The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Christopher Boone

The narrator who describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioral difficulties"; he detests the color yellow and metaphors.

Ed Boone

The character who kills Wellington the dog and hides a stack of letters from London to protect his son from the truth.

Judy Boone

The character who moves to London because she feels inadequate as a parent and unable to cope with her son's intense behavioral needs.

Siobhan

The teacher and mentor figure who helps the narrator understand human emotion and encourages him to write the book as a project.

Wellington

The neighbor's poodle found dead with a garden fork sticking out of it; the victim that incites the "detective story."

Metaphor

A figure of speech the narrator calls a "lie" because it says something is what it is not (e.g., "apple of my eye"), causing him confusion.

Simile

A figure of speech the narrator accepts because it draws a visual comparison without being literally untrue (e.g., "looked like a police car").

Tactile Defensiveness

The sensory trait that causes the narrator to react violently (hitting or screaming) when he is touched or grabbed by others.