missions or a great white shark, I don’t notice anything and father can be calling me to come to eat my supper and I won’t hear him” (Haddon 73). Christopher’s voice and independence is shown within that text as he speaks in a way that comes straight from his mind with no prior structure or formation. He speaks what he wants to be heard, nothing more nothing less, this is what makes Christopher’s voice so unique. I believe this makes him a reliable narrator for he does not silver line anything or bias a story to one particular side. “
Christopher is an intelligent person that has a different way of thinking of everyone else. Some dislikes of Christopher is that he hates brown and yellow and likes the color red. Christopher likes because they can’t talk and don’t tell lies. “ 5 red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day, and why 4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day” (Haddon 47). Christopher lets colors control his day weather it is good color or a bad color.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has a hard time making relationships with other people because he finds them confusing. Siobohn is one of the very few people that Christopher trusts because she helps him understand the way other people act. Mrs. Alexander is Christopher neighbor and she is very kind. She expressed her interest in Christopher's life after Christopher asked for information on wellingtons death. Elin shears is the owner of wellington. She is very questionable on Christopher after wellington's death because christopher was by the dog when she found the dog dead. “She was shouting, what the f name have you done to my dog?”(Shears 7). Mrs. Shears was very frightened when she saw her dog dead next to christopher and right away accused him for killing her dog. Christopher is a very reliable narrator. In the book Siobhan encourages him to write the book truthfully.
Brendan Poshak
Connor Seidl
ReplyDeleteChristopher Boone is a 15-year-old boy with a passion for problem-solving. He is not an average teenager. Christopher enjoys science and math and dreams of becoming an astronaut. Christopher is uncomfortable with strangers and fears being touched. “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8). He is very honest and does not break promises. Social interaction is hard for Christopher who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome. When Christopher finds his neighbor’s dead dog stabbed with a fork, Christopher undergoes the search for the murderer. This investigation requires Christopher to go outside of his comfort zone as he has to question others, including strangers.
Christopher has a very unique way of writing due to his honesty and inability to stay on task. His chapters are numbered with prime numbers because he enjoys math and he is able to name all prime numbers until 7,057. “I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them” (12). Christopher has two influential relationships in his life. He has his father who raises and understands him, and Siobhan who acts as his counselor at school. Christopher’s mother died from a heart failure. I believe that Christopher is a reliable author due to his honesty and his curiosity. Christopher does not let his opinions and perspectives get in the way of his writing, instead he tells facts and true stories.
Christopher Boon is a rational teenager who unfortunately can not understand complex emotions and situations. He likes to spend time alone, learning about math and outer space. Christopher also likes the color red, and if he sees 4 red cars in a row, it is a “Good Day.” He extremely dislikes the colors yellow and brown, as well as having his food touch each other on his plate. Needless to say, Christopher likes to have his life and belongings in order and certain patterns. Christopher explained, “Mr. Jeavons asked me whether this made me feel safe, having things always in a nice order; and I said it did” (Haddon 25). His whole life is based on if certain objects and events are in certain orders and if they are not, then Christopher believes that the day is ruined or unsafe.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, Christopher has had many relationships with many people, but all are unique in their way. The most important relationship as of now is with his father. Christopher sees his father as a man who can keep his calm and try to make the best of any situation. Though his father is calm most of the time, it is not hard to catch his father off guard and lose his temper. “But father interrupted me and grabbed hold of my arm really hard. Father had never grabbed hold of me like that before” (Hardon 82). Christopher’s father has an extreme amount of stress going on in his life, from the death of his wife, the affair his wife had, and Christopher not listening to the rules he has put in place. This is trying to show how even if Christopher’s father has a hard time to deal with him, then it must not be easy for strangers. Although, Christopher is the same way when it comes to him meeting strangers. For example, when Christopher meets Mrs. Alexander. He does not completely understand how she processes and expresses information, just as she does not know how Christopher explains his emotions. To most people, this would frustrate people because they would become impatient and forget the whole conversation. Whereas Mrs. Alexander understands and is willing to rephrase what she is saying so that Christopher understands.
Given that Christopher does not understand how the world around him truly works, he is an unreliable character. Although he tries to give all the information to us about each situation in the story, he is only giving his side of the story. The audience does not know what the other characters are feeling or their attitude toward the situation with Wellington because Christopher does not understand how that works. This gives the audience a twisted version of the story instead of a straightforward one. Therefore making Christopher unreliable. Also, he would not be able to tell if someone is lying because he can not lie and does not understand how that works or when it is presented.
Katie Peters
Christopher Boone is a young male with Asperger syndrome. He has things that make him unique from other kids. For example, he has struggles reading what people's emotions are. “ I got siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying” (Haddon 3). Christopher needed the piece of paper to be able to read what people's facial expressions where otherwise he would not have been able to read them. Christopher also does not like when people laughs at him and hates when people touch him. All of these that I mentioned makes Christopher a complicated character.
ReplyDeleteChristopher struggles with relationships with other characters because he sometimes misses the social cues of that situation. Christopher has two people that help him the most his father and siobhan who is his teacher. He struggles trusting people so for the people that he does trust it makes that relationship have so much more meaning. “ Perhaps you should be talking to your father about this”(Haddon 37). Christopher has a special bond with his father and trusts him a lot.
