Narrative style (narrator ; writing style and tone)
Haddon’s tone and style – how does his prosaic, matter-of-fact writing style reflect Christopher’s mindset?
Taking into account Haddon’s narrative style, is Christopher a reliable narrator?
In what way is he reliable? In what way is he unreliable? Give examples.
Through Christopher’s voice, what message does Haddon seek to convey?
Read the following pages and analyse Christopher’s thought processes. How does Haddon capture his autistic disposition/Asperger’s Syndrome through language. Page 10; 38; – 78;
Evaluate the use of listing devices: p. 16; p. 10 p 105; 72 ; 53 – see p. 31…. 4 red cars in a row; nice order and logical
Referring to page 10, give an analysis with quotes of Christopher’s comments about jokes..
Explain his inability to process emotional ambiguity and/or ambivalence.
Through Christopher, Haddon points out how irrational, contradictory, hypocritical and absurd people are. Give examples. See p. 38.
Christopher likes to follow rules; he likes it when people give him very explicit orders and instructions (Siobhan p 39), but he is critical of his father who often ignores the rules and the regulations. (38)
Evaluate the narration of conversations and dialogue. Give examples. What does this reveal about Christopher.
Christopher does not understand emotional ambiguity, contradictory behaviours, hypocrisies, ironies, sarcasm, connotations, nuances of language ; ambivalence
He is reliable (to some extent) because he repeats people directly and is straight forward
However, he is unreliable because he cannot understand people’s emotions, extra meanings of conversations and dialogue and interactions. He does not understand complex or nuanced emotions.
Why does Haddon include the graphic symbols?
Pictures of cars p 35 – pictures of faces p 2 – cardinal and prime numbers on page 14
Note how Haddon does the dialogue – why? Please explain. See p 76 – 77
For all of the above – – why are these points important in the context of the climax – the mother’s rejection/departure and the father’s lies and C’s journey to London on the train?