The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Writer's Methods and Techniques (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)

Writer’s Methods and Techniques

“Writer’s methods and techniques” is an umbrella term for any dramatic or literary decisions the playwright, Simon Stephens, makes to create meaning. Using Stephens's name throughout your response will help you to think about the text as a conscious construct and will keep reminding you to consider all of his choices. 

It is better to examine the play’s overall aims in your answer, and then support this with a range of Stephens's methods rather than limiting your analysis to individual words and phrases. Try to take a “whole-text” approach, which means looking for patterns across the play. 

Below are a few of the dramatic and literary methods and techniques used in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time:

• Form

• Structure

• Visual and sound effects

• Imagery and symbolism

Form

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time began as a novel written by Mark Haddon, and was adapted into a play by Simon Stephens. The play crosses genres; it can be considered a family drama, a detective or crime mystery and a bildungsroman. 

• Part one is a conventional mystery: a crime has been committed and the protagonist must solve the mystery and bring the villain to justice:

  • In this way, Stephens is able to show how a teenager with an autism spectrum disorder skilfully uses logic and deduction to solve a crime and find out the truth

  • In addition, this helps the protagonist, Christopher, grow in confidence

• However, by part two, Stephens shifts genre: the mystery is solved and the protagonist faces a dilemma:

  • His father admits he killed Wellington 

• In the play’s second part (the journey to independence), Stephens explores Christopher’s psychological and emotional turmoil, typical of a bildungsroman:

  • The protagonist’s perspective is given via monologue and narration of his book

  • His anxiety is acted out when he groans, screams, counts and curls “into a ball”

  • These scenes are tense as audiences watch distressed commuters interact with Christopher, try to help him or simply ignore him

• At the same time, the play examines family relationships by dramatically depicting not only the protagonist’s struggles but his parents’ challenges as well:

  • Stephens shows arguments, anxiety attacks and physical violence

  • It explores estrangement and heartbreak, and the challenges of parenthood

• While the play explores dark themes and depicts the emotional crises of many of its characters, it is comedic at times:

  • Irony, wit and slapstick comedy lighten its heavy themes

  • Christopher’s alternative perspectives are clever and funny

  • His blunt communication highlights his attitude that much of other people’s communication is meaningless, and that others, like his peers, are “stupid”

  • With Mrs Shears, his words are humorous in their matter-of-fact delivery: “I wanted to come and tell you that I didn’t kill Wellington”

Structure and setting

Stephens's choices regarding structure and setting reflect the turbulence of the protagonist’s journey and simultaneously present his intimate thoughts and feelings about past events. 

• The staging of the play is often used to highlight Christopher’s logical and ordered world:

  • The stage is often designed as a grid, which Christopher moves around 

• The play consists of multiple settings to reflect Christopher’s changing world, such as a kitchen, a train platform, Christopher’s school and the street outside his father’s house 

• By depicting events in continuous action without scene breaks, Stephens conveys the urgency of Christopher’s mission as well as the chaos of the experience:

  • Simultaneous action and monologue creates confusion, reflecting Christopher’s own state of mind

• Scenes shift back and forth between brief interactions in various settings:

  • The narration of Christopher’s book or remembered conversations occur while events are acted out on stage:

    • Because of this, it has been described as a play within a play

  • This technique offers an intimate understanding of Christopher and explains his behaviour and actions

• The play is divided into two parts to show Christopher’s development: 

  • The play begins in Swindon, on Christopher’s street or at home with his father

  • The second part depicts the journey to London and his time with his mother Judy

• The play’s events occur in chronological order:

  • This builds suspense, especially during the mystery

  • However, in part two, suspense is heightened on Christopher’s long journey through the narration of past events 

  • For example, audiences wonder what will happen when he gets to his mother’s house and meets the suspicious Mr Shears 

• The use of flashback enable Stephens to develop characterisation and show various perspectives, while still presenting it as part of the protagonist’s experiences:

  • Judy’s letters and Christopher’s memories of days at the beach present Judy as a kind and caring person before audiences meet her

• In the play’s resolution, Christopher is hopeful about the future and confident he will gain full autonomy

• In an entirely different style to the rest of the play, after the curtain has dropped Christopher returns to stage in a scene called “postscript”:

  • This ends the play on a light-hearted note as Christopher confidently addresses the audience and talks through a Maths problem from his A Level examination

Visual and sound effects

Stephens makes use of sound effects in particular to immerse the audience in the protagonist’s experiences and convey ideas about autism spectrum disorder. 