I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator. He does not understand jokes or humor but still mentions jokes and metaphor in the book even though he might not understand them. He also states that he can not lie which also makes him a reliable narrator.
Robert Healy
Christopher Boone is a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger's, and he is the narrator of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Christopher cannot figure out how a person is feeling by their facial expression, and he can only tell stories and events based on what truly happened. Since Christopher needs to tell the story in an organized order, he has to inability to lie. Christopher says, "I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can't tell lies" (Haddon 19). He knows the real reason he cannot lie and he does not listen to the other excuses people give him. Christopher is a genius with mathematics. He knows every prime number up to 7,057. His murder mystery novel even has prime numbers as the chapter headers. Christopher likes his life to be organized. On his way to school, he lets the color of the cars he sees determines how he will go through his day.
ReplyDeleteChristopher lives alone with his father and pet rat, Toby. When Christopher’s mother passed away, Siobhan started helping Christopher out almost like a mom. Siobhan gave Christopher a piece of paper with facial expressions on it to help understand what people are thinking. He says, “I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn't understand what someone was saying” (Haddon 3). Christopher takes the help Siobhan gives him and takes it everywhere he goes to help him learn.
I believe that Christopher Boone is an unreliable narrator. Though some might say he is a reliable narrator since he cannot lie, I will always think that you are not getting the whole story when you only get one person’s point of view. People see the world in many different ways and points of view, so when you only take one point of view, you lose a lot of detail. When a person does not lie, that does not mean they are telling the honest truth. It means they are telling their truth about what they saw.
Owen Campbell
Christopher is a boy with a disability who has a different outlook on life that has a curiosity for mysteries. Christopher shows the symptoms that he could have the disability of autism or Asperger's syndrome. This causes him to dislike certain things. For example the colors yellow and brown, or he hates when people touch him. Christopher does not like strangers until he is able to have enough information that he can make a conclusion on whether or not the person is safe for him to be around. His personality is different from what a stereotypical person is. He is not sensitive or empathy towards other people. He does not pick up on social cues and is awkward. He struggles to hold a conversation or small talk, because he does not like small talk. He says he always tells the truth, and he is very intelligent in math and science. His dream career is to become an astronaut, and he has a fascination with math. Christopher says "Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them”(Haddon 12). Christopher goes to a special school, in this school no one has ever taken a A level math. Christopher’s father fought for him to be able to take A level math. Christopher says that he will get a grade A in A level math. He has an amazing ability to be able to multiply numbers so big that would be impossible to do for the average human. Although Christopher is very intelligent he lacks in his ability to communicate with others.
ReplyDeleteChristopher struggles to make friends or acquaintances, but those who are his friends he listens to what they say and trusts them. In the novel Christopher and his dad have a relationship where it seems they argue a lot. The father is made to sad like a bad guy in almost every case. In some moment Christopher makes his father so angry that he becomes violent but always reassure him that he loves him. ‘And Father said, “Christopher, do you understand that I love you?’” (Haddon 87). He is constantly nagging at Christopher to stop doing things, but truly this is because he loves Christopher and is always trying to take care of him the best way possible. Siobhan is a teacher at Christopher's school. In the novel they have a very close and trustworthy bond. She gives him a lot of advice and Christopher almost always listens to what she tells him to do. Haddon describes characters relationships with Christopher throughout the novel in an unreliable way.
Mark Haddon is an unreliable author because he does not follow the literary norms. The book is about a young boy with a disability that is on the hunt to find a dog murderer. The blame was placed on the young boy, who is determined to follow all the clues to find out the truth. This story line does not exactly follow the literary norm of a mystery novel.
Christopher Boone is a very unique person. He has many qualities that make him more different than anybody else. Christoper likes dogs, not just because he thinks they are cute, but because he says they are “faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk.”(Haddon 4). Christopher has a hard time understanding social cues, or emotions told by facial expressions. He says “ If I don’t know what someone is saying, I ask them what they mean or I walk away.”(Haddon 3).This is why he prefers dogs to people because they do not make social cues.
ReplyDeleteChristopher has many dislikes. He hates the colors yellow and brown. He also dislikes jokes because he says he is not very good at telling them, or he does not understand them. Christopher is incredibly intelligent. He knows all the prime numbers up to 7,057, and he knows all the countries and their capitals. He lives with his father, who he has a very tense relationship with. His father yells at him, and he even took away a book that Christopher was writing. As his dad yells at him, Christopher does not really understand how his father is feeling because of his hard time reading emotion.
One thing I really enjoy about Christopher is that he is very open, and honest about how he is feeling. This makes him a reliable narrator. He always informs us about how he is feeling, or he is not afraid to speak his mind. He fully embraces his true nature, which is very inspiring.
