However i feel that’s only a small part of what the story is actually telling us, it’s filled with hidden semantic meanings and other elements which are uncovered as one reads on, to describe it as a traditional murder mystery wouldn’t be giving the writer the credit he deserves, examples could include the struggle an aspergers sufferer has when trying to gain independence. Christopher’s goal in the novel resembles that of many teenage protagonists in coming-of-age stories: to become independent and find his role in the world. Because of his condition, Christopher cannot be as independent as he would like. Since he has trouble understanding other people, dealing with new environments, and making decisions when confronted with an overload of new information, for instance, he has difficulty going places by himself. When he feels frightened or overwhelmed, he has a tendency to essentially shut down, curling himself into a ball and trying to block out the world around him. Christopher, however, still has the typical teenage desire to do what he wants and take care of himself without anyone else telling him what to do. As a result, we see him rebelling against his father in the novel by lying and disobeying his father’s orders. We also see this desire for independence in Christopher’s dream of being one of the few people left on Earth, in which no authority figures are present, and in his planning for college, where he wants to live by himself. Christopher’s struggle to become independent primarily involves him gaining the self-confidence needed to do things on his own and moving beyond his very rigidly defined comfort zone. Solving Wellington’s murder figures into his efforts to be independent in that it forces Christopher to speak with a number of people he doesn’t know, which he finds uncomfortable, and it gives him confidence in his ability to solve problems on his own. The A-level math test also represents an avenue to independence for Christopher. By doing well on the test, Christopher can use the test to eventually get into college, allowing him to live on his own. Finally, Christopher’s harrowing trip to London serves as his greatest step toward independence. The trip epitomizes everything Christopher finds distressing about the world, such as dealing with social interactions, navigating new environments, and feeling overloaded with information. By overcoming these obstacles, he gains confidence in his ability to face any challenge on his own. Now Independence isn’t a trait which many aspergers sufferers possess, so for “Haddon” to convey such a trait within a character with so many flaws and disabilities is quite remarkable.
There’s also the use of Mathematical stimuli and Equations to create a purpose within the story which isn’t something which is used frequent if ever so one couldn’t really describe it as being traditional, These logic puzzles, math problems, and maps symbolize to Christopher the part of the world that is ordered and logical. Accordingly, Christopher uses these items as tools to organize his thinking, like when he uses the so-called Monty Hall problem to explain why his intuition regarding Mr. Shears has been wrong, and they serve as Christopher’s primary means of achieving a sense of security. These items recur continually throughout “The Curious Incident”, but they appear most often when Christopher encounters new information that he has not fully processed, or when he experiences a particularly confusing or disturbing event. When his thoughts become jumbled in the train station in Swindon, for instance, Christopher thinks of the visual riddle called Conway’s Soldiers to pass the time. He also regularly uses maps to navigate and achieve his goals. He uses a map when he searches the neighborhood for Wellington’s murderer, again when he attempts to find the train station in Swindon, and yet again in his effort to find Mother’s apartment when he arrives in London. In essence, these different items provide Christopher with a strategy to follow when a problem involves too many variables for him to reach a clear solution. (Now after delving deeper into the writer i’ve found that haddon himself is something of a genius with a remarkable IQ and being significantly highly skilled in mathematics so by incorporating all these pieces of mathematics into his writing he’s just showcasing his intelligence)
So In conclusion i wish to say that on first glance i would agree with the conception that this is a traditional murder mystery, all the signifiers are there, as i said, murder, deception, persistence. However after analyzing and conveying underlying information which isn’t forever apparent to every reader, i’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn't give the writer any justice to describe it traditional, when he’s adopting techniques one wouldn’t usually see, e.g the incorporation of mathematical stimulus in a piece of literature or what about conveying independence in someone who would usually need support and guidance.
