Friday, September 28, 2007

Reaccuring Themes

Thank Faye for this times blog!

What are some motifs that you see in this book? How do you think it affects the character?

And I'm gonna piggy back her question and say:

Even though his father told Christopher to "stay out of other people's business," he still investigates the crime. Show some evidence that there may be deeper motivations as to why he is so persistent.


You can answer one or the other, or both!

7 comments:

Paigie-Paige said...

In the book you see many math problems and tables. Things that have to deal with logic. This motif proves that Christopher sees life in a logical way.

TCR said...

Math is definitely one of the motifs in this book. The chapters are prime numbers, and he relates his life around mathematics. He organize his daily schedule using time and he just loves taking high level math classes.

The fact that Christopher is autistic is probably why he was so persistent. Wikipedia says one of the symptoms of autism is restricted behavior, which is a tendency to focus on one interest. He really wanted to find out who killed the dog because he liked dogs. Usually for a mathematical person, one doesn't like to leave a problem unsolved or half way solved.

The Indonesian said...

Christopher prefers when events are organized and planned. He has the same schedule for everyday. He gets angry when something he has planned out is switched. For example, at the end of the book Christopher has a temper tantrum because his A Level Maths have been moved to next year.

One of his motifs is always knowing the exact time and date. Several times when he is recalling certain memories he knows the exact time, date, and year the event occurred. This motif causes Christoper to be precise. For example, when he is observing something he pays close attention and gives vivid details.

Mello Yello said...

Christopher wants to investigate the crime to find out about his mother.He investigates the people who are connected to his mother: Mr. and Mrs. Shanks. Also he'just has to know who killed the dog. He's always curious and will bend rules to find out anything he wants to know.

Humble Hippo said...

Plus, I feel logic in general is a motif. As you read, Christopher gives you his method of thinking. Pg 42 is a good example. He was thinking of the "Chain of Reasoning" and a lot of us ,who are not autistic, would see the end, but would not think about the process. So, we enter a situation haphazrdly and mahem occurs.

Quarantined said...

One of the major motifs, I think, is that everything in Christopher's life is done in a logical pattern and has a logical reason for doing.

I think the reason he continues to try and figure out who killed Wellington is because he needs to have some sort of "closure", I guess. He needs to find the killer so that the answer is solved. Just like any math problem that he explains about, the mystery behind Wellington's death needs to come to a logical conclusion and not just dropped.

rullfresh said...

Chris has reasons for everything he does and he says what's what. He likes order and facts to be known. I think that's why he's so concentrated on who killed the dog. He can't stand that the cops think he committed the crime. I don't understand why the cops don't believe him. He was so honest about hitting the cop; I don't think he would lie about not harming something else.

Math is a good symbol that represents Chris. It is simple and you only get one answer. Chris only gives one answer comments to a lot of questions he is asked. He sticks with his answers and doesn't let others influence him. When the cop asked him why he was holding the dog, he blatantly said, "because I like dogs."