Vanessa Cortez Aguilar
DeleteChristopher is a 15-year-old boy who lives in a small town with his mom and dad, but his mom passed away from heart failure. He often does not understand jokes or sarcasm and does not feel comfortable around strangers. Christopher likes a routine that is similar from one day to the next. Some things that make him comfortable are his pet rat, his father, math, computers, and physics. Christopher does not like it when people touch or raise their voice at him, and he tends to scream or hit people if they do either of those things. Christopher is not afraid to express anything on his mind even if it is inappropriate at the time, and in the text, he says “So I said, ‘do you know anything about Wellington being killed?’” The death of Wellington is a sore subject for many, and it is not something he should be going around asking people.
ReplyDeleteChristopher is a lot more clever than he appears. He carefully remembers his dad’s exact words of what he is and is not supposed to do. His dad told him that he can not speak of Mr. or Mrs. Shears in the house, however, when he got caught saying Mr. Shears's name he was not inside the house. To carry out detective actions, Christopher is careful in how he acts. For example, he says “And I replied, ‘Not to mention Mr. Shears’s name in our house. And to stop this ridiculous bloody detective game. Except I haven’t done any of those things.’” Christopher may not have social queues or normal behavior, but he expresses his thoughts and desires a little differently than most people do. Christopher is a reliable narrator because he always tells the truth in-depth, even if it does not help his case. The story is about him, and he has a very unique mind that can only he can truly understand and describe what is going on. If someone else were to narrate this story, then we would not get the full extent of his sharp thoughts and imagery.
Christopher Boone is a peculiar boy. He has Aspergers which keeps him from being a social person. He enjoys mystery, has a pet rat, and will hit you if you’re not careful. He does not like the colors brown and yellow. He does not like being touched. Christopher is not good in a social setting. He can not read people’s emotions and is unable to know the context of a conversation or the vibe of it. He seems to be okay with his condition and does not let it hold him back from what he enjoys, like walking around the streets at 3 in the morning. If he sees 4 red cars in a row it is a good day. “If I think about something which didn’t happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn’t really happen”(Hadden 19). This is a thing a lot of people do. Something happens and we go on thinking about the other possibilities that we would rather have and are not content with what we get. I think Christopher does not think about things as better options, but just as other things that could happen.
ReplyDeleteChristopher lives with his father in an apartment. He has a pet rat named Toby. His mother passed away, but a lady named Siobhan started acting like his mom. “I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn't understand what someone was saying” (Haddon 3). She helped him understand emotions better by drawing him pictures of faces and telling him what that emotion was. He struggles with relationships with other people because he gets annoyed and mad easily. He hit a cop because the cop was annoying him. He narrates like he knows more than other people or kind of like he is better than them in a certain way.
I think he is a reliable narrator because he cannot lie. He may leave some things out and not know everything, but what he does experience he will usually say. He expresses how he feels, but that is a little concerning. Although I think he is a reliable narrator, he does not have the same emotions and has more triggers than most other people. This could be a problem. Overall he is a reliable narrator because he does not lie
Christopher is a different child. He has Aspergers syndrome and he sees the world differently than other people. Christopher is very smart for his age. He knows all the prime numbers up to 7,057 as well as all countries in the world and their capitals.He is very good at math and loves space. He wants to be an astronaut some day as well. Although he does have trouble telling people’s emotions. Christopher also loves having things in order. It comforts him to do this. He is a very honest and sensitive kid, so when his neighbor accuses him of killing her dog, he does not even know what to think. He was found guilty and he was taken to jail. We can see that he does not have the best relationship with other people because of his inability to understand others well. However, he has a very good relationship with his dad. When his dad came to the jail to see Christopher, he did not hug him because he knows he doesn't like touching. He also has a good relationship with his friend Sibhoan who teaches him about people’s emotions and facial expressions. “The supper was baked beans and broccoli and two slices of ham and they were laid out on the plate so that they were not touching” (Haddon 48). This shows how particular he is about everything he does, and how he likes to have things in order. It also shows how much his dad cares for him. Another quote that shows his voice is “Here is a joke, as an example. It is one of Father’s: His face was drawn but the curtains were real”(Haddon 8). This shows that he does not understand things that people normally would understand. I think that Christopher is a reliable narrator because of a few reasons. First of all, he is not a liar. He tells about everything that happens to him truthfully. He may not completely understand what is going on at the moment it is happening, but he does know it is happening. Also, I believe that his disease does not affect the way he sees the world.
ReplyDeleteChristopher does not have that many people in his life to interact with. The main people he interacts with are his dad and Sibohan. The first scene is when Christopher is in jail and his dad came to see him. “I held up my left hand and spread my fingers like a fan and we made our fingers touch each other”(Haddon 16). He does not hug him because Christopher does not like touching. This shows that his dad does what he can to make his son happy. Later on in the book we start to see his dad treat him a little bit worse. His father did not want him sticking his nose in other people’s business, so he hit him. “But father interrupted me and grabbed a hold of my arm really hard… I had no memories for a while”(Haddon 82). This is showing that their relationship has gotten worse and more abusive as things went on. Finally, the last quote is when Christopher read some letters. “I’m sorry Christopher. I’m so sorry”(Haddon 114). This shows that his dad felt bad about what he did and he wanted Christopher to forgive him. These scenes develop these two in many ways. We see the caring side of Christopher’s dad, as well as the abusive side. As the story goes along he starts out caring, then he becomes abusive because he is so mad at Christopher, and eventually his dad apologizes for what he has done. These incidents move the plot forward because as the characters develop the story gets more and more interesting.
