Preview

Christopher Boone's Symbolism In The Book Prime Numbers

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1764 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Christopher Boone's Symbolism In The Book Prime Numbers
In the novel, prime numbers symbolize Chris’s interest in math and his logical thinking. In the beginning chapter, Chris explains how he does things differently than others do. Especially in the way that he organizes his chapters of the book. He says, “Chapters are usually given the cardinal numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 and so on. But I have decided to give my chapters prime numbers 2,3,5,7,11,13 and so on because I like prime numbers” (Haddon 11). Chris’s interest with prime numbers spreads throughout the novel, he uses them in almost everything that he does. Whether that be just counting because he wants to having it be a way to calm him down. Either way, it symbolized his logical thinking with numbers. He also talks about how prime numbers can relate …show more content…
He is all about solving mysteries, getting answers to everything right, and making sure that things stay the same way (he does not like when things get out of the usual). Because he is so interested in finding out who killed Wellington (the dog), he says he enjoys mystery. “I do like murder mystery novels…In a murder mystery novel someone has to work out who the murderer is and then catch them” (Haddon 5). This proves that Chris has a strong interest in mystery and will do almost anything to find out who killed the dog. Another important characteristic about Chris that is important is that he is autistic. So, he is effected by things differently than others. But because of his autistic abilities, he can tell a story in way that most would be able to. Moss explains in an article that “Christopher is autistic, and therein lays the charm and fascination of this tale” (1). Without Chris being autistic, many would not understand the importance of this novel. In a recent study, it has been stated that autistic people have been taking over story-telling on the internet (Hacking 1). This proves that along with Chris, there are other autistic people inspiring those to read. Chris is an intelligent young boy who is logical and has an edge to him that encourages people to keep reading to find out what he is going to do …show more content…
It is the main reason why the story is being told, Moss explains that the murder of the dog is how the story unfolds (1). Without the murder the story would not have much of a purpose. The dog’s murder is introduced in the beginning of the novel. Chris explains what he sees, “It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn… But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead” (Haddon 1). Chris’s interest in finding out who killed it escalades because he does not understand how someone could ever kill a dog. Every opportunity that Chris has to get information on the dog, he takes it. He calls himself a detective and is determined to find the killer. An article explains that, “Christopher seizes the opportunity to draw inspiration from the violent death of his neighbor’s dog” (Ciocia 325). This proves that everything Chris does, relates to the killing of the dog and he finds every opportunity he can to find more information about it. Although Chris is not doing anything wrong by finding out who killed the dog, his father does not want him investigating on the murder, but Chris does it anyways. All in all, the main conflict of the novel is the murder of the dog and Chris tries to do everything in his power to figure out who killed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the White Circle by John Bell Clayton, the author uses symbolism throughout the story in many different ways, adding more depth to the story.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The first way Chris shows regret is when writing the S.O.S note, the text says, “S.O.S. I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF HERE I AM ALL ALONE, THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU, CHRIS MCCANDLESS. AUGUST?” (Krakauer 11). After writing this you can tell that Chris is actually about to die and since there is nothing else all he can rely on is someone walking by to help. This shows he is in a desperate need for help and needs some type of miracle. Next in the book it says, “Reality, however, was quick to intrude on McCandless’s reverie” (Krakauer 112). This explains that what Chris thought to be easy was actually very hard. This realization would make him have a second thought about everything, and what he has done. After being in the wild for sometime in the book it says, “At that point he gave up on preserving the bulk of the meat and abandoned the carcass to the wolves” (Krakauer 114). This shows the troubles Chris had trying to find and preserve food. Also how he regrets killing the moose because he wasted its life and became unable to save any food for…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”, Mark Haddon tells the eye-opening story of an autistic boy named Christopher Boone. Written from Christopher’s perspective, the reader learns how differently those with autism experience the world around them and the everyday experiences that make them feel uncomfortable. During the story, situations arise that show Christopher connecting with his golden places both physically and mentally. For the monks in “A Canticle for Leibowitz”, their golden place was the monastery. For Christopher, his golden place is not a unique location or structure. His golden places are mathematics, confined and hidden spaces, family harmony, and a puppy named Sandy.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first thing about Chris is that he was very bright. Even people noticed how smart he was, like when Franz said, “ He seemed very intelligent.” This shows that Ron sees how smart Chris is. It also explains to us that Chris knows what he is doing and that he wants to do it. Another thing about Chris is that he made food decisions. For instance, he learned off of the people who he met like when he learned how to smoke meat. This shows that he is preparing for his adventure in Alaska. Therefore demonstrating how he made good decisions. Another good decision that he made was buying the plant book. This shows that he isn’t crazy because he is preparing for his time in Alaska. Clearly Chris was a smart man who made some good choices on his journey.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A major force that influenced the development of Chris was his family. Chris acts as if everything is alright and that he is going to school normally. But in reality he has travelled to live in the wilderness. He does this without informing his parents or sister. He just left them to worry about his whereabouts. He also informed the postal service to keep his letters and send them all at once so his parents would not suspect anything. He did this because he did not appreciate how his parents had treated him and his sister during while they grew up and during their childhood. Chris was spoiled rich yet because of his parent’s domestic conflicts and the total dysfunction of his family made him…

