To err is human. Although Homo sapiens prize themselves for being wise, logical creatures, humans have the universal trait of being flawed. It is the imperfections of an individual that makes him more human. The most intriguing characters in literature are not the “perfect” ones. Readers more often identify with a character whose defects mirror their own. For this reason, authors often show the complexity of human emotion through their characters’ flaws. Through his interpretation and display of human flaws and human emotions, Mark Haddon has captured two key elements of the delicate human psyche in his novel the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
Christopher John Francis Boone is not the typical protagonist: he is an autistic savant. He struggles to understand anything past the basic set of human emotions (happiness, sadness, and anger): a task most people would find intuitive. And yet he is a mathematical mastermind at the age of fifteen. Christopher can only see the world through logic and the formulas he created to rationalize life’s unpredictability. The use of Christopher is a unique way to portray a fundamentally human trait by emphasizing the fact that Christopher does not have it: the ability to communicate and understand emotion.
While it is not fair to say that Christopher is flawed, his autism is a handicap. Communication is difficult for him unless it is purely logical. He learns social norms and guidelines from his teacher Siobhan. Christopher claims that he “finds people confusing” (Haddon 14). He explains to the readers in the beginning of his narrative that Siobhan drew for him a set of faces expressing different emotions. He was only able to understand sad and happy faces: no others (Haddon 3). Because he does not have certain emotions, he cannot understand them. Through Christopher’s struggle, one can deduce just how vital the communication of different emotions is between people.
The rational Christopher acts as a foil to his emotional father Ed Boone. Through Christopher’s investigation a darker history of Ed and his mother Judy Boone is revealed. The readers learn that Ed is very sensitive. He reacts strongly to stressful and complicated situations, usually in the form of anger, violence, or irrational actions. For example, when Christopher’s mother left him, Ed lied to his son for years, claiming that she had died of a heart attack at the age of 38. When Christopher learns of the lie, he looses all trust in father, causing him mental and physical pain. Some of the most moving parts of the novel are the scenes in which Ed tries to regain the trust of his son. Ed, a compassionate, caring father, epitomizes the most potent human trait: the ability to love.
Of course, Christopher also has many fundamentally human traits. Two of his most prominent are his curiosity and ability to dream. His desire to discover Wellington’s murderer was the catalyst for his amazing adventure. Christopher’s final words in the novel are, “And I know I can do this [become a scientist] because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? And I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything” (Haddon 221). One of the most fascinating aspects of humanity is our imagination and willingness to go beyond reality and into the realm of possibility. In reality, we are flawed. But there is always the prospect of change.
(580)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A Little Information About Me
Dear Mr. Coon,
This was a fun way for me to think about my personality as a reader and writer. So because I am probably going to exceed the word count, I’m going to make the introduction very short.
I will start off with what I like to read. I’m an avid reader of magazines. Reading quick, witty, and informative articles is one of my favorite ways of relaxing while simultaneously learning. I enjoy reading Smithsonian, Popular Science, Discover, and Time. I browse the internet, reading articles on whatever I happen to fancy at that moment. For example, this week I have been researching the praying mantis. I also love poetry. Like the praying mantis, poetry may appear plain and simple to the unobservant eye; but to those who look closer, there is so much beauty to uncover. I enjoy strange, modern works like William Carlos William’s “This is Just to Say.” But my favorite poet is Stephen Crane, whose subject matter is often more philosophical. Of course, I love the classics of Tennyson and Robert Frost as well. Lastly, novels are my favorite form of literature. I think that they offer more material for a hungry mind. I read mystery and thriller novels for fun. But my favorite novels are The Picture of Dorian Grey and Frankenstein.
The qualities I look for in anything that I am reading are a clever wit, interesting situations, knowledge, vivid descriptions, something thought provoking, and hopefully a pun or two. I love literature that paints a scene with words. Being an artist and musician, I am always on the look out for the aesthetics in literature. Lines of poetry from the Bard like, “Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle's compass come,” resonate nicely in my ears and remain in my memory. Something quirky that I love is etymology, the history of words. Something I discovered was that character Hester Prynne’s name comes directly from hysteria, originally meaning “of the womb”, and phryne, meaning prostitute. I like symbols and clues hidden within a text that blend in, yet upon deeper introspection are blaringly conspicuous. I dislike emotional rants and I have a hard time reading a book if I do not like the narrator or main character. (I really hated Holden Caulfield, but he grew on me towards the end of The Catcher in the Rye)
A huge change in my reading habits occurred last year in Mr. Thommen’s class. We spent weeks learning about different types of criticism. It taught me that a single work can be read and interpreted through many varying view points. I now try to look at literature from as many angles as I can.
Since this is already past 400 words, I am going to make the rest of this quick. I read as often as I can. I don’t usually have a lot of time for long novels during the school year. But over summer break I plow through the stack of books that I have accumulated through the year. I read articles and poetry whenever I have the free time and even do so with my friends. I honestly read to learn and to just explore things that I have not experienced in my life so far. I read because I love new perspectives on things and because I love a good story.
