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.