The Curious Incident - Analysis

Chapter 179 of 'The Curious Incident' has many interesting aspects such as the way that Christopher writes his story. Because of Christophers disability it is hard for him to do certain things for example I believe he struggles to write correctly as he continues many of his sentences with 'and'. This, along with a lack of description, are certainly things that a child would do in their own work so although Christopher is fifteen, with some tasks he seems to have the mental capacity of a child. However, this is not to say that Christopher is stupid, infact he is extremely intelligent which is why he may struggle with what he could consider trivial things such as english rather then his obviously prefered subject maths.
I find it very interesting how Christopher uses diagrams to try and inform the reader of what he is thinking, it is possible he uses diagrams simply because it is what he feels he should do as he sees them in his own mind at the time, but it could also be possible that he uses them as he doesn't think that we would be able to understand his complex mind otherwise.
It is strange that although Christopher has loved and trusted his father his whole life, as soon as the first dilemma shows up he automatically does not trust his father anymore and treats him like a completely different person, living in the moment. For example, although he has been with his dad his whole life and should know that he would never intentionally hurt him, he ignores that and believes almost instinctively that his own father would happily murder him. This just helps to show me the kind of character that Christopher has and the kind of characteristics that his disability gives him.

My Opinions On The Curious Incident

One of the many things I like about 'The Curious Incident' is how we as the reader get to experience Christophers journey with him and therefore get to see and understand more clearly how a person with his condition reacts and behaves in certain situations.
I personally have never met anyone with Asperger's Syndrome so I find it very interesting to read. For example, when Christopher is waiting on the platform to head to London various incidents happen that I find fairly amusing. Such as, when a man approaches Chris asking him if he is lost, Christopher retaliates by withdrawing a swiss army knife from his pocket. Obviously, if a person not suffering from Asperger's was confronted with this situation they would not react this way but Christopher does not understand that what he is doing it wrong and interpret's the way the man responds, by holding his hands up and retreating in fear, as him offering a gesture of love 'just as mother and father did'. I like how Mark Haddon uses pathos in these situations, I find it amusing yet sad at the same time because Chris doesnt understand things easily so I inevitably feel sorry for him.
There is another part of the story were Chris is placed in a similair situation on page 200. He is on the train but needs to 'wee' however Christopher isn't aware that there are toilets on a train and accidently 'leaked a bit and wet my trousers'. Again this is using pathos as although it is humorous, like when he talks about 'poo', I feel sympathetic because it would be embarasing to wet yourself in public. I find it interesting to read about because Christopher seems unfased by the whole ordeal.

How far can we say that the play is a tragedy?

The play 'All my sons' is a tragedy in many different ways. For example, there is already a death prior to the actual play just like the tragedy 'Hamlet'. The king is dead in Hamlet, Larry is dead in All My Sons. Also it seems that the dead are what cause a sort of ripple effect or many other tragic incidents that are in motion after their demise.
Another reason why the play could be considered as a tragedy is because there is always a need to place blame. In various scenarious many different characters a blamed for certain incidents. For example, Joe is blamed for the death of many, Kate is blamed for the dwelling sorrow over Larry's death as she can't let go and Chris is blamed for bringing Anne back along with the unfortuante news she bares.
Some could say it is a tragedy for its many similarities to other famous tragic plays. As mentioned before one similarity is that the 'ghost' of Larry can be blamed for what could be called the start of the story just like the ghost of the king in Hamlet. It is also very much like other plays as it includes suicide, which in itself is very tragic. Joe inevitably takes his own life just as Ophelia of Hamlet takes hers and Romeo and Juliet take theirs.
There doesnt seem to be an obvious bad guy in the play, Joe or Larry? just like the audience are not sure who to blame in the play 'Romeo and Juliet', the Capulets or the Montigues? Romeo or Juliet?

All My Sons

Part 1:



In act one of 'All my sons', we are introduced to the main cast. My first interpretation of Joe Keller is that he is a tired old but fun humourus old man. He seems to get on well with everybody especially the kids such as Bert.


Kate Keller seems to hold quite a sympathetic aura around her. She is still in denial that her son, Larry died in the war. It is unbeknown to the reader as to why she is so against the fact that her son has died even though the rest of the cast have excepted his death.


