Dear Mr.

Girba:

In this letter, I will be discussing the main theme of the novel and symbols that appear in pages 52-153 of
the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. At this point in the plot,
Christopher studies for his math A-levels at school and continues to write his book, which gets
confiscated by his father. While searching for the book, he uncovers that 1. his mother (who his father
told was dead) is alive, 2. She had an affair with Mr. Shears and his father had an affair with Mrs. Shears
afterwards, and 3. His father was the one who killed Wellington. Scared to be around his father, he runs
away to find his mother in London on a journey that challenges his social skills.

In the novel, there are many themes, but one that is apparent is that everyone shares the desire to be
understood and accepted, even if we cant fully relate to what people are trying to convey.Many people in
Christophers life cannot understand or relate to the way he feels or sees life because he is portrayed to
have a type of mental disability, so he thinks differently from everyone around him. For example, he
speaks of a dream he has that makes him happy, saying, And eventually there is no one left in the world
except people all special people like me. And they like being on their own ... And I can go anywhere in
the world and I know that no one is going to talk to me or touch me or ask me a question. But if I don't
want to go anywhere I don't have to, (Haddon 137). This means that in his dream, he lives in a world
where theres no one but people like him, which allows him to live freely and not be constricted by people
who question his actions. This is significant to the theme because it symbolizes Christophers feelings of
frustration and isolation that people cant understand him. Another example occurs in a conversation
between Christopher and his mother: And when Mother came into the spare room before I went to sleep
I said, "I have to go to Swindon to take my A level." And she said, "Christopher, not now... It's not a good
time." And I said, "But I have to go because it's been arranged and the Reverend Peters is going to
invigilate." And she said, "Look. It's only an exam. I can ring the school. We can get it postponed. You
can take it some other time." And I said, "I can't take it another time. It's been arranged. And I've done
lots of revision. And Mrs. Gascoyne said we could use a room at school." And Mother said, "Christopher,
I am just about holding this together. But I am this close to losing it, all right? So just give me some --" ...
And I started feeling a pain in my chest because I thought I wasn't going to be able to go back to
Swindon and take my A level, (Haddon 142). This conversation demonstrates that things that are deemed
important to Christopher arent important to others, even his own mother. This is important to show that
many people cant reason and understand Christopher, but also that Christopher also cant comprehend
the other side of situations.

There are many symbols in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but often reoccurring
ones are Christophers use of logic and math problems. He uses logic and math problems to explain his
reasoning when he encounters situations that can be confusing to him. For example, he uses the Monty
Hall Problem to explain something Mr. Jeavons had said: So if you change, 2 times out of 3 you get a
car. And if you stick, you only get a car 1 time out of 3. And this shows that intuition can sometimes get
things wrong. And intuition is what people use in life to make decisions. But logic can help you work out
the right answer. It also shows that Mr. Jeavons was wrong and numbers are sometimes very complicated
and not very straightforward at all. And that is why I like The Monty Hall Problem, (Haddon 49). On the
train to London, he becomes stressed and unable to focus, so he concentrates by visualizing a math
problem: And then I tried to think about what I had to do, but I couldn't think because there were too
many other things in my head, so I did a maths problem to make my head clearer. And the maths problem
that I did was called Conway's Soldiers. And in Conway's Soldiers, (Haddon 101). Maths come up often
whenever Christopher wants to ignore the world around him and block out things that he doesnt wish to
acknowledge. Another is example is when he writes, And then I closed my eyes and did some more
maths puzzles so I didn't think about where I was going, (Haddon 115). All these symbols represent
Christophers views on life. He likes everything to be in order and logical, anything else bothers him. He
uses logic to try and explain things he cant comprehend. It is the only things that provides him a sense of
security in his world. It impacts the reader in the way that it helps you understand the way Christopher
thinks and reasons, having a mental disability. It reveals a whole new level on how his mindset works and
it creates a deeper connection between the reader and Christopher. I think the author chose to constantly
repeat the use of logical reasoning and mathematical problems to show that it truly is the only way
Christopher can bear to understand the world. He also used it to enforce how important math is to
Christopher, hence why he was so upset when he almost couldnt take his math A-levels.

To sum it up, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was an captivating and insightful book.
Although Christopher talks in a simplistic and direct way, there are so many layers of meaning to his
words that reveal what life is life living with a mental disability. Haddon creates a rich character that I
grew to love and understand. I highly recommend this read.