I don't tell lies

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of those books I read which left deep impression on me and forced me to think the social structure. "I don't tell lies," the protagonist of the novel Christopher,15, keeps saying and sticks to his vow until the end of the book. Though he is diagnosed as an abnormal kid, he is more than normal as he is brilliant in study and his memory is incomparable.

Christopher believes that like him his father also always tells the truth. The story begins when Christopher sees his neighbour's dog, Wellington is dead one night. When he goes near to Wellington he finds out that the dog in fact was murdered by someone because he sees a garden fork sticking out of it. Since he would love that dog very much Christopher is determined to find out the criminal. For him killing a human being and killing an animal is the same crime.

In the course of his investigation he comes to learn that his mother is still alive, whom his father convinced him to be dead two years ago. Not only this, Christopher also finds out that the murderer of Wellington is no one but his father.

The father tries his best to make Christopher understand his circumstances under which he needed to tell lies but in vain. He pleads, "I want you to know that you can trust me...Maybe I don't tell the truth all the time...I try Christopher, I do, but...Life is difficult, you know. It's bloody hard telling the truth all the time. Sometimes it's impossible..."

As soon as Christopher knows the truths about his father he loses all the trust on him and decides not to live with him. Instead, he plans to go to London to be with his mother. He has his pet rat, Toby whom Christopher does not want to take all the way up to London. So he goes to his neighbour, Mrs. Alexander's house to request her to look after Toby.

Christopher does not know how to hide his father's crime. He keeps telling the truth. For instance, he plainly says to Mrs. Alexander, "I thought my mother was dead, but she was still alive. And Father lied to me. And also he said he killed Wellington. I'm going to live with my mother because Father killed Wellington and he lied and I'm frightened of being in the house with him. Will you look after Toby for me?"

Christopher's father represents the normal-minded people who do not tell the truth all the time. If they keep telling the truth in every situation life will be hard for them. Ironically, don't we teach our children not to lie? Don't we all want to tell the truth? From this angle, who is abnormal - Christopher or the rest of the people?

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