The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a 2003 novel by English author Mark Haddon. The novel is common assigned reading for high school students. It earned a spot on bestseller lists and has been well-received/reviewed by the public at large…but not autism/disability advocates.
Our protagonist and narrator is 15-year-old Christopher Boone, living in Swindon, England alone with his father, Ed. Christopher is never explicitly identified as autistic, and the author claims he wasn’t written to be tied with a specific condition, but he matches many of the hallmarks or stereotypes of autism and as such is often described as an autistic character. Because of this, I’m going to write about it as if Christopher is autistic.
Much of the novel is a stream of consciousness about Christopher’s thoughts and perceptions, but there is also a plot: One night, Christopher discovers his neighbor’s dog dead in the yard, paled with a garden fork. He starts an informal investigation to find out who killed the dog. In so doing, he uncovers more information about himself and his past that sends him on new adventures.
To put it simply, I don’t like this book. The main reason being that the portrayal of autism is very stereotypical, and I’ll flesh that out in a moment. But, to be fair to the author, this novel was released before understanding of the complexity of the condition was widely understood, so chances are he just didn’t know any better. But that also means I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for a balanced and nuanced depiction of an autistic person.
As a character, Christopher fits into all the stereotypical autistic boxes. White male. Literal-minded and doesn’t know figurative speech. Interested in math and science, to the point that chapters are numbered as prime numbers (like, really?). Finds abstract concepts, like God and imagination, difficult. Humorless. A pattern for life that is totally rigid down to the exact details. Christopher’s thoughts read more like what a neurotypical thinks an autistic thinks, than how they really think. Besides that, Christopher is deeply disturbed. He carries around a Swiss Army Knife, and it’s anyone’s guess why his father allows him to do that. He occasionally makes threats and in my opinion, is shown to be not merely aloof and quirky but lacking in a lot of positive qualities like kindness and empathy and generosity. At best, plodding through his thoughts is taxing and annoying, but at worst he’s not only asocial, but anti-social.
Then, there’s his parents. Autistic people in fiction always seem to have bad parents, whether they’re good people bad at parenting or dysfunctional all around. Either way, the commonality is parents who have no idea how to grapple with this strange child they’ve been saddled with, and these parents are no exception. Their son tore them apart, the source of frustration for his parents’ marriage. I feel like this sends the message that not only is autism a tragedy for the person, but it is a tragedy for their parents who were expecting a normal, predictable child.
What I found in this novel is a portrayal of autism (or whatever the author had in mind) as not only stereotypical, but unsympathetic. I was not compelled by the characters, though I was compelled a little by the adventure plotline, but overall unimpressed and dissatisfied with this novel. If you’re looking for a foray into the mind and thought processes of an autistic, I would suggest looking for books and articles written by people who actually have autism.
Autism accuracy: 1/5 Writing: 2.5/5 Cringe factor: 5/5 Overall rating: 1.5/5