In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, we are introduced to Christopher Boone, a 15 year old boy who has a disability comparatively to Asperger’s Syndrome. Christopher only lives with his dad, Ed Boone, because he is told that his mother died a couple of year ago from a heart attack. In the book, we learn Christoper has countless love-hate relationships with irregular objects. He loves math, red objects, and being honest; however he hates, yellow objects, metaphors, and lying. Christopher’s main reason to write a mystery book, was to tell readers his process of finding the killer of Wellington, Mrs.
Shears’s (his neighbor’s) dog. However, during the process of solving the mystery and writing his book, he comes across another mystery; where are the letters in his father’s closet coming from? The letters Christopher finds are addressed to him, from “Mom”. These letters were not only hidden from him, but were also dated after the day Christopher’s mom supposedly died. After finding out that his own dad killed Wellington and his letters from his mom for many years, Christopher sets out a mission to find his mom in London.
As a reader, throughout the book, another mystery that I wanted to solve was, Who is the better parent? There are many opinions and reasoning behind who the better parent is, but I believe that Ed Boone, Christopher’s father is the better parent. Throughout the first half of the book, Ed shows all favorable characteristics a parent should have. He displays the quality of being supportive of Christopher, by having a job, more specifically running his own business. Christopher does not seem to appreciate the hard work his father puts in to take care of him.
However, as readers we notice the great qualities Ed has as a parent. This can be supported, especially when compared to Judy, Christopher’s mom’s, when she expresses why she needed leave in one of her letters. Judy admits, “I’m not like your father. You father is a much more pacient person. He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn’t let it show. But that’s not the way I am and there is nothing I can do to change ‘(106). In other words, Ed shows the quality of being caring and patient to Christopher especially since Christopher has a disability and needs extra attention.
Ed, not only takes care of him, but also checks that Christopher is happy and comfortable. This can be seen when Ed always asks what Christopher wants for dinner; informs him that his favorite TV show is on; and when he is about to make loud noises, like putting shelves up (p. 96), he makes sure Christopher is aware. Many might disagree with others on the second half of the book, when Christopher finds out that his own dad lied to him in three ways. One, Ed was the person who killed Wellington. Two, Ed hid all the letters Christopher’s mom sent him.
Finally, Christopher’s mom is alive. Although these were huge lies, and Ed should have told him the truth about his mom and killing Wellington, I believe in some way Ed was doing this to protect Christopher. Ed knew that if Christoper found out his own father killed Wellington he would run away and be in danger since he cannot function by himself for a long time. This exactly happened at the end of the book when he lost his composure countless times and could have almost gotten hurt since he did not know what he was doing without the help from the police.
Because, his mom thought leaving Christopher was the best thing to do since she couldn’t handle him, I don’t think telling Christopher that his mom died was right. Ed, should have just given the letters to Christopher when they arrived, but mention that his mom needed move away for a different reason. Many tend to believe if an individual tells a lie like this to their own child, that parent is not suitable for their child. Ed reiterates, “Christopher, I would never, ever do anything to hurt you,” (219).
To put in other words, Ed never intended to hurt Christoper, but just thought that keeping these secrets from Christopher would be for the best of both of them. From knowing that one of your parents is alive after thinking there were dead for so many years is traumatic. However, Ed has more favorable parent qualities than bad. Also, the fact the Just left for all those years but still expected a response from Christopher, even if he received the letters, is crazy. A parent can’t just leave their own child and expect to have a relationship with them. Judy points out, “I was not a very good mother, Christopher.
Maybe if things had been different, maybe if you’d been different, I might have been better at it. ” Ultimately, Judy would have wished that Christopher was different, but not loving your own child for the way he is, is insane. In conclusion, Ed Boone is a much better parent that Judy Boone. There are countless reasons, but one that shows all his great qualities as a whole, is that he was the one who raised and cared for Christopher. While Ed was making sure Christopher was happy, Judy was in her apartment in London doing nothing to help Ed raise Christopher.
