The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Key Text Quotations (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature)

 Key Quotations

It is important to remember that examiners ask you to support your ideas with references from the text. This means you can paraphrase lines of dialogue, reference single words, and refer to events in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Overall, you should aim for a secure knowledge of the text, its stage directions and the characters’ patterns of speech, rather than rehearsing multiple quotations. A thorough understanding of Stephens’s play will enable you to select references thoughtfully and effectively. 

The best way to revise quotations is to group them by character or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of key quotations, arranged by the following themes:

• Family 

• Independence

• Communication

• Order and disorder 

Family

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time explores the impact of family conflict on individual members by illustrating problems between the protagonist and his parents, and conflicts between the parents themselves.  

Paired quotations:

“And then I realised you and your father were probably better off if I wasn’t living in the house” – Judy Boone, Scene 24, Page 72

“I cooked his meals. I cleaned his clothes. I looked after him every weekend. I looked after him when he was ill. I took him to the doctor. I worried myself sick every time he wandered off somewhere at night. I went to school every time he got in a fight”  – Ed Boone, Scene 42, Page 129 

Meaning and context

• Both Christopher’s parents express frustration and anger in the play

• In Judy’s letter, Christopher learns that his mother and father argued a lot before she left:

  • He discovers that, in contrast to what he had thought, she left because she thought he would be “better off” with his father, who she thinks is a better parent

• However, Ed’s resentment is clear when he confronts Judy later and tells her what he believes constitutes a good parent, criticising her absence with a list of his actions 

Analysis

• Judy’s letter explains that her actions were not impulsive but carefully thought through,  and this highlights the dilemma she faces as a parent

• Judy is portrayed as insecure, as well as perhaps self-sacrificing:

  • She leaves because she believes she is not a “very good mother”, that Christopher’s father is “much calmer” and therefore a better parent

  • However, Ed’s violent outbursts suggests her thinking may be flawed

• Ed’s list conveys his pent-up frustration regarding his many challenges as a lone parent:

  • He suggests that his love for Christopher is illustrated in the many actions and tasks undertaken as a parent on a daily basis 

  • He implies the emotional toll of raising Christopher

• In this way, parental struggles are portrayed from both perspectives as the play highlights the emotional impact of misunderstandings within families

“Is it because I’m too noisy and sometimes I’m ‘difficult to control’” – Christopher, Scene 42, page 153

Meaning and context 

• While Ed attempts to rebuild their relationship when Christopher moves in with his mother, Christopher asks Siobhan if he can live with her instead of his parents

• Here, he acknowledges that his condition brings challenges 

Analysis 

• Christopher’s isolation from his parents is presented as a consequence of his father’s lies about his mother

• However, at times, Christopher appears to blame himself and his condition on his poor relationships with other people

• This suggests that Christopher (and, arguably, his mother) suffer because of insecurities regarding their worth in the family 

Independence

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a bildungsroman. It illustrates the significance of self-belief in the teenage protagonist’s progression towards independence. 

Paired quotations:

“I decided to go out on my own” – Christopher, Scene 12, Page 29 

“I’m doing really well” – Christopher, Scene 36, Page 113

Meaning and context

• When Christopher realises nobody wants to investigate Wellington’s death, he feels compelled to face the outside world and question his neighbours on his own

• This leads to further personal discoveries as well as his dangerous journey to London

• While the journey is distressing and overwhelming, Christopher gives himself encouragement, reminding himself how well he is managing alone

• He ignores the discouraging words that he imagines his father is saying as he makes his way around the station

Analysis

• The catalyst for Christopher’s journey to independence begins with his sense of  isolation, both as a teenager and as an individual with autism spectrum disorder:

  • Christopher feels obliged to stay true to his moral values and find the truth

  • As a result, he must undertake his own investigations

  • This is particularly challenging for a young person who finds other people “confusing” and social interaction unsettling  

• The play juxtaposes the uncomfortable scenes of Christopher’s journey with his calm self-motivation and firm belief in his success 
  

“I found my mother. I was brave” – Christopher, Scene 57, Page 159

Meaning and context 

• In the play’s resolution Christopher proudly lists his accomplishments to Siobhan

• He reflects on his capability (to find his mother in London) and his resilience (his brave decision to do it alone)
  

Analysis 

• The play highlights the benefits of Christopher’s personal integrity and his defiance of other people’s misguided advice

• His short, emphatic sentences convey his self-awareness as he acknowledges his new-found independence

Communication

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time raises issues about meaningful communication and the importance of honesty by presenting the alternative perspective of a teenager with an autism spectrum disorder. 

Paired quotations: 

“I think it should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day” – Christopher, Scene 3, Page 20

“If you don’t tell the truth now then later on it hurts even more” – Ed Boone, Scene 26, Page 77

Meaning and context

• In the play’s introduction, audiences learn that Christopher has a particular way of communicating, typical of an individual with autism spectrum disorder

• When a voice in the background says, “We had a real pig of a day”, Christopher tells Siobhan that he thinks metaphors are like lies

• Later, when Christopher discovers his father hid letters from his mother and lied that she had died of a heart-attack, Ed attempts to win back his son’s trust

• He acknowledges the damaging effects of lies as he addresses Christopher who sits and counts in an effort to calm himself 
  

Analysis

• The play emphasises Christopher’s priority for honesty to foreshadow the conflict that comes as a result of dishonesty and miscommunication

• Later, when Christopher discovers his father’s lies, Ed’s ironic words, delivered in a long speech to a distressed Christopher, highlight the play’s messages about secrets

• The play amplifies, through Christopher’s extreme reactions, the importance of clear and truthful language 

Order and disorder

The play challenges established concepts of normal and abnormal and traditional standards of order and disorder by illustrating Christopher’s alternative view on the world.

“Made my memory go strange” – Christopher, Scene 45, Page 58

“Father had murdered Wellington. That meant he could murder me” – Christopher, Scene 47, Page 80

Meaning and context

• Christopher tells Siobhan about the fight he has had with his father:

  • He is unable to explain exactly how he felt and says “I got very cross”, which made his “memory go strange”

• Nevertheless, when Christopher is told it was his father who killed the dog, he is able to set aside emotion and form a logical conclusion, that his father is dangerous

Analysis

• At first, Christopher is often presented as feeling out of control in his world, needing order and clarity that is often absent in his environment:

  • His conflict with his father is an example of Christopher’s sense of disorder

• However, the play illustrates Christopher’s logical view on the world to imply established concepts of normality may be flawed:

  • When he equates the murder of the animal with the murder of a human, unlike everyone else around him, Christopher exposes hypocrisies in societal attitudes