The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

In what way does christopher understands the world around him?

Chapters 37-73 (pages 19-48)

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Christopher's account allows us to see the world in a new and fresh light without taking anything for granted. He says himself 'My name...means carrying Christ...Mother used to say that it meant Christopher was a nice name because it was a story about being kind and helpful, but I do not want my name to mean a story about being kind and helpful. I want my name to mean me.' Christopher's father fans out his fingers and touches Christopher 'and it means that he loves me' . Christopher does not like to be hugged. He does not understand what different facial expressions are. He needs to relate directly and individually to language; through his writing, language is reborn in less encumbered way. Most of us would understand what 'I laughed my socks off' meant but few of us would know where the expression originated, and so we have lost the impact of the metaphor because we don't know why it is used in this way. Christopher forces us to reassess our relationship with language so that it speaks directly to us and so that the only tool we use to communicate is a direct reflection of what we think and feel, not a borrowed or inherited means of expression.

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