The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Chapter 3.

One of my favourite bits of the play is Chapter 3. This is still the opening of the novel, as we get introduced to Christopher for the first time. "My name is Christopher John Francis Boone" creates a sense of punctuality and even naiveness for not knowing that it would be enough if he only mentioned his first name. The first paragraph leaves a feeling that Christopher is a clever boy, especially in maths. Throughout the novel, a prime number is given to each of the chapters, showing his way of thinking.

The chapter introduces us to the world of Christopher - a boy suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. He talks about his meeting with Siobhan and his way of understanding or not understanding certain emotions. I think it is quite sad that he was only able to recognize happiness and sadness, both related to his own experience, but the rest of the emotions didn't make any sense to him. He even asked Siobhan to write down what each face means and took the paper out when he didn't understand what someone was saying, but still got confused as faces moved too fast. It seems so easy for us to recognize emotions, but for him it wasn't anywhere near simple. The whole chapter shows his complicated mind, his way of dealing with things based on his own experience and his view on the world, all of which are extraordinary, and this is why I liked it.