The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Chapter 233 Summary & Analysis

The morning after Christopher arrives at his mother’s flat, he has breakfast with her and Mr. Shears. Mr. Shears talks about Christopher as though he can’t hear, saying that it’s not going to work for him to stay there long-term. Judy, on the other hand, says that Christopher can stay as long as he wants, and she takes leave from work.

Judy and Christopher go to a department store to get him new clothes, but there are too many people, so Christopher lies on the floor and screams. Judy takes him home in a taxi, then goes back out to get what he needs.

When Judy comes home, Christopher tells her that he has to return to Swindon to take his Maths A level. Judy is impressed he’s going to take the test, but she isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to go back for it.

That night, Christopher looks for the stars, but there are too many clouds and too much light pollution. He can’t sleep, so he goes outside and walks down the road. When he hears people coming, he hides behind a car. He stays there even when the people are gone, and he imagines a pattern of crosses in his head. Eventually his mother runs shouting down the road, and when she finds him, she makes him promise not to go out on his own again.

Christopher spends the next day in the flat. The day after that, Judy gets fired from her job. Christopher reminds her that he has to take his A level, but Judy is trying to deal with both Ed and Roger’s anger, and tells Christopher that he’ll take the exam later. Christopher is very worried about not being able to take it.

The next day, Christopher tries to tell what kind of day it will be by watching the cars outside the window, but it doesn’t work because he’s not on the bus, so he can see as many cars as he wants if he waits long enough.

That afternoon, Christopher’s mother takes him to Hampstead Heath, a park. She tells him that she’s called the school principal to cancel the A level. Christopher screams until a man comes to make sure everything is all right.

The day after, Judy has Mr. Shears get Christopher some books about science and math, but they’re all too simplistic for Christopher. He hasn’t been eating, so Judy makes a game out of drinking a shake. When Judy and Mr. Shears argue, Christopher listens to loud static on a radio to block it out. The next night, Mr. Shears comes into Christopher’s room drunk and gets angry with him for being selfish. Judy makes Mr. Shears leave the room.

The morning after this, Judy packs two suitcases, and she and Christopher take Mr. Shears’ car and drive to Swindon, because Judy thinks someone was going to get hurt if they stayed in the flat. On the way to Swindon, they get stuck in a traffic jam, and Christopher tries to create a mathematical formula to govern traffic jams.

When they get to the house in Swindon, no one is home. Christopher plays computer games, and his time is far worse than his best time. In the evening, Ed returns home. He and Judy have a shouting match while Christopher bangs on drums to drown it out. Eventually Judy comes up and says that Ed has gone to stay with his friend Rhodri. Christopher finds Toby’s cage and puts him back inside. Then he asks Judy if he can still do his Maths A level, but she says that it’s already been cancelled. Christopher is so upset that he doesn’t eat or sleep.

The next day, Judy and Christopher are about to get in the car to go to school when Mrs. Shears emerges to insult Judy. They drive away quickly. At school, Judy explains to Siobhan that Christopher is upset about the exam. Christopher draws a picture of a bus. After lunch, Siobhan tells Christopher that she’s spoken to Mrs. Gascoyne, and he might still be able to take the exam. Christopher is very tired and can’t think too well, but he decides he wants to take the exam anyway.

Reverend Peters comes that same afternoon to proctor the exam. When Christopher first looks at the questions, he can’t figure out any of them. He wants to hit or stab Reverend Peters, but he can’t because then Reverend Peters wouldn’t proctor the exam. Instead, Christopher takes deep breaths and cubes numbers to calm himself. He finishes the exam.

That evening, Ed comes back to the house. Christopher is frightened, so he lies out in the yard and looks at the stars. Ed comes outside, watches Christopher, and punches the fence.

The next day, Siobhan helps Christopher relax before he takes the next part of his exam. That night, Mr. Shears comes to the house, throws Judy’s belongings onto the sidewalk, and takes his car. As Mrs. Shears watches, Judy throws a box of cereal at the retreating car.

The following day, Christopher takes the last part of his exam. He wants to write how he solved his favorite question, but Siobhan tells him it isn’t very interesting for his readers. He feels better because he’s finished the exam, but he’s worried because it’s possible the examination board won’t accept it, since the exam was temporarily cancelled.

That evening, Ed comes to the house to ask Christopher how the exam went. Judy pleads with him to answer Ed’s questions, so Christopher tells him he’s not sure how well he did because he was tired. Ed tells Christopher he’s very proud of him.

The next week, Ed tells Judy she has to leave the flat, but she doesn’t have the money to do so. Christopher wants to know if the police will arrest Ed for killing Wellington, but Judy says they only will if Mrs. Shears presses charges. Finally, Judy gets a job and begins taking anti-depressants. She and Christopher move to a new house, but Christopher doesn’t like it because it smells strange.

Christopher is worried about his exam results. He doesn’t know what the future holds. Siobhan tells him to try not to think about the future. Judy buys him a puzzle for which he has to figure out how to detach two halves of a cylinder from each other. He also helps her paint her room, and he ends up having to cut paint out of his hair.

Christopher has to go to his father’s house after school, before his mother finishes work. He pushes his bed against the door so that Ed can’t get in, and he doesn’t answer when Ed tries to talk to him. Sometimes Ed sits outside the door for a long time. Toby dies of old age, and Christopher has to bury him in a pot because his mother doesn’t have a yard. He also solves the puzzle.

One day, when Judy comes to pick Christopher up at Ed’s house, Ed asks to talk to Christopher. Christopher doesn’t want him to, but Ed sets a timer for five minutes and starts talking. He tells Christopher how much it hurts to have him in the house but refusing to talk or trust his father. Ed says it’ll be their project for Christopher to spend time with him, and for him to prove himself trustworthy. He reveals that he’s gotten Christopher a present, and brings in a golden retriever puppy. The dog will stay with Ed, and Christopher can come take him for walks.

The next week, lightning hits a tree near Ed’s house, and men cut it up and take it away. Christopher finds out he got an A on his Maths A level, and he’s very happy. He names the dog Sandy and takes him for walks. When Judy gets sick, Christopher spends three days at Ed’s house, but he doesn’t mind because Sandy is there to protect him. He even plants a vegetable garden with Ed.

Christopher buys a book to study for the next A level test in math, and he plans to take A level Physics after that. Then he’ll go to university and bring Sandy, and he’ll become a scientist. He’s sure he can do all this because he went to London all alone, he solved the mystery of Wellington’s death, he found his mother, and he wrote a book.