    • 1816 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The characterisation of Chris in this novel is successful as an in depth portrayal of conflicting feelings and emotions is given that readers will relate to. Chris herself labels the conflicting sides of her the 'Scottish Chris' and the 'English Chris'. The Scottish Chris loves the farm life and the land and reflects the more emotional, innate side of her character given to her by her mother. The other part of her, the intellectual, or English Chris, is encouraged by her father, loving books and learning and hating the crudeness and ignorance that is the farming life.…

    • 2533 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mark Haddon has many ways of showing Christopher’s voice in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’. Since Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome his voice in the book is very unique. Haddon uses digressions often because Christopher has problems…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chris got so caught up in the books about nature that he felt it must be true. One of his favorite authors, Jack London, had barely even lived in the wild but Chris was to caught up in the fictional stories to realize that. He even chose epigraphs from his readings about the beauty and joy of nature. Even in his final goodbye notes he left quotes from authors he had read. He was about to die and he was still doing this, it shows you how crazy he was to get that caught up in his readings in the first place. Also a majority of what Chris had brought with him on his journey was books, instead of proper supplies or equipment that could have saved his life. Due to his sensitivity and craziness, Chris died. He was emaciated by the time his final days drew to a close. He should have just left the wild and came back to civilization, content with his adventure.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who was Chris ? What kind of person was he ? Some say he was foolish others say he was intelligent. Some say that Chris was a man full of hate others say he was full of love. What was Chris searching for? Perhaps it was Happiness others say it was an escape from society. If you read the book Into the Wild by John Krakuer it is clear that Chris is the mix of the both Worlds.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the story begins, an event happens which forces Christopher to do something he’s never done before. Christopher finds his neighbor’s dog Wellington on his neighbor’s lawn with a fork in its head. Christopher feels sad for the dead animal, so he starts to investigate. But as time goes by, Christopher’s dad began to tell him to stop investigating the murder and to forget about it. As if compelled by an unknown force, Christopher decides to investigate further, and finds out his dad killed the dog. Through Christopher’s point of view, he must have thought of this as an internal and external achievement. Christopher soon began to develop a feeling of distrust towards his father because his father was the murderer and the one who lied about Christopher’s mother.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Determination and confidence provokes Christopher to do things that might not seem achievable for an autistic kid. Just because he has a disability, it does not mean Christopher cannot do anything. A famous tennis player once said, that confidence motivates people to do unseen things.…

    • 121 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Into the Wild Paper

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In order to truly understand Chris’ story to the smallest detail, Krakauer put a great amount of effort into retracing his past up until his death. As he states, “I spent more than a year retracing the convoluted path that led to his death in the Alaska taiga, chasing down details of his peregrinations with an interest that bordered an obsession” (Author’s Note 2). Even before the start of the novel, Krakauer points out that he followed Chris’ life like an “obsession” and became very attached to his story. Krakauer recognizes that his obsession or “bias” to the Chris will reveal itself throughout the story but makes a key decision in letting the reader know that he doesn’t “claim to be an impartial…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    It’s easy to believe Chris suffers from a mental illness such as high functioning borderline personality disorder. This misconception comes from the fact that Chris creates a new version of himself, Alexander Supertramp, fails to maintain relationships he creates throughout his journey, and is meticulous with how the trail to his past life is left. These traits seem to be enough to diagnose Chris with such a disorder, that is if you take it out of context. Chris creates a new version of himself to symbolize the new life he is soon to pursue. He wants to limit the connections to his old life in all ways possible. A life that he regards with disdain, because it failed to meet his moral code. A code highly represented by a passage Chris highlighted in one of his books, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” (Thoreau qtd. in Krakauer 117). Chris’ family failed to understand, and respect these ideals, resulting in Chris’ cutting them out of his life. His parents insisted on trying to increase his quality life with material values while also keeping their previous affair a secret from Chris. He fails to maintain his relationships with people not because he’s antisocial, but because he resents society, and doesn’t…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christopher is a great narrator because he educates the reader about autism. Many people who suffer from autism have extensive knowledge on a specific subject and therefore are capable of major accomplishments…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chapter Questons

    • 1877 Words
    • 8 Pages

    It is quite apparent by this paragraph that Christopher thinks very differently to a ‘normal person’. This is shown by the way he spoke in the book. For example, the sentences he used where very simple and straight forward, however did not leave a detail untouched. This is unlike to other books where generally the person thoughts and emotions are hidden, and are left to the reader’s imagination However, throughout this paragraph, Christopher very clearly stated how he felt as well as what he saw, although he did this very simply. An example of this is when he first discovered the body of the dog:…

    • 1877 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays