Character

I am currently on page 50 of this novel and right from the beginning I was able to make many conclusions on the main character, Christopher. He is a 15 year-old, boy who finds his neighbor's dog stabbed and dead on it's front lawn. The whole story is the book that he wrote with the attempt to organize his ideas and evidence to solve the murder. The first thing I noticed from the way he spoke and interacted with those around him, was that he had some sort of disability. He said exactly what was on his mind, even when saying those things was not appropriate at the time. He also has a hard time communicating with and understanding others, which led me to think he has Asperger Syndrome. In the description of this disease online, it states that people with this disability struggle with social skills and tend to have interests in certain topics that consume all of their attention. In this story, Christopher becomes absorbed in trying to figure out what happened to his neighbors dog, despite his father continuously telling him to mind his own business. This was revealed to me indirectly, though there was direct evidence that he did have special needs on page 43. "All the other children at my school are stupid. Except I'm not meant to call them stupid... I'm meant to say they have learning difficulties or they have special needs." This shows that he attends a school specifically for students with disabilities. Before this was stated, his struggle to understand others was shown indirectly on page 34. "I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand." This shows how confusing communication with others can be for him.
Something else I learned about Christopher that was revealed directly was that he is very intelligent and  has a desire to learn and succeed later in his life. This was shown on page 45, "And after I've taken A level-maths, I'm going to take A-level further maths and physics and then I can go to university." He doesn't let anyone tell him he can't do the things he wants to do which is an admirable trait that he has.

Indirectly, I can predict that he might feel alone in the world, based on how he doesn't seem to make many connections with other kids his age. He spends a lot of time with his father, teacher at school, and his rat, Toby. On page 44 he says, "Sometimes the children from the school down the road see us in the streets when we're getting off the bus and they shout, 'Special Needs!' But I don't listen to what other people say." He is very strong for how he brushes off bullying, but seems to only connect with older characters in the novel.
I have found Christopher to be very funny and innocently curious with lots of ambitions. He is a very likable character and I really enjoy the way he narrates the novel. Above are photos of Christopher during the broadway performance of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime". After reading this book, I would love to watch it on a stage!