the incident of the curious dog in the nighttime

For example, Ed lies to Christopher about Judy’s death because he can’t handle his own emotions about the situation, and doesn’t want to hurt Christopher by telling him his mother left him. He also struggles to understand when people around him act based on their emotions, rather than based on logic. He expresses most negative emotions by groaning or hitting people. He rarely narrates what he’s feeling in a given situation beyond being happy or being overwhelmed and confused. For him, logic is the path to truth.Ĭhristopher expresses his emotions in a limited way. Whenever Christopher feels overwhelmed by the world around him, he turns to logic for help to understand it and to reason out his next steps. While many people might relate to this perspective, it is especially applicable to Christopher’s situation, since he struggles to understand the unspoken social rules that most people don’t have to think about.

He thinks that prime numbers are similar to life in that their existence is based on logic, but it’s impossible to find rules to define them. He particularly likes prime numbers, and even uses them to number his chapters-a decision that might seem illogical to other people, since chapter five, for example, is actually the third chapter. Like Holmes, Christopher thinks that all odd happenings can be illuminated through use of logic, and Christopher takes this approach in his investigation of Wellington’s death.Ĭhristopher loves math in part because it’s logical. Furthermore, Holmes doesn’t believe in supernatural explanations for odd happenings. He tries to be like the detective Sherlock Holmes, because Holmes approaches mysteries from a logical perspective and seeks an explainable truth. Rather than sensing that someone is sad because of the tone of their voice, he often only perceives this emotion when the person starts crying and he can see physical evidence of their sadness.Ĭhristopher best understands situations that he can explain logically rather than emotionally. Christopher, who is probably on the autism spectrum, struggles in interactions that depend on emotion or personality.

The incident of the curious dog in the nighttime