Chris, Kate and Joe's other son, seems to be quite a down to earth guy. He thinks logically and although I expect he loved his brother very much, he knows that his brother would not want him or his previous girlfriend Anne, to go on living miserably when they could have each other in bliss. He finds it hard to get on with his parents because they are so 'practical'.



Anne seems to be quite a misunderstood character. She is stuck between the decision of grieving over her lost love or moving on with the man she loves which coincidently happens to be Larry's brother Chris.
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Neutral Tones

I think that this poem is about a couple that are together even though their love has died.

As many of Hardy's other poems tend to be, this poem is also fairly depressing. The atmosphere the poem dwells in is very gloomy and the language used only enhances this mood. For example, vocabulary such as 'bitterness', 'deadest' and 'decieves' are all very powerful negative words. They are all used to connote with a bad situation which makes the situation the poems characters are placed in seem all the more dreadfull.

'The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing, alive enough to have strength to die' is a line from stanza three that really stands out to me. The words used a very contrasting to each other, for instance a 'smile' is something that you do when you are happy or being welcoming and friendly, however this smile is described as being 'the deadest thing'. Not only does this mean that there are various other things that are 'dead' about this character but out of all of them their smile is the 'deadest' which adds a very strong impact and intensness to this smile. The two charcters described must really not like each other anymore if they can't even bare to bring a simple smile to their faces and mean it.

Hardy also describes the smile as being 'alive enough to have strength to die' which is a very ironic and morbid way to describe something. Since 'alive' and 'die' are the exact opposite to each other it pinpoints this part of the poem so it stands out and ,again, adds more bitterness to the emotion or rather lack of.

The Darkling Thrush

I think that basically this poem is about someone experiencing the end or 'death' of the year and beginning or 'birth' of a new one.

As it is the end of the year, the weather is obviously very wintery and cold. Everything is described to be quite bland and dull, this is proberly to do with the fact that the year has 'died' and so has everything to do with it. Hardy has used strong negative and quite depressing words such as 'haunted', 'corpse, and 'desolate' to describe the year's settings. It makes the poem seem more depressing and is a way of using personification to make the year sound as though a person has died rather than just an age. As well as using personification to describe the death of the year he also uses capital letters at the beginning of the words 'Winter' and 'Frost'. It is as if he is addressing a person as opposed to just describing the weather.

Everything seems to be rather bleak until the third stanza where the Drakling thrush enters. Hardy describes it's entry as 'a voice arose among the bleak twigs overhead...' It is described this way to make it seem like a small ray of hope has emerged amongst the dread. Rather than just stating that he could hear the bird singing, it had a grand entrance to make it seem more important, especially since it 'arose', almost god-like, over the 'bleak twigs' which doesn't sound very appealing becuase the word bleak is usually used to describe something dim and dank or when someone's future looks 'bleak' meaning that it doesn't look like they will have a good one.

After Hardy gets the reader feeling remorse for the dying year he then lightens your spirits by using more appealing vocabulary such as 'Ecstatic' and 'blessed' almost to try and get you prepared and excited about the new year instead of continually mourning the previous one.

The Going

As usualy Hardy sticks to the depressing mood of a poem. I enjoy this poem as it gives me a very stong feel of what the narrator is feeling. I think that the poem is about someone who's lover has left them alone in life, whether death is the reason they have dissapeared or simply as they have left by choice is unknown but I personally think that it is by choice they are gone.

I think this because the narrator seems to have a very bitter energy towards the departed one. If they had died they surely would not blame them for their departure They are not only upset that their lover has left them but even more so because they cannot carry on with life as they continue to believe that they see their lovers face in various places and can't believe that some one they held so dear to them would hurt them so bad. This is proven when they say 'why do you make me leave the house and think for a breath that it is you I see?' and 'not even I - would undo me so!' If someone is feeling undone it is almost as if they have lost themselves because they have come 'undone' and if they leave and constanly thinks that they see their love they must have been truly infatuated which can only meen that the heart ache would hurt that much more.
I think that Hardy has written the poem this way on purpose so that we feel very sympathetic for the character. The person who left may be unaware how strongly the narrator felt for them but it is clear to us how storngly it was. If any one that has read this poem has gone through a similar situation then they will definately be able to sympathise and even if you havn't it is evident, judging by the narrators response, how painfull and upsetting it would be. These are some good examples as to why I not only enjoy this poem but why I think it delivers such a strong emotional impact