The curious incident of the dog in the Night time

Overview

Structure:

  1. Siobhan's role in the structure of the play:

    -Siobhan is integral to the start of the play, showing her intellectual support for Christopher by reading aloud from his book.

    -She also introduces a key structural feature of the narrative that moves between the present action and Christopher's accounts in his book.

  2. Nonlinear story telling: employs a series of flashbacks, memories and visual projections to create a fragmented perception of reality.

Symbolism:

  1. The train station
    • desire for independence and his longing to escape from the constraints of his current life. possibility of new adventures and opportunities for growth.
    • his sense of isolation and connection with others. represents the divide between his internal world and the external world which he struggles to navigate
  2. The stars
    • his fascination with order, the predictability of the universe, and finding patterns to help him find meaning in the world around him. appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the universe.
    • His sense of loneliness and his difficulty connecting with others. represents the distance between him and the people around him, as well as his longing sense of belonging.

Themes

Change:

  1. ‘The dog was dead’

    -Siobhan narrates his initial factual statement

    -Alliteration highlights brevity

    -Direct and unemotional, typical of someone who struggles to empathize with others or understand their feelings

    +However, it does not reflect the stress we see on stage, as Christopher resorts to 'groaning' to avoid any communication.

    +Stephen creates dramatic irony by bridging the gap between what Christopher tells us and what we can infer from his actions and the reactions of others.

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Characters

Judy Boone:

Simple short quotes:

  1. Judy: ‘‘…I wanted to explain to you why I went away…’’ (part one)
  2. Judy: ‘‘I used to have dreams that everything would get better’’
  3. Stage directions: ‘Judy starts to howl’ (part two)
  4. Judy: ‘‘was not a good mother’’

Sophisticated vocab list:

  • Brevity = concise and exact use of words in writing or speech.