Chaz Schott
Christopher Boone is a boy who is trying to find the killer of his neighbor's dog. He likes prime numbers and dogs. He dislikes are strangers, touching, jokes, and many other things. These things are all strange and that is because Christopher is a bit different. He has asperger's syndrome and he is unable to understand people through their facial expressions. He has a unique way of describing things and often rambles on about something irrelevant to what he is talking about. He can be brutally honest and is unable to tell lies because he does not understand them. Haddon shows his inability to understand people by having Christopher tell us “I find people confusing. This is for two main reasons. The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking without using any words” (14). Christopher can not tell if someone is happy or mad at him just by looking at them which is something everyone can do. If he can not understand them he will just walk away because he just does not try to understand. “Mrs. Forbes at school said that when Mother died she had gone to heaven. That is because Mrs. Forbes is very old had she believes in heaven” (Haddon 32). Here Christopher thinks that only old people believe in heaven and later proceeds to describe Mrs. Forbes and then tells The Reverend Peters that heaven is for people afraid of death. He does not understand that he can not say that to people openly especially to a Reverend. In the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Christopher is an unreliable narrator. For starters he is a kid and kids are never reliable narrators. He also has aspergers so he sees people differently than what we would usually see.
ReplyDeleteThis is Coopers
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ReplyDeleteChris is a 15 year old lad who has Asperger’s syndrome. He likes the color red and hates the color yellow. He is extremely good at math and he knows every prime number to 7,057. He does not understand facial expressions either. This makes Chris a truly gives him a personality throughout the text. He hates liars and he says he can't lie throughout the text. He also hates to be touched as seen on “I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8). Chris has trust issues shown throughout the text. This makes him extremely closed off to others during the text.
ReplyDelete2 characters in the text which Christopher have a sterling relationship with his father and his teacher Siobhan. Since his mother died these two has helped him critically in his life. In the text Chris does not understand humor. Later on in the story he starts to understand some of the jokes his father tells him due to their laudable relationship.“ Perhaps you should be talking to your father about this”(Haddon 37). Siohan plays a role in the text due to him helping Chris learn at school. This is revealed in the text due to his lack of trust of others. So his relationship with his father and Siohan are so crucial to him currently.
Chris is an unreliable narrator because him seeing only his side of the story. To be a truly stellar narrator you need to see the other side of the story. Due to this lack of seeing the full idea and missing out on key concepts. We can not fully understand this tale without getting a full taste of the story. We are not seeing why the other characters are thinking and due to the fact that he is an unreliable narrator.
Christopher Boone does not fit within the boundaries of “normal.” He is extremely particular about people, food, and other situations presented to him on a daily basis. This is because he has Asperger’s syndrome and struggles with social interactions as well as interpreting facial expressions. Christopher is extremely invested and skilled in math and science because he dreams of becoming an astronaut. He also enjoys reading mystery novels and is currently beginning to write a murder story about the neighbor’s dog that has been killed. He does not like sarcasm or metaphors, strangers, and the colors yellow or brown. Christopher says, “I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them”(Haddon 12). Logic and order are very important to Christopher but he also seems to be interested in things that have a purpose and will be useful to him. Trust is also a major attribute to Christopher’s personality, so the people he interacts with must gain his trust and prove they are worthy of his attention.
ReplyDeleteSince Christopher has trouble meeting new people, he remains quite reserved until he is able to fully trust someone. Siobhan and Mrs. Alexander are the two main people Christopher has a relationship with because he sees both of them often. In the beginning of the novel, we learn that Siobhan is one of the teachers at Christopher’s school. She gives him advice on how to interact with people and supports his interests as a friend would. “Siobhan said that I should write something I would want to read myself”(Haddon 4). She is giving Christopher advice on a topic he is passionate about and he trusts her enough to follow that suggestion. Although he may be cautious, Christopher is capable of having a confiding friendship where he can accept the insights of another person. On the other hand, his relationship with Mrs. Alexander is different from the bond he has with Siobhan. They first met when Christopher was questioning his neighbors about who may have killed the neighbor's dog, Wellington. While they were chatting, Mrs. Alexander seemed to understand how meticulous the teenage boy was. “And she said, ‘If you want to talk about this you can come and see me anytime you want’”(Haddon 61). She is opening her doors to Christopher to help him understand, and to show that she accepts him for who he is. Although they are practically strangers, Mrs. Alexander’s kindness has shown Christopher that not all strangers are as dreadful as he thinks.
Overall, I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator. He is incapable of lying because he sees lies as illogical and unnecessary. Although events are constantly seen from his perspective, he is able to provide the readers with information about potential suspects.
Madison Waldrop
Christopher Boone is a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. Communication and physical touch comes as a fear and uncomfort for him. He is strong and gifted in math and physics, but he is very sensitive when it comes to social interaction and specific things like the color yellow. “...I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it another Black Day too, so I didn’t speak to anyone and for the whole afternoon I sat in the corner of the Library groaning with my head pressed into the join between the two walls and this made me feel calm and safe” (Haddon 53). Certain little things can alter his mood for days. Even though social interactions are tough for Christopher, he holds a couple valuable relationships in his life.
