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Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003) offers a sense of mystery and suspense to the readers as they journey with Christopher throughout his town to find the culprit for the murder incident so that he can write his novel. Christopher mentions Prime Numbers, The Monty Hall Problem, and The Case of the Cottingley Fairies in his novel, demonstrating how important these topics are to him. These three topics are important to Christopher as they each reflect a different part of Christopher and show the readers how Christophers' mind works. Christopher and Prime numbers have a peculiar bond as both are highly mysterious, unique, and somewhat unpredictable.
Christopher even believes that Prime numbers relate to life itself: “Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them” ( 2003; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Chapter 19, Page 14). This is a highly influential passage for readers of the novel, as it reveals how Christopher’s words shed some light on how his mind works. As the readers dig deeper into the novel, they find out that Christopher also reflects patterns of behavior that are related to Asperger’s syndrome. This passage also gives us a reason as to why Christopher numbers his chapters with prime numbers instead of cardinal numbers.
Christopher sees prime numbers and life as one connected entity. The Monty Hall Problem is a clear representation of how Christopher lives his day-to-day life, through a dependency on logic. Christopher feels personally offended when his teacher, Mr Jeavons assumes Christopher likes mathematics because it always has a straightforward answer at the end. This is because Christopher knows math is not that simple and neither is he. Christopher explains his statement by using The Monty Hall Problem as an example: “It also shows that Mr Jeavons was wrong and numbers are sometimes very complicated and not very straightforward at all. And that’s why I like The Monty Hall Problem” ( 2003; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Chapter 101, Page 82 ).
Christopher's dependency on logic gives the readers an insight into his brain. Christopher is fond of verifiable facts, meaning that he does not believe in superstition or does not like to assume things, which gives the readers a reason as to why he never thought about his mother being alive as a possibility or why he hates metaphors with a burning passion. Christopher uses his common sense as a weapon as he never assumes anything without having information to back it. The Case of the Cottingley Fairies is a good example of Christopher believing in his common sense and not buying into the hoax like everybody else: “No more things should be presumed to exist than are necessary”( 2003; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Chapter 139, Page 113 ).
Christopher’s use of common sense helps the readers understand how his brain functions. X Conclusion These topics mean a lot to Christopher and truly define him as a person. Christopher is a unique and unpredictable individual who is dependent on logic and factual information to assist him in life. Christopher believes that all answers should be straightforward and truthful and he sorts out the liars from the soothsayers (someone who speaks the truth, used in mid 14th century) by using his logic and wits. These three topics are also a part of a bigger picture as all three topics help the reader figure out how Christopher’s brain works and each reflects a different part of Christopher.
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