Previous
Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Growing Up
Trust
Truth, Love, and Safety
Logic vs. Emotion
Perspective and the Absurdity of the World
Summary
Analysis
Christopher declares that his book will not be funny, because he doesn’t understand jokes. He gives an example of a joke: “His face was drawn but the curtains were real.” He’s learned that it’s supposed to be funny because of the multiple meanings of the words, but he finds it uncomfortable to make the words have all of their possible meanings at once, so he avoids jokes.
Christopher’s narration helps his reader understand his limitations and the way he interacts with the world. His close scrutiny of conventions that most people naturally understand makes them seem ridiculous, and makes such jokes seem not particularly funny after all.
Themes