ReplyDeleteTwo important people in Christopher’s life are Siobhan and Mrs. Alexander. He also lives with his dad, but they do not have a very healthy relationship. Siobhan is one of the teachers at his school that talks with him on a daily basis. She has helped him in many ways, such as encouraging his book and teaching him how to pick up social cues. “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what someone was saying” (Haddon 3). This is helpful for Christopher because it is hard for him to figure out people’s attitudes and emotions. Another important figure in his life is Mrs. Alexander, the lady from across the street. “And she said, ‘If you want to talk about this you can come and see me anytime you want’” (Haddon 61). Even though they just recently met, Mrs. Alexander is already a supportive person in Christopher’s life. She is there to hear what he has to say and show him trust, which he greatly appreciates in a person.
Although everything in this story is told from Christopher’s perspective, I believe that he is still a reliable narrator. Due to his Asperger’s, he is unable to tell lies. Everything is straightforward and recited from memory. It is not in his mental capacity to change the story or lie about how something was said. “This is another reason why I don’t like proper novels, because they are lies about things which didn’t happen and they make me feel shaky and scared. And this is why everything I have written here is true” (Haddon 19-20). While some may view Christopher as weird and different from the rest of us, he still understands that he should always tell the truth and stay loyal to others.
Emma Cooper
Christopher Boone seems like a strange kid with unorthodox, and at times even bizarre, ways in which he navigates the world. However, despite his unique disposition Christopher is incredibly intelligent and has already begun to prove that he can be a rather clever and highly motivated detective. He specifically has an affinity for math and science, hence why he decided to label the chapters using prime numbers. Christopher is not fond of anything obscure in nature because he finds it difficult to decipher the meanings of things if they are not straight forward or literal. Christopher begins one chapter by saying, “Mr. Jeavons said that I liked maths because it was safe…what he meant was that maths wasn’t like life because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end. I know he meant this because this is what he said.” (Haddon 61). Though he often struggles with social interaction he does have a special love for animals. He finds it easier to be around animals rather than people. Animals are simple while people are complicated.
ReplyDeleteThroughout pages 1-83 we see Christopher interact predominantly with two characters. Siobhan and Mr. Boone are the two people he tends to bring up most often. Siobhan is one of Christopher’s school teachers and seems to be one of the few adults that may have a small understanding of his mind and how it works. We hear him not only reference their discussions but her advice as well. She is patient and understanding and even is noted as the person that encouraged him to write his book. We as readers can see that there is a special level of trust between Christopher and Siobahn. On the other hand, though Christopher's relationship with his father is strong it can aire on the side of tense. His father often gets frustrated with him and Christopher doesn't understand why. Ever since Mrs. Boone died it has been the two of them against the world and he just wants Christopher to know that he loves him. Despite the sentiment Mr. Boone struggles with expressing affection while Christopher has difficulty accepting and discerning it. While he has developed relationships with these two characters he continues to run into trouble while interacting with strangers. Christopher finds strangers confusing. When invited to chat with a woman he doesn’t know he says, “I can’t do chatting.” (Haddon 55). This may seem like a simple statement and if you didn’t know Christopher it might even sound like he’s being rude. However, small talk, in his opinion, is useless and obtuse and therefore adverse to him.
Personally I don't think that Christopher is a reliable narrator because he simply is not capable of looking at clues, evidence, or even the world from any perspective other than his own. Even though he never tells lies I think that it is absolutely essential that a narrator be able to try and understand how other characters may be feeling or viewing the world. I understand that it is not something he can control but I still believe that an essentially one-sided outlook is unreliable.
Emily Kulick
Blog One
ReplyDeleteChristopher Boone is a young, intelligent boy with Aspergers. He knows all the countries of the world and their capitals, he also knows every prime number up to 7,057. He likes dogs because he says they never tell lies because they can not talk. Christopher has a hard time understanding normal communication such as jokes, lies or metaphors. He dislikes the colors yellow and brown and likes the color red. He likes living a structured day because he enjoys having things in his own specific order. “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him”(Haddon 8). Christopher despises being shouted at and getting touched. When someone shouts or touches Christopher he gets confused, so his initial reaction is to fight back. Christopher has a hard time understanding people, especially strangers, however, there are some that know how to approach him.
Christopher likes to be thoroughly explained to, otherwise, he does not get what you are expecting of him. Siobhan is a good friend of Christopher, she works at his school and studies with other children that have learning difficulties. “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this”(Haddon 29). Siobhan is one of the few who Christopher trusts. She helps him understand the human emotion which guides his process of thought. Christopher’s dad knows all of his habits, understands the way he works, and most of the time know how to handle him. Christopher’s dad gets angry and upset when he finds out that Christopher is trying to solve who killed Wellington. So he told him to stop interviewing the neighbors, but Christopher did not stop. Mrs. Alexander is a character who greatly helps Christopher’s investigation. Even when Christopher is told to stop, he keeps on going to Mrs. Alexander to get more information because he is curious.
