Mark Haddon Essay

Throughout the novel, the chapter headings are labelled in prime numbers instead of the normal cardinals, which is an important fact. This helps us to understand the character behind the surface. At the start of chapter 2 (headed 3), he says he knows all the prime numbers up to 7,507. This tells us that he is very good at maths and enjoys puzzles. People with Asperger’s syndrome are usually very intelligent, but find it difficult to express, since they easily get confused if somebody asks too many questions. At the start of chapter 7, Christopher says â€Å"this is a murder mystery novel†, which would indicate that there will be some detective terminology (a particular lexical register) used later on in the book. He also says that his hero is Sherlock Holmes (who incidentally solved a case called the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – where the title of the book comes from), who has the ability to â€Å"detach his mind† from anything not related to the problem, which is exactly what Christopher does. He could be â€Å"detached† when he does not do what he is told. In terms of semantics, Christopher only refers to the denotations of words, since he finds it difficult to understand connotations. The reader knows the literal meanings of the words, but also, they create certain negative connotations. When Christopher talks or writes, he does not take the connotations of the words into account. In the book, there are no metaphors, similes or any linguistic devices, as he tells us at the start of chapter 5, â€Å"this will not be a funny book, because I cannot tell jokes, because I do not understand them†. His lack of a sense of humour could be demonstrated by his total lack of understanding when Siobhan laughed. He does appear to feel anger when he tears the paper. He doesn’t use euphemisms, because he cannot see the point in evading the truth (incidentally, he doesn’t tell lies). For example, on page thirteen, he says â€Å"and people will be burnt to death, even if they live in tunnels†. Here, it is possible to detect a hint of pessimism. The choice of words that the author uses is not typical of the teenage social peer group. For example, he doesn’t say â€Å"wicked† since this would be a metaphor. This also enforces Christopher’s social isolation. Christopher does not use any of the more common spoken English techniques, for example; contractions, â€Å"But I could not be certain about this†. The contraction would be â€Å"couldn’t†. The language that Mark Haddon uses throughout the book is very formal. There are very few conjunctions since the book is written from Christopher’s point of view, and Christopher thinks very logically, in a structured, simple way. In conclusion, it can be seen that the opening chapters of this novel manage to seamlessly meld together the symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome, with narrative devices. The use of numbers and illustrations, allow the reader to enter a world which although strange to us is a familiar and usual one of the main character. The language structures, such as the use of short sentences echo the thinking methods of Christopher, and the author’s use of unemotional and denotative vocabulary is an excellent way to demonstrate Christopher’s own lack of complex emotions. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.