Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Ch 2-37 questions

Ch 2:

1. Who are Wellington and Mrs. Shears?

2. What does the narrator say that tells the reader where this story is going?

Ch. 3

1. Who is Siobhan and why does Siobhan use emoticons?

2. What does this chapter tell you about Christopher’s capabilities?

Ch. 5

1. Why does Christopher like dogs, and what does this say about his relationships with humans?

2. What does Christopher fear?

Ch. 7

1. What kind of school does Christopher attend?

2. How is this chapter different from the previous chapters?

Ch. 11 & 13

1. Why does Christopher like the police?

2. What is the irony in this chapter? How does it play out?

3. Why does Christopher dislike jokes?

4. Although Christopher states this book will not contain jokes, you have probably already noticed examples of humor. Cite one example from this chapter.

5. Since chapter 13 does not contribute to the plot, why is it included?

Ch. 17

1. Why does being arrested make Christopher feel calmer and how does Christopher’s reaction to riding to the police station differ from what you might expect?

Ch. 19 & 23

1. What is Christopher’s explanation of the non-sequential chapter numbers?

2. What does the reader learn about Christopher’s family?

3. Why does Christopher list the contents of his pockets? Why does the author include this information?

4. How does Christopher react to being in jail?

Ch. 29

1. What is Christopher’s explanation of a metaphor? How does he feel about metaphors?

Ch 31 and 37

1. What ritual do Christopher and his father share? Why have they developed this ritual?

2. The police have a set of expectations when they interview Christopher, but their failure to comprehend his autism leads to an ironic conversation. What shows that the police do not “get it” about Christopher? What are some of the gaps in understanding?

3. What is the purpose of the digression in chapter 37?

Ch 41

1. What does Christopher’s father tell him to do about Wellington?

2. When Christopher comes downstairs at 2:07 a.m., what does he think has caused his father to cry?

3. Why does Christopher leave his father alone?

Ch 43, 47, and 53

1. What does Christopher’s father do for a living?

2. Christopher returns to school while discussing some superstitious systems he has created for himself? What are these? Why does he create them?

3. What does Christopher say about his mother’s death?

4. What happened after Christopher learned that his mother had died?