"In the bus on the way to school next morning we passed 4 red cars in a row, which meant that it was a Good Day" (Haddon, 24).
The idea of logic and perception is central to Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I think that this will be the focus of my final paper. This concept first struck me as interesting when I read the above quote. When so-called fully functioning adults say a day is going to be bad because it is raining or a Monday, it seems to make sense and nobody questions it. However, when an autistic young boy decides a day is good or bad based on the color of passing cars, it is meant to strike us as illogical or nonsensical. However, it is the exact same type of thinking in each individual, yet one is perceived to be strange.
This idea of logic is twisted around social roles. Christopher is an extraordinarily intelligent young boy who from the text we can gather is a genius in mathematics and physics, yet is perceived by society as dumb because of his inability to communicate and connect with others. Somehow this shortcoming influences how he is viewed. However, his "odd" approaches to everyday situations seems to make sense to him, and when he explains it, to the reader as well.
I am not exactly sure what my thesis is going to fully entail quite yet, however, I enjoy playing with the notion of intelligence, social roles and perception, and their interactions with one another. Specifically, I notice that perceived intelligence is viewed in a completely subjective manner by society. Additionally, of all the characters, Christopher is the one that seems to make the most sense to the reader...why? Is what makes sense to us relative? Is intelligence subjective?
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