Christopher Boone

Outer characterization

The main character in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is Christopher Boone. Christopher is a 15-year-old boy who lives in Swindon with his father, Ed. He is also the narrator of the novel. He opens the second chapter of the novel by introducing himself: “My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,507.” (p. 2). He also has a pet rat named Toby.

Christopher attends a special school for children with behavioral problems. He lists some of his behavioral problems in chapter 73, such as “Not liking being touched” and “Screaming when I am angry or confused” (p. 59).

Inner characterization

Christopher is very intelligent

He is particularly good at math and physics, and he is proud of his abilities: “I am going to prove that I’m not stupid. Next month I’m going to take my A level in Maths and I’m going to get an A grade.” (p. 56). He wants to prove that he is clever despite going to a school for children with “special needs”. He also sees his exams as a route to ind...