Summary of the Novel
We read the award-winning novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" by Mark Haddon.
The story starts off seven minutes after midnight when the narrator, Christopher John Francis Boone, finds Wellington, the poodle belonging to Mrs. Shears, his neighbor, dead on Mrs. Shears's lawn with a garden fork through its side. He begins to wonders who killed Wellington, and for what reason.
Later on, Mrs. Shears appears on her patio and yells at Christopher to get away from her dog. Mrs. Shears does not stop, even when he puts the dog down. Two officers arrive at the crime scene and starts to question Christopher, seeming to implicate him in the murder. Christopher gets scared and angry and confused which resulted in him hitting the police officer. The officer arrests him for assault but Christopher is later, bailed out by his father and they leave. In the first few chapters we learn that Christopher recognizes his social limitations, and he focuses instead on the extraordinary intelligence he displays in other regards. In the car on the way home from the police station, Christopher's father warns him and advises him to not meddle into other people's business and tells him to stop investigating further into Wellington's case. But Christopher disobeys him and continues his search. In the course of Christopher’s investigation, he gets little useful information out of his neighbors, his analytical skills provide him with a key insight about who killed Wellington. He concludes logically that the murderer most likely knew Wellington beforehand and narrowed down the possibilities to Mr. Shears.
Because Mrs. Shears and Mr. Shears had an argument, Christopher believes that Mr. Shears might have decided to kill Wellington to make her sad. Christopher decides to find out more about Mr. Shears.
One day after school, he meets his neighbor Mrs. Alexander. They have a little chat and she later reveals to Christopher that Mr. Shears and his mother had an affair. With this on his mind, Christopher goes home and leaves the novel about the investigation on the counter. His father comes home and discovers this and gets angry and physically and verbally abuses Christopher. On the weekend, Ed,Christopher's father, takes him to the zoo as an apology and everything returns to as it was before.
The next day, after Christopher got back home from school, he looked for his novel in his father’s bedroom and discovers many letters addressed to him. All of the letters were in the same handwriting as his mother but as far as Christopher knows, his mother is dead because of an heart attack. But after reading many letters, he soon discovers that his father had lied about his mother being dead. Ed finds Christopher reading the letters and tells Christopher about the whole truth, including which he had killed Wellington.
After learning the truth about his mother and the dead dog Wellington, Christopher runs away from home to live with his mother because of the previous event revolving around his father. Christopher had found out the truth about his mother, that she is still alive and she lives with Mr. Shears. He also found out that Wellington was actually killed, murdered by his own father. Now feeling threatened, Christopher has decided to run away to live with his mother where he feels the safest at the moment. To get to London, where his mother lived, Christopher encountered many challenges such as talking to strangers to ask for directions and going to crowded, noisy place, places out of his comfort zone. When he got to the train station is interrupted by a policeman who asks why he has been sitting in the café in a trance for two and a half hours. Christopher tells him that he wants to go to London but does not have a ticket or money. Christopher explains that he has his ATM card that his father gave him to pay for the trip. The policeman escorts him to a cash machine, where Christopher withdraws fifty pounds. He pays for a ticket and pushes past people, finally reaching the train and boards. The policeman from earlier appears. He says Father is looking for Christopher and that he has come to take Christopher back to the station. But the train starts to move, so the policeman has to wait until the next stop. Before the train departs, the policeman from earlier catches him and informs him that his father is looking and waiting for him on the platform, but the train starts to move so they must get off at the next stop. As they travel, Christopher feels sick and wets his pants and the policeman orders Christopher to go to the bathroom and when he is done, he notices two selves that reminds him of home so he climbs onto the shelf and waits until the policeman leaves after knocking on the bathroom stalls.
The train continues traveling, and when the train stops again, Christopher leaves his hiding place. He sees a policeman in the next car and gets off the train. A man tells him a policeman is looking for him, but Christopher keeps on walking. He follows the sign that reads “Information” to a small shop and asks if he is in London. The shopkeeper says he is. When he asks the way to Mother’s address she tells him to take the subway to Willesden Junction or Willesden Green, and points him in the right direction. So Christopher packs up his courage and buys a subway ticket, then follows the signs to his platform. People begin to fill the station and Christopher starts to feel very sick and sits paralyzed on the bench wishing he was at home. After a few stops, Christopher gets off and walks all the way to his mother’s house. There he sits outside and waits for his mother. His mother invites him inside and makes him take a bath. After a bit, police officers appear at the apartment footsteps and they question Christopher about why he ran away and who he wanted to stay with. Scared of his father, Christopher responds that he wants to stay with his mother. Later that night, his father arrives and the two parents quarrel. Frustrated, Mr. Shears calls the police and they take Ed away.
But bringing Christopher was a threat to Judy and Mr. Shear’s relationship. Judy and Christopher leaves the day after Christopher arrives, because she is afraid Mr. Shears might hurt them so she decided that they should live with his father for a bit. Back in Swindon, his parents quarrel a bit about Judy crashing into his house. Christopher also gets to take his Level-A math test but later, his father makes his mother move out so she and Christopher moved into a small apartment with a shared bathroom. He isn't allowed to be home alone, so when his mother is at work he has to go to his dad's house. When he's there, he locks himself into his room and refuses to speak to his father. Their relationship gets better and his father also buys him a golden retriever to prove to him that he would never do anything to hurt him.
The story ends off telling us that we can do anything we put our minds into. As Christopher says, “ And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything” (Haddon 221). Despite his disability, Christopher proved to the world that he can accomplish his goals. That he can do anything. And, so can we - as long as we believe.