I do not think Christopher is a reliable character because he speaks in the first person throughout the whole novel and only gives his point of view and opinions. Yes, he does speak to other characters throughout the novel but he only gives his perception of that character. It seems believable, but thinking about it more you realize how many unanswered questions you have while reading. Such as wondering if Christopher’s mom actually died from a heart attack, or is his dad just covering up more to the story. Or you may be wondering why his dad is so quiet when it comes to personal questions, it seems as if he is hiding something from Christopher.
Danny Nennig- English
ReplyDeleteUnit One Blog
Christorpher Boone is a very intelligent kid, but lives every day on a certain routine. Christopher is a really nice kid, until you cross his line and do something he despises. He really enjoys problem solving and math. He likes math so much because of the simple straightforward solution. Christopher cannot be touched. Throughout the book, Chrisotpher explains his hatred for being touched. The severity of his hatred for being touched is shown when Haddon writes, “ The Policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him”(8). Christopher Boone could not deal with the officer just simply touching his arm, to then hit the armed Cop. Christopher did not think twice about hitting the officer showing it does not matter who touches him, he will retaliate. No matter how close christopher is with someone, crossing his line is not a smart idea.
Christopher is not a kid with too many friends. His mother having passed, and his father living with regret, his closest bond is with his teacher, Mrs. Siobhan. Christopher's Father loves him and is always there to help Christopher out, but doesn’t always support what he does. Chrisopher’s Father shuts down his investigation, which Christopher is really enjoying, by saying, “‘Promise me you will stop doing these things. Promise that you will give up this ridiculous game right now, OK?’”(Haddon 50). After being told he could not continue his mission, he had to turn over to the person who really connects with him. Christopher, after running into Mrs. alexander, went to his teacher to look over his book. His teacher told him not to tell his father about the conversation because she believed in him as a person, and as a writer. The trust built between Mrs. Siobhan and Christopher is continuing to grow, while the trust between Christopher and his dad is slowly declining.
I do not believe Chrisopher Boone is a reliable author. The way he bounces back and forth throughout the book could indicate loss of story over time. Christopher also broke his father's promise after stating he never breaks promises. Therefore, I find it hard to believe everything he says.
Trent Janowski
ReplyDeleteChristopher Boone is a British teenage boy who has Aspergers. He is very inquisitive and is not afraid to ask about whatever is on his mind. Due to his condition, social interaction can be very awkward and difficult for Christopher. Haddon writes, “The policeman said, “I am going to ask you once again…” I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that Father calls groaning,” (7). Christopher becomes overwhelmed by the questioning from the police officer and rolls into a ball on the lawn. Though social interaction can be troublesome for Christopher, he does converse regularly with a few other characters.
Christopher mainly interacts with his teacher Siobhan and his father. Both of these people have the ability to understand Christopher and his many quirks. Because of Christopher’s lack of social skills, his relationship with Siobhan was most certainly not easy for him to develop. “It takes me a long time to get used to people I don’t know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe” (Haddon 35). Being able to interact with strangers is one of Christopher’s biggest challenges. However, Christopher works to overcome this limitation when talking to strangers about the murder of Wellington.
I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his candid nature. Christopher is never afraid to say what is on his mind. He also makes it apparent that he is unable to tell lies. This helps the reader to know that the things he shares in the story are true.
Christopher Boone is a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome. He cannot imagine the thoughts and feelings of others. He is extremely gifted at mathematics and science but lacks a lot of social skills. Christopher enjoys animals, astronomy, prime numbers, and mystery novels, but dislikes talking to strangers. "Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them," (Haddon 12). Prime numbers, as he describes, are logical. He uses these to represent his life as he has a difficult time trying to understand people and their emotions. As he is trying to solve a murder mystery, through this, he is gaining independence and confidence. Attempting to socially interact helps improve his social skills, and it helps him grow and strengthen Christopher’s relationships.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this mystery novel, Christopher has created many different relationships with many different characters and has grown closer to his dad. Siobhan is the most understanding of Christopher’s needs and struggles. She is his teacher and helps teach him social behavior. She gives detailed explanations, which Christopher appreciated. His dad is very impulsive when it comes to protecting him but has a difficult time verbally expressing his feelings and often ends up bottling them up. This is why he occasionally blows up in anger. He greatly cares for Christopher but sometimes struggles as he does not always understand Christopher’s behavior. Christopher does not like to be touched, so they have to find different ways of communicating. "He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other," (Haddon 16). That was their way of communicating to say I love you. His disability helps hinder his ability to investigate from a unique point of view.
Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his inability to lie and an excellent memory. He remembers everything in exact detail and abhors lies. He does not understand them, because he believes that there is only one thing that happened at a particular time and place. He finds lying overwhelming and terrifying.
Catherine Goffard
Christopher Boone is an extremely logical person. He has Asperger Syndrome and a lot of likes and dislikes along with his rules for life. He likes the color red but does not like the colors yellow and brown. He has a liking towards math and prime numbers as well as geography. Christopher does not understand emotions very well and he often has to ask people what they mean or he uses a sheet of paper with faces on it as shown by him stating “But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people’s faces move very quickly”(Haddon 3). Christopher also dislikes when talking to strangers and when people touch him as shown when he states “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8).
