CIDNT- Theme
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has some of the most useful themes in my opinion in comparison to the other books read this year. Yes, there have been great themes in books throughout this year, but how often does a person have to think about having too much control. Although Handmaid's Tale proved that, it is rare that I think about that theme on a daily bases. However, the most important theme in this book is to tell the truth even though someone might not like it. Everybody is told this from the first day of kindergarten to the last day of college but for some reason not many people seem to listen. Everybody lies, and if someone says otherwise then they are lying.
Most of the entire book's premise is about how Chris's dad lied to him about everything important in his life, especially his mother. His lie ruined their relationship and changed their lives forever. Although telling the truth about Chris's mother in the first place also would not have gone over well, in the long run it would have been a much better solution than telling an innocent boy with autism that his mother died even though she was alive and well and wanted to see him. Chris's dad even figures this out near the end of the novel when he talks to Chris about his lies. He says to Chris "God knows, I try, Christopher, God knows I do, but...Life is difficult, you know. It's bloody hard telling the truth all the time...You have to know that I am going to tell you the truth from now on. About everything. Because...if you don't tell the truth now, then later on...later on it hurts even more" (120). Chris's dad is absolutely right when saying "later on it hurts even more" because the consequences to finding out the truth with be ten times worse than the actual truth. Then the person has to deal with the real truth and the fact that they have been lied to by someone they trust.
Let me create a scenario of what could have happened if the truth about Chris's mother was told from the start.
1) Chris finds out that his mother is leaving him and his father to be with Mr. Shears.
2) Chris screams or runs to his room and plays white noise through the radio to block out his mother and father yelling at each other.
3) His mother eventually leaves and he and his dad have a talk over their situation.
4) For a while Chris ends up hating his mom for what she did.
5) They eventually meet up together and they start to bring their relationship back together.
6) Chris now can move back and forth between his mother's and father's houses.
7) Everything is somewhat back to normal besides the fact that his parents are separated.
Although that is not a perfect representation of what would actually happen, something along those lines would occur. It might take a while but things would eventually heal. Life will eventually heal for Chris and his father but it will take a much longer time and Chris may never have the same relationship with this father that he once had because of how he betrayed him by lying. But in the short term the wound that Chris had was much worse than what it would have been if his father told the truth. It got the the point where Chris felt threatened for his life around his father. The first night when Chris was at his mother's house "...Father came into [Chris's] room. But I was holding my Swiss Army knife with the saw blade out in case he grabbed me" (197). Chris felt the need to stab his father because he was so scared of him. Yes, any rational "normal" person would not do that but to Chris his world was crushed and that was his only option. To be honest, if it came down to it I might do the same too.
It is very rare that anything like this would really happen to someone. However, the theme still applies to everyday life like it should. It applies to a toddler who stole candy or even something bigger like committing a crime. There is a reason that in our justice system a person can get a reduced sentence if they tell the truth and admit to the crime. Telling the truth will benefit both parties in the long run even though in the short term the pain will be high.
Most of the entire book's premise is about how Chris's dad lied to him about everything important in his life, especially his mother. His lie ruined their relationship and changed their lives forever. Although telling the truth about Chris's mother in the first place also would not have gone over well, in the long run it would have been a much better solution than telling an innocent boy with autism that his mother died even though she was alive and well and wanted to see him. Chris's dad even figures this out near the end of the novel when he talks to Chris about his lies. He says to Chris "God knows, I try, Christopher, God knows I do, but...Life is difficult, you know. It's bloody hard telling the truth all the time...You have to know that I am going to tell you the truth from now on. About everything. Because...if you don't tell the truth now, then later on...later on it hurts even more" (120). Chris's dad is absolutely right when saying "later on it hurts even more" because the consequences to finding out the truth with be ten times worse than the actual truth. Then the person has to deal with the real truth and the fact that they have been lied to by someone they trust.
Let me create a scenario of what could have happened if the truth about Chris's mother was told from the start.
1) Chris finds out that his mother is leaving him and his father to be with Mr. Shears.
2) Chris screams or runs to his room and plays white noise through the radio to block out his mother and father yelling at each other.
3) His mother eventually leaves and he and his dad have a talk over their situation.
4) For a while Chris ends up hating his mom for what she did.
5) They eventually meet up together and they start to bring their relationship back together.
6) Chris now can move back and forth between his mother's and father's houses.
7) Everything is somewhat back to normal besides the fact that his parents are separated.
Although that is not a perfect representation of what would actually happen, something along those lines would occur. It might take a while but things would eventually heal. Life will eventually heal for Chris and his father but it will take a much longer time and Chris may never have the same relationship with this father that he once had because of how he betrayed him by lying. But in the short term the wound that Chris had was much worse than what it would have been if his father told the truth. It got the the point where Chris felt threatened for his life around his father. The first night when Chris was at his mother's house "...Father came into [Chris's] room. But I was holding my Swiss Army knife with the saw blade out in case he grabbed me" (197). Chris felt the need to stab his father because he was so scared of him. Yes, any rational "normal" person would not do that but to Chris his world was crushed and that was his only option. To be honest, if it came down to it I might do the same too.
It is very rare that anything like this would really happen to someone. However, the theme still applies to everyday life like it should. It applies to a toddler who stole candy or even something bigger like committing a crime. There is a reason that in our justice system a person can get a reduced sentence if they tell the truth and admit to the crime. Telling the truth will benefit both parties in the long run even though in the short term the pain will be high.
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