I don’t write on a regular basis, but when I do it is usually in the form of poetry. I love attempting to capture a single image, emotion, or concept in a few short, nicely written lines. I always have poetry concepts running through my mind; but when it comes to composing a piece, it takes time. My greatest writing achievements have been works of poetry and research papers that I have done at PCDS. My favorite paper is on the history of peanuts (a.k.a. the goober pea) in America, which I wrote for Mr. Martin last year.
I think that writing is one of humanities greatest creations. The ability to symbolize thought into a universal code and stretch the boundaries of reality and imagination is fascinating. Writing to me is a form of communication and recording of thoughts of events. I also love persuasive essays.
Lastly, here are my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I am a horrible speller and I tend to phrase things in complicated ways. A strength of mine is that I write well under pressure and can think of ideas in a stressful situation. But after years of writing research papers, I now have a hard time just writing for fun. Writing dialogue is also very difficult for me. I enjoy writing, but it is not one of my past times. However, I always carry around a notebook so I can write down any ideas that pop into my mind.
So although this letter was long, I hope it gave you a good idea of who I am as a reader and writer right now. I hope to improve my reading and analyzing skills this year as well as read some interesting literature.
Sincerely,
Deepa Rao
(856)
This was a fun way for me to think about my personality as a reader and writer. So because I am probably going to exceed the word count, I’m going to make the introduction very short.
I will start off with what I like to read. I’m an avid reader of magazines. Reading quick, witty, and informative articles is one of my favorite ways of relaxing while simultaneously learning. I enjoy reading Smithsonian, Popular Science, Discover, and Time. I browse the internet, reading articles on whatever I happen to fancy at that moment. For example, this week I have been researching the praying mantis. I also love poetry. Like the praying mantis, poetry may appear plain and simple to the unobservant eye; but to those who look closer, there is so much beauty to uncover. I enjoy strange, modern works like William Carlos William’s “This is Just to Say.” But my favorite poet is Stephen Crane, whose subject matter is often more philosophical. Of course, I love the classics of Tennyson and Robert Frost as well. Lastly, novels are my favorite form of literature. I think that they offer more material for a hungry mind. I read mystery and thriller novels for fun. But my favorite novels are The Picture of Dorian Grey and Frankenstein.
The qualities I look for in anything that I am reading are a clever wit, interesting situations, knowledge, vivid descriptions, something thought provoking, and hopefully a pun or two. I love literature that paints a scene with words. Being an artist and musician, I am always on the look out for the aesthetics in literature. Lines of poetry from the Bard like, “Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle's compass come,” resonate nicely in my ears and remain in my memory. Something quirky that I love is etymology, the history of words. Something I discovered was that character Hester Prynne’s name comes directly from hysteria, originally meaning “of the womb”, and phryne, meaning prostitute. I like symbols and clues hidden within a text that blend in, yet upon deeper introspection are blaringly conspicuous. I dislike emotional rants and I have a hard time reading a book if I do not like the narrator or main character. (I really hated Holden Caulfield, but he grew on me towards the end of The Catcher in the Rye)
A huge change in my reading habits occurred last year in Mr. Thommen’s class. We spent weeks learning about different types of criticism. It taught me that a single work can be read and interpreted through many varying view points. I now try to look at literature from as many angles as I can.
Since this is already past 400 words, I am going to make the rest of this quick. I read as often as I can. I don’t usually have a lot of time for long novels during the school year. But over summer break I plow through the stack of books that I have accumulated through the year. I read articles and poetry whenever I have the free time and even do so with my friends. I honestly read to learn and to just explore things that I have not experienced in my life so far. I read because I love new perspectives on things and because I love a good story.
I don’t write on a regular basis, but when I do it is usually in the form of poetry. I love attempting to capture a single image, emotion, or concept in a few short, nicely written lines. I always have poetry concepts running through my mind; but when it comes to composing a piece, it takes time. My greatest writing achievements have been works of poetry and research papers that I have done at PCDS. My favorite paper is on the history of peanuts (a.k.a. the goober pea) in America, which I wrote for Mr. Martin last year.
I think that writing is one of humanities greatest creations. The ability to symbolize thought into a universal code and stretch the boundaries of reality and imagination is fascinating. Writing to me is a form of communication and recording of thoughts of events. I also love persuasive essays.
Lastly, here are my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I am a horrible speller and I tend to phrase things in complicated ways. A strength of mine is that I write well under pressure and can think of ideas in a stressful situation. But after years of writing research papers, I now have a hard time just writing for fun. Writing dialogue is also very difficult for me. I enjoy writing, but it is not one of my past times. However, I always carry around a notebook so I can write down any ideas that pop into my mind.
So although this letter was long, I hope it gave you a good idea of who I am as a reader and writer right now. I hope to improve my reading and analyzing skills this year as well as read some interesting literature.
Sincerely,
Deepa Rao
(856)
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