The story starts off seven minutes after midnight when the narrator, Christopher John Francis Boone, finds Wellington, the poodle belonging to Mrs. Shears, his neighbor, dead on Mrs. Shears's lawn with a garden fork through its side. He begins to wonders who killed Wellington, and for what reason.
Later on, Mrs. Shears appears on her patio and yells at Christopher to get away from her dog. Mrs. Shears does not stop, even when he puts the dog down. Two officers arrive at the crime scene and starts to question Christopher, seeming to implicate him in the murder. Christopher gets scared and angry and confused which resulted in him hitting the police officer. The officer arrests him for assault but Christopher is later, bailed out by his father and they leave. In the first few chapters we learn that Christopher recognizes his social limitations, and he focuses instead on the extraordinary intelligence he displays in other regards. In the car on the way home from the police station, Christopher's father warns him and advises him to not meddle into other people's business and tells him to stop investigating further into Wellington's case. But Christopher disobeys him and continues his search. In the course of Christopher’s investigation, he gets little useful information out of his neighbors, his analytical skills provide him with a key insight about who killed Wellington. He concludes logically that the murderer most likely knew Wellington beforehand and narrowed down the possibilities to Mr. Shears.
Because Mrs. Shears and Mr. Shears had an argument, Christopher believes that Mr. Shears might have decided to kill Wellington to make her sad. Christopher decides to find out more about Mr. Shears.
One day after school, he meets his neighbor Mrs. Alexander. They have a little chat and she later reveals to Christopher that Mr. Shears and his mother had an affair. With this on his mind, Christopher goes home and leaves the novel about the investigation on the counter. His father comes home and discovers this and gets angry and physically and verbally abuses Christopher. On the weekend, Ed,Christopher's father, takes him to the zoo as an apology and everything returns to as it was before.
The next day, after Christopher got back home from school, he looked for his novel in his father’s bedroom and discovers many letters addressed to him. All of the letters were in the same handwriting as his mother but as far as Christopher knows, his mother is dead because of an heart attack. But after reading many letters, he soon discovers that his father had lied about his mother being dead. Ed finds Christopher reading the letters and tells Christopher about the whole truth, including which he had killed Wellington.
After learning the truth about his mother and the dead dog Wellington, Christopher runs away from home to live with his mother because of the previous event revolving around his father. Christopher had found out the truth about his mother, that she is still alive and she lives with Mr. Shears. He also found out that Wellington was actually killed, murdered by his own father. Now feeling threatened, Christopher has decided to run away to live with his mother where he feels the safest at the moment. To get to London, where his mother lived, Christopher encountered many challenges such as talking to strangers to ask for directions and going to crowded, noisy place, places out of his comfort zone. When he got to the train station is interrupted by a policeman who asks why he has been sitting in the café in a trance for two and a half hours. Christopher tells him that he wants to go to London but does not have a ticket or money. Christopher explains that he has his ATM card that his father gave him to pay for the trip. The policeman escorts him to a cash machine, where Christopher withdraws fifty pounds. He pays for a ticket and pushes past people, finally reaching the train and boards. The policeman from earlier appears. He says Father is looking for Christopher and that he has come to take Christopher back to the station. But the train starts to move, so the policeman has to wait until the next stop. Before the train departs, the policeman from earlier catches him and informs him that his father is looking and waiting for him on the platform, but the train starts to move so they must get off at the next stop. As they travel, Christopher feels sick and wets his pants and the policeman orders Christopher to go to the bathroom and when he is done, he notices two selves that reminds him of home so he climbs onto the shelf and waits until the policeman leaves after knocking on the bathroom stalls.
The train continues traveling, and when the train stops again, Christopher leaves his hiding place. He sees a policeman in the next car and gets off the train. A man tells him a policeman is looking for him, but Christopher keeps on walking. He follows the sign that reads “Information” to a small shop and asks if he is in London. The shopkeeper says he is. When he asks the way to Mother’s address she tells him to take the subway to Willesden Junction or Willesden Green, and points him in the right direction. So Christopher packs up his courage and buys a subway ticket, then follows the signs to his platform. People begin to fill the station and Christopher starts to feel very sick and sits paralyzed on the bench wishing he was at home. After a few stops, Christopher gets off and walks all the way to his mother’s house. There he sits outside and waits for his mother. His mother invites him inside and makes him take a bath. After a bit, police officers appear at the apartment footsteps and they question Christopher about why he ran away and who he wanted to stay with. Scared of his father, Christopher responds that he wants to stay with his mother. Later that night, his father arrives and the two parents quarrel. Frustrated, Mr. Shears calls the police and they take Ed away.
But bringing Christopher was a threat to Judy and Mr. Shear’s relationship. Judy and Christopher leaves the day after Christopher arrives, because she is afraid Mr. Shears might hurt them so she decided that they should live with his father for a bit. Back in Swindon, his parents quarrel a bit about Judy crashing into his house. Christopher also gets to take his Level-A math test but later, his father makes his mother move out so she and Christopher moved into a small apartment with a shared bathroom. He isn't allowed to be home alone, so when his mother is at work he has to go to his dad's house. When he's there, he locks himself into his room and refuses to speak to his father. Their relationship gets better and his father also buys him a golden retriever to prove to him that he would never do anything to hurt him.
The story ends off telling us that we can do anything we put our minds into. As Christopher says, “ And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything” (Haddon 221). Despite his disability, Christopher proved to the world that he can accomplish his goals. That he can do anything. And, so can we - as long as we believe.