This week, I have decided to write on an experience that I had last night. I realize this may not be as much of a critical analysis, yet I am willing to lose a few points on writing about what happened and how this correlates to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. So last night, I was writing a paper until 3:30 a.m (not for this class) and realized that I had to still take my car back to lot 91 off of Hagadorn and Service Road before I received a ticket from the parking nazis. I decide to go ahead and get the drive/bike ride over with seeing as I know I wouldn't get up early enough to do it later on. As I walk outside to my car, I realize how foggy and eerie it is outside, almost a perfect setup for a horror movie. I silently drive my car back to the lot, as I was too lazy to plug in my music for such a short ride. As I get out of the car and walk to my bike, the silence was becoming almost defining. I looked nervously around just to make sure the guy from the Saw series didn't pop out and try to capture me to "play a game".
I get onto my bike and start the long journey back to my dorm. Now usually when I ride my bike, especially this late at night, I put my headphones in and pass the time away by obnoxiously singing since no one can hear me, but this time, for some reason, I didn't listen to any music. As I turn onto Wilson road, I realize that there was not a single soul around. Not one. Not even a car light flashing in the distance. When I realized this, I instantly connected this experience with what Christopher does when he walks down the street, pretending he's the only person in the world. I decided to try to think his way, pretending that a zombie apocalypse occurred and I'm the last woman standing. As soon as I started to think this way, I was a tad frightened. I'm a people person, I love conversations and interacting with people. The thought that I would never have that opportunity again was slightly overwhelming. But after passing through the initial crazed hysteria, I realized how calm I felt. There was no noise, no one to disturb me, no one to upset my day or put more homework in my lap, just me. And with that came the creation of a small connection between me and Christopher. I then started to wonder if the author, Mark Haddon, did the same thing: went out for a walk in the dead of the night to try to understand his character just a little bit more. I wondered how devoted this author was to try to divulge into such a complicated mind in order to make this creation.
I finally started getting close to my dorm, and saw a figure in the distance, my connection with Christopher became immediately severed. I thought "phew, another human being, I'm not alone" which was immediately followed by "I hope thats not Jason Voorhees" and began to peddle faster until I reached my safe haven that was my dorm. I was sad that my "me" time and my connection with Christopher was cut short. This experience actually helped me better understand Christopher as a character.
