How_Does_Mark_Haddon_Use_the_First_Person_Narrative_in_the_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night_Time

Mark Haddon’s book the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is about a boy called Christopher Boone who has Asperger’s Syndrome and is looked after by his Father and his teacher Siobhan because his Mother ran away with Mr Shears from across the road. Christopher becomes a detective to find out who murdered Mrs Shears’ dog. He then finds out the truth about his mother and runs away from home to find her. All the time this is happening Christopher is writing a book and it is this book that we read, told from Christopher’s point of view. I will explain Mark Haddon’s use of writing in the first person narrative and the advantages and disadvantages of writing in this particular style. Finally I will say whether I think Mark Haddon used this method effectively or if he should have used the third person. I think Mark Haddon used first person narrator because Christopher is suffering from Asperger’s syndrome and he wanted to show people what it was like to see things the way Christopher did. He also might have chosen to tell the story from Christopher’s point of view because then he could get more into the character of Christopher and go into more detail about his personality and attitudes. The advantages of writing in the first person are that when someone reads the book, they generally feel more involved with what is going on and to connect with the characters more. It is easier to understand and sympathize with who they are reading about. They might start to find similarities between themselves and the characters they are reading about in the book. Reading a book in the first person helps you to see more of what the character’s is thinking and feeling. It makes it easier for readers to connect with the characters and feel part of the book they are reading. Readers can also The disadvantages of writing in the first person are that the writer is restricted to only explaining things from one character’s point of view and describe things the way that character would see them. It could get a bit repetitive and boring to read if you keep using “I did this” or “I did that” in each sentence. The writer would have to find another way of saying things while still keeping the story interesting for the reader. It is also harder to describe how the other different characters in the book are thinking and feeling, though Mark Haddon does show Mother’s emotions very well in the letters that she writes to Christopher. I think Mark Haddon’s use of the first person narrative was very effective because I found it really good to read the book from Christopher’s point of view and the way he put the maths puzzles and prime number chapter headings in to the book helped to emphasize the fact that Christopher likes maths and uses this as a way to make himself feel better when he has trouble understanding someone or something. It was quite unusual to read a book from the point of view of an Asperger’s person but I think it worked really well and made the story a lot more interesting. I do not think the book should have been written in the third person because then it would not have had the same impact on readers. I think it would have been very hard to describe Christopher’s character if Mark Haddon had used the third person.