The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime themes

Thesis and Annotated Bibliography

Thesis Statement

A good author knows how to captivate their audience and present their main ideas in the most effective manner. Mark Haddon is one of the most successful fiction writers especially due to his bestselling novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.” The story revolves around the life of Christopher Boone who is not only the main character in the novel but also the narrator. The novel portrays Mark Haddon’s prowess as an author who can effectively utilize various literary elements and techniques to create an intriguing story. Capturing how characters change and evolve from one state to the other is very important for character development in narratives. As such, the appropriate literary techniques must be utilized to portray character development hence bring out the themes covered in the plot. In “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” Haddon has effectively presented the social constructs and perception through the main character’s behavior traits. In the novel, Christopher Boone is an autistic teenager who overcomes all odds to achieve his goals. This paper critically evaluates how Mark Haddon utilizes various techniques to develop characters in the novel as well as the point of view used and its relevance. To do so, several sources of information have been identified to facilitate the study. Based on the events that happen in Mark Haddon's novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” it is justified to say that literary techniques and elements such as the narrator's point of view are very effective to create memorable characters that are relatable in real life.

Annotated Bibliography

Article 1

Orlando, M. (2018). Neurodiverse Self-Discovery and Social Acceptance in Curious Incident and Marcelo in the Real World. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 12(3), 321-335. https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=765a093d-6a2f-46e5-8c63-11930ac0691f%40sdc-v-sessmgr03

This article covers the aspects of neurodiversity that are portrayed by Christopher Boone in the novel. The author of this article looks into the aspects of neurodiversity portrayed by the characters in Mark Haddon’s novel compared to the main character in a different novel. As per the novel, Christopher has an autistic condition that limits his abilities to some extent. According to the author of this article, Christopher's character in the novel is used symbolically to present many autistic people who struggle to cope in a neuro-typical society. The author of this article brings out the perspective of the narrator's point of view to explain how it is used to communicate the themes to the readers. This article highlights that Christopher’s character has been developed to encourage persons living with various disabilities that their conditions cannot limit their success if they are determined to achieve their goals in life. Authors often utilize various literary techniques to effectively deliver a message to readers. For instance, the author of this article points out that the narrator’s tone in the novel gradually changes to evoke different emotions among readers.

The main reason why I selected this article is that it brings out the utilization of the narrator's tone as a literary technique to captivate and influence readers. Furthermore, the author compared the application of literal techniques used in two different novels hence this article serves as a perfect guide for me to understand the techniques used in Mark Haddon’s novel.

Article 2

Resene, M. (2016). A" Curious Incident": Representations of Autism in Children's Detective Fiction. The Lion and the Unicorn, 40(1), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1353/uni.2016.0000

This article explores several modern theories that relate to autism. The author of the article then links the characters in the novel to specific theories on autism developed in recent years. In this article, two novels that are based on autistic characters are reviewed and evaluated critically to ascertain the appropriateness of the techniques used by the authors. According to Resene (2018), Haddon's perspective in the novel supports the existing stereotypes about autistic people in the modern-day society. This article highlights that Mark Haddon's decision to limit the main character's ability is a literal technique to ensure that the plot of the story is consistent with certain social expectations. The author of this article notes that Christopher's ability to resolve the crime he was investigating was deliberately limited by his creator in the novel. This article also covers the literary techniques of characterization and conflict as used by Mark Haddon in his novel.

The main reason why I selected this article for my research is that it provides meaningful insights into the technique of characterization and how this technique is used to develop characters in a novel. Also, the author of this article is an experienced English Literature analyst at the University of Connecticut thus the article can be considered as a reliable source of information.

Article 3

Ray, S. J. (2013). “Normalcy, Knowledge, and Nature in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Disability Studies Quarterly, 33(3), 11. https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v33i3.3233

This article mainly covers social constructs and perceptions about disability as per Christopher's experiences in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." According to the author of this article, Mark Haddon has not specified Christopher's disability in the article but rather has created an opportunity for the reader to make their judgment. According to Ray (2013), omitting such details in a narrative is a style used by authors to evoke critical thinking among readers. The author of this article points out that Mark Haddon uses direct and indirect characterization to portray the characters in the novel. This article is based on theories on disability and autism as well as theories on ecocriticism to portray how society views disabled persons. Also, the author of this article evaluates a disabled person's worldview based on Christopher's character in Mark Haddon's novel. Based on the events that happen from the beginning to the end of the novel, the author of this article concludes that Mark Haddon utilizes allegory as a literary technique to bring the real social problems concerning disability. The argument presented in this article captures the idea of character development to support major themes in a novel using various literary techniques. Also, this article highlights that the novel is based on Christopher's point of view rather than focusing on describing him to the reader.

I selected this article because it captures several literary techniques such as point of view and allegory, therefore, the information presented in this article is appropriate to support my argument about Mark Haddon’s use of literary techniques to create memorable characters.

Article 4

Muhammad, F., & Pardi, P. (2020). LIE IN MARK HADDON’S NOVEL THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME. JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, 2(1), 52-61. https://jurnal.uisu.ac.id/index.php/journaloflanguage/article/view/2490/pdf

This research article documents the different types of lies used in Mark Haddon's novel, specifically the lies told to or by the main character. As such, the authors of this article bring out the creation and use of conflict as a literary technique to captivate the readers. Muhammad and Pardi (2020) look into the behavior traits of Christopher and compare the character to a "normal" teenager's mind in real life. This article highlights how Mark Haddon has utilized irony as a literary element to support the main themes in his novel. As per this article, the main character in the novel finds it difficult to communicate and interact with people in society. However, the same socially challenged character is capable of resolving a mystery that is too complex to be solved by "normal" people who are considered to be better in society. The narrator's point of view is yet another aspect of the narrative that is covered in this article. According to the authors of this article, Mark Haddon's decision to employ a first-person narrator in the novel is a strategy or rather a technique to bring out the narrator's point of view. This article highlights that by granting the narrator the power to present their point of view, the author of the novel has effectively managed to place the characters in the real lives of the readers.

I selected this article because it focuses on a unique perspective of Mark Haddon’s character development in the sense that the Christopher is given unimaginable traits such as lying; society rarely expects an autistic person will lie about anything.

Article 5

Hollertz, J. (2019). Diversity is best: A literary analysis of how Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” may promote understanding and awareness towards the social construct of neurodiversity. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1319438/FULLTEXT03

This article investigates the various literary techniques employed by Mark Haddon to create various characters in the novel. According to the authors of this article, allegory is the first element utilized in the novel. The article points out that Christopher's character is specifically created by Mark Haddon to bring out the theme of neurodiversity in modern-day society. The author of this article further explains that an allegory is a literary element used to present the social problems facing today's society in a fictional manner. This article suggests that the novel was intended to evoke critical thinking about disability studies and the socially constructed definitions of disability that have a negative impact on the real world. Another aspect covered in this article concerns the use of first-person narration in the novel. The author of this article highlights that first-person narration is a technique used to bring out the narrator's point of view rather than present the character within a story. Also, this article suggests that the point of view used in the novel is meant to promote an understanding of the challenges faced by disabled persons as a result of socially constructed stereotypes about them.

The main reason for selecting this article is that it highlights the importance of the narrator's point of view as used in Mark Haddon's novel. As such, this article serves as a reliable source of information that can be used to support my thesis statement.