ReplyDeleteDue to his personality, he struggles to have relationships with people. He depends on certain people such as his father and his therapist. He feels comfortable talking to these people. The fact that Christopher does not like when people are straight to the point and his desire for people to be truthful leads me to believe that he is a reliable narrator.
Hogan Anderson
Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy with Asperger’s syndrome. This prevents him from understanding that other people have thoughts and feelings, or if someone was being sarcastic or not. However, his condition has also made him exceed tremendously in science and math.
DeleteChristopher has may likes and dislikes that he tells the reader throughout the story as well. He likes dogs and murder mystery novels so that is why he is writing this novel in the first place. He does not like people yelling at him, so when Mrs. Shears comes running out of the house yelling at him, he covers his ears and hunches over onto the grass. He also does not like people touching him by stating “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him” (Haddon 8).
Christopher Boone was the first person to find Wellington the dog, skewered with a garden fork. Any child would be affected by that. Due to Christopher's Asperger's Syndrome he may be more affected than others "The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.” (Haddon, 1) He has difficulties understanding emotions and social situations. While some children are picky eaters Christopher can not have the foods on his plate touching. His dad knows this and also knows not to serve brown or yellow foods. Parents are usually the ones that can put up with their children the most and Christopher’s dad is no different. His parents may have struggled but when it came down to it his dad fought for him to be treated like any other child. "I am going to prove that I'm not stupid. Next month I'm going to take my A level in maths and I'm going to get an A grade." (Haddon, 44) He is a curious boy, he wants to travel to space and see things from a distance and be completely alone. Perhaps his need to discover the killer of Wellington is him trying to see the big picture without requiring a rocket ship. Or maybe he just likes dogs and is saddened by the fact that someone would kill one.
ReplyDeleteChristopher’s character comes out the most when he is not overthinking things. When he is just reacting instead. We saw his strong emotions and compassion when the policeman was bombarding him about the dog. Christopher was distressed and his thoughts became less analytical and more instinct. “I did not like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” (Haddon, 8) He has strong feelings that he isn’t always sure of how to express. When he gets overwhelmed and shuts down it’s not because he can’t feel emotions it’s because he doesn’t know how to handle them. But part of Christopher’s personality is his analytical nature. Mrs. Alexander quickly learned about Christopher’s habits and likes or dislikes. She put in effort to understand the things that he is interested in and why he is interested in them. “‘And the other thing I know about you is that your favorite color is not yellow.’” (Haddon, 56) She observed and tried to make Christopher more comfortable by talking about his pet or hobbies.
Unfortunately any story told by a person greatly younger than you will not be taken as seriously just due to their age. So often teenagers are stereotyped as these difficult, rude, hormonal, children who do not know anything about life simply because it is easier to disregard the fact that they have become real people. Clearly Christopher has developed into a real person, he knows what he likes and what he does not. He knows what he wants to be when he can start a career. And he knows that he wants to find the killer of Wellington. Christopher will get the benefit of the doubt because he has given no reason to think differently. Any narrator is reliable until proved otherwise.
Christopher Boone is a 15 year old child that appreciates complete order. Christopher has Asperger syndrome and can not stand being touched and is nervous around strangers. He does not like the colors yellow and brown and he does not understand jokes, sarcasm, or facial expressions. Christopher loves animals because he thinks that he understands them more than humans. This is shown in the beginning when he first finds the dead dog, “I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross, and concentration”(Haddon 7-8). This shows Christophers appreciation for simplicity and order. It is also shown how Christopher likes simplicity in order in his conversations with Siobhan
ReplyDeleteSiobhan is Christopher's personal teacher. She interacts with him daily at school and explains things to him that most people understand naturally. She draws pictures of different facial expressions for Christopher that he uses to understand what other people are feeling. Since he is not able to understand expressions or social cues he uses this to understand other people. When Christopher tells Siobhan this she explains to him that this makes people feel uncomfortable “When I told Siobhan that I was doing this, she got out a pencil and another piece of paper and said it made people feel very (uncomfortable)... So I tore the original piece of paper up and threw it away”(Haddon 3). This expresses how Christopher does not understand feelings and other people's thoughts.
I think this is a reliable source because of Chirstophers inability to lie. The notices every detail and does not hold back any information, no matter how unimportant it is. This is shown in his explanation of the items he has in his pocket when he is brought to the police station. He lists every item he has, and why he might have it which has nothing to do with the plot of the story. However this shows that he does not leave out any details whether it is important or not.
Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome. He is a very intelligent and picks up on patterns very easily. Christopher knows every country and their capitals, and he knows every prime number up to 7,057. He has some very interesting and strange characteristics. For example, he does not like colors brown and yellow, yet he loves the color red. He also has an issue with not wanting to be touched and becomes very uncomfortable. “I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that father calls groaning.” Christopher does not like it when people ask too many questions or ask questions too quickly. The police officers were indirect and Christopher could not handle all the repeating questions and lashed out when the police officer touched him.”
