Essay Response

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

COOK SHAW

802

In the book I chose to write about, many of the characters have trouble making decisions due to the strong emotions that can cloud their judgment.  “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” is about a child named Chris, who has been diagnosed with Asperger disorder. Chris has lived with his father for the last three years.  He was told his mother was dead from heart attack, but when investigating the mysterious death of his neighbor, Mrs. Shears’, dog, Wellington, he discovers that not only is his mother still alive, but she has been trying to contact him for years. He didn't know this because his father had been hiding her letters from Chris.  After learning that his mother and the husband of their neighbor, Mrs. Shears, had runaway together those three years ago, Chris weighed his options and decided against staying with dad...his dog killer dad. Chris embarked on a terribly difficult journey (due to his Asperger disorder) to find his mother.  When he arrived at his mother’s house, there was rejoice in reconnecting mother and son. During his journey and with all his encounters with his dad, Chris’ most successful decisions came from when he thought through his options and considered the outcomes of his choices.

First off, if strong emotions cloud rational thinking when you're making a decision, then the decision that you make will most likely be ineffective. For example, when Christopher found his neighbor’s dog, Wellington with a pitchfork in his side, he was so distraught that when the police man asked him to step away from the body, he punched the policeman straight in the face. This, being very irrational, unnecessary, and nevertheless illegal, was not close to something that would be a reasonable reaction to the officer’s demand. “He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were stacking  up in my head like loaves in the factory where Uncle Terry works. The factory is a bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And sometimes a sheer is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. I sometimes think of my mind as a machine, but not always as a bread-slicing machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it. The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn't like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” This decision put him jail, forcing his dad to come and bail him out. He could have avoided this by not reacting immediately on his emotions and simply stopping to think about the outcome of what he was about to do. Another time Christopher caused confusion or trouble by acting on emotion was when he finally reached his mother's flat in London and left the building without telling anyone in the middle of the night so that he can ponder his trip, his situation with his parents  and an upcoming exam. Thinking that Christopher had run away from her as did his father, the mother rushed out of the building, distraught and called for Christopher desperately. Finding him directly outside she scolded him and made him promise to never leave the flat unattended. This could've been very easily avoided, If he had just told his mother that he wanted to get some fresh air. Many problems can be very easily avoided when thought through and not clouded by strong emotions or a lack of direct communication. This shows how decisions based on emotion can be unwise and may get you in predicaments that can be stigmatizing because if done often, you may develop a reputation for bad decisions.

Second off, in a more rational sense, if you do not let strong emotions cloud your judgment, and you weigh your options and outcomes thoroughly, the best results almost certainly will come from it. For example, when Christopher was hiding the fact that he knew his dad had killed Wellington and the fact that he knew his dad had hid that his mother was alive, hid his mother's existence from him, Chris made a chart in his mind, printing out all the different options for what to do to solve this problems with his father. “But then I thought about going home again, or staying where I was, or hiding in the garden every night and Father finding me, and that made me feel even more frightened. And when I thought about that I felt like I was going to be sick again like I did the night before. And then I realized that there was nothing I could do which felt safe. And I made a picture of it in my head like this(refer to last page).” After checking off multiple answers he was left with the only action he could come up with that would more thoroughly help him avoid his father and a confrontation. This was a very wise thing to do, because he blocked off all of the strong emotions that could have altered his logic and maybe even amounted to more of his problems. He clearly chose the best form of action he could take for his situation and the only reason was because he carefully weighed out his options and also included what he thought the outcome of each option would be in his analysis. He completed all of this extremely clear minded thinking while huddled up inside of shrubbery in his backyard. This definitely shows the sense of self-control and ability to make very good decisions when he blocks off the strong emotions that can very easily cloud his judgment.

In conclusion, Christopher embarks on a journey that helps him and the reader of his journal understand that the best decisions come from clear judgment and that emotion can seriously hinder this logic. This can be used in many different situations. This thought process has greatly helped me during times of extreme stress or confusion. For example the high school applications process was very stressful time for me.  Through all of the stress, when I blocked off my emotions and processed my ideas solely on logic and weighed my options, I was able to find which high school and high school programs that were right for me.