• Stephens's staging has been described as innovative physical theatre:

  • The play uses Christopher’s movements and body language to show ideas

  • For example, Ed and Christopher extend hands to press fingers, which reflects their intimate relationship and conveys ideas about autism spectrum disorder

• While Stephens does not direct this, many productions contain strobe lighting and very loud sound effects to convey Christopher’s sensory experiences: 

  • Often, the stage is presented as a black-and-white grid, with lighting to spotlight Siobhan’s narration or the words Christopher reads at the station 

• Stephens's stage directions ask that pre-recorded voices call out the names of all the signs and announcements: he presents this as repetitive, invisible voices:

  • Stephens's stage directions describe this becoming “cacophonous” (very loud)

  • This helps audiences experience Christopher’s confusion 

• In the last scene (the “postscript”), Stephens asks for “lights black” to indicate Christopher’s return to the stage

Imagery and symbolism

Stephens's play avoids imagery mostly in a bid to promote the logical and literal perspective of its protagonist, a teenager with an autism spectrum disorder. Instead, the play makes use of motif and symbolism to highlight key ideas.

• The characters’ style of dialogue presents many of the play’s ideas: 

  • Many of the characters swear to express their frustrations

  • Sometimes this adds light relief to the play and other times it shows aggression

  • In contrast to the colloquial language of other characters, Christopher's speech is literal and formal and he speaks factually

  • He avoids contractions and says “I have” and “I am”, for example

• Christopher tells Siobhan, his teacher, that he does not understand a metaphor:

  • Still, he uses imagery to describe the sky and stars

  • He uses a simile, describing the explosion of stars to “a ball that has been thrown into the air”

• Stephens uses motifs and symbolism to highlight aspects of Christopher’s autism spectrum disorder:

  • Christopher compares himself to Sherlock Holmes (they both observe things other people do not notice), which offers an alternative perspective on his disorder

  • His faith in the completely random appearance of certain coloured cars shows Christopher’s ability to put faith in things outside of his control

  • Nevertheless, Christopher uses coloured cars to take control of his world

  • Seeing four yellow cars is a bad omen, a “Black Day”, and he takes the decision to eat nothing and sit in the corner of his room all day

  • He attributes cars and colours with luck; for example, he attributes the colour red with good luck

• Stephens uses the motif of animals in the play to represent Christopher’s values and empathy, often showing other people as cold and callous in contrast:

  • Christopher alone resolves to solve the mystery of Wellington’s murder, while others seem to dismiss the dog’s death

  • Christopher likes Mrs Alexander because she looks after her dachshund

  • He tries to save his pet rat, Toby, by jumping onto train tracks and risking his life

  • Christopher finds comfort with dogs, describing them as honest, loyal and easy to understand, unlike people 

  • Ed gives Christopher a labrador, Sandy, which rebuilds their relationship 

• The play draws attention to positive aspects of autism spectrum disorder with multiple mathematical and scientific references:

  • Christopher’s advanced scientific knowledge is illustrated in his passionate asides about astronauts, aliens and the relationship between time and space

  • Christopher enjoys the feeling of being small, and looks up at the stars when he feels distressed as a way to place things in perspective 

  • For him, space and the stars remind him that there is something larger than the earth and its strange social order

  • His resilience regarding his A Level exam (an advanced test that Christopher is taking a year earlier than usual), shows he has high expectations for himself

  • The last scene, titled “postscript”, suggests Christopher’s confidence and potential as a result of his talents