ReplyDeleteChrisopher has trouble connecting with other characters, however he can form certain bonds. For example, he really likes Siobhan because she knows how to talk to him and how to treat him. “Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this” Siobhan understands Christopher, and knows she must be direct and frank with him. She explains to Christopher other peoples’ emotions, and the faces they will make to react to things. His father also knows Christpher well and for the most part can handle him. He knows how to treat him, but got angry when Christopher was interviewing the neighbors and Mr. Boone told Christopher to stop. Christopher’s curiosity would not stop as he continued to talk to Mrs. Alexander, who helped him continue to investigate. She told Christopher about the affair his mother was having.
I think Christopher is a reliable narrator. Despite sometimes struggling to talk in a regular conversation form, he can speak very factually, and he speaks nothing but the truth. The way Christopher speaks makes it simple to understand. He speaks very clearly, and very direct and it is difficult to misinterpret the point he is trying to get across. As a reader knowing Christopher never lies makes it easy to trust them.
Hannah Bressers
ReplyDeleteChristopher is the main character that has Aspergers Syndrome. Accompanied by this disease, he has many things he does not like. Christopher does not like talking to people for a long time, being touched, small places, anything brown or yellow, smiling, when his food is touching each other; and the list goes on. He rather likes things to be in nice order, and unchanged. Christopher tends to be very blunt with people, and realizes his bluntness can sometimes come off as rude. He also has a very literal perspective of the world, and can not understand sarcasm or reading between the lines. For example, Christopher says, “I think it should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day and people do not have skeletons in their cupboard” (Haddon 15), when talking about Metaphors. He simply just cannot understand the purpose of them. This also demonstrates that he is a curious and determined individual.
Christopher lives with only his father. He and his father have what seems to be a solid relationship. When Christopher was in a jail cell for being accused of killing Wellington, his father came to the station very angry, only wanting to see his son. When he could finally see Christopher, “I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out like a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other” (Haddon 16). Christopher then explains that he and his father do this instead of hugging. He does not like to be touched, so it is a way that his father can show Christopher he loves him. Christopher also has a teacher at school named Siobahn that he seems to be close with. She is one of his teachers at school, who understands him and his language well.
I think that Christopher can be referred to as a reliable narrator. He is a very observant person, and seems to catch a lot of details. He describes things very well and candid. He also gives his honest opinions and will be frank with anyone. Although sometimes he can get off-topic, he shares all his thoughts on any topic or situation.
Christopher Boone is a boy with a particular skill set stemming from the fact that he has Asperger’s Syndrome. He likes the color red, but hates the colors brown and yellow.
ReplyDeleteChristopher does not really understand social interaction or emotions and says that it hurts when people touch him. Despite his condition, Christopher is extremely good at math and knows every prime number up to 7057. Cristopher likes order and logic, “I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.” Christopher likes prime numbers so much that he uses them to number his chapters in his book, that he is very proud of and shows to the important people in his life.
Christopher only has two main relationships in his life, his father and Siobhan. Cristopher lives with his father and they are very close; they even have their own way of expressing affection for each other. Siobhan is one of Christopher's teachers at school who is one of the only people who truly seems to understand him. She serves to mirror the questions that the reader has and allows the readers to hear Christopher’s responses to them “Siobhan asked whether Father had hit me and I said I didn’t know because I got very cross and it made my memory go strange.” We know that Christopher is giving his honest answers to all of these questions, as he says he is unable to lie.
I believe Christopher to be a reliable narrator. He has stated early on in the book that he cannot lie, and even if that is not the case, he has no reason to. Christopher never does anything that would be able to hurt him and he has nothing to cover up, so it would not be logical to lie and Christopher is very logical. To lie in his book would go against his character and would not make any sense. Jake Huss
George Kress
ReplyDeleteBlog One
Christopher Boone holds many unique character traits that many people may view as not normal. He has a condition called Asperger's Syndrome and this has put a hold on his life. A variety of unusual characteristics are linked to this disease which makes Christopher the way he is. Some things he likes are astronomy, the color red, murder mystery novels, and prime numbers/math. As Christopher said, “Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them( 12). Along with these, he dislikes even more. Some of his strong dislikes are the colors yellow and brown, when his food touches, being touched, and feeling stuck in small spaces with other people. Christopher also has a very difficult time understanding people and their emotions. He really cannot read emotions and lying does not make much sense to him. Interacting with new faces confuses him greatly and he also does not understand humor.
The two main people that Christopher holds a special relationship with are his dad and Siobhan. His dad is his go-to for almost everything. He knows and understands Christopher unlike anyone else. He did not have a very close relationship with his mom, and she had a difficult time keeping her patience when taking care of Christopher. Siobhan is one of Christopher’s teachers at school and is someone who he comes to if he has any new news that he does not want to tell his dad. He understands Christopher’s life and is someone he trusts just as much as his dad. For example, according to Haddon, "He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other ( 16).
I believe that Christopher is a reliable narrator because of his inability to tell a lie. He does not understand why people lie so he never does. Although he has a different perspective on most things in life, he is still a loyal son and friend. This proves that anything he says is the truth which is why he is a reliable narrator.