Haddon's hybrid murder mystery novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" (TCI) portrays the core ideas and themes apparent in the novel in relation to difference through the protagonist and hence highlights the vastly distinctive qualities that are found in this novel. These main ideas of difficulties faced by people with a disability, trust in relationships and themes of mathematics all convey Christopher's difference through Haddon positioning us readers to see through his eyes.
Mark Haddon explicitly conveys provocative ideas of the difficulties faced by people with a disability as well as portraying the ideas and themes of difference through the main protagonist 'Christopher Boone'. Christopher is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and in result carries complex and distinctive needs. Christopher requires order, stability and truth which in effect gives reasons for his lack of emotional intelligence and limited social skills. His first person, dead pan narration "I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating" shows an insight of his emotional status and hence introduces the difficulties he would face socially and emotionally in everyday life. The prime numbered chapters highlights the main theme of mathematics, Christopher believes that it is more complex than many people realise "maths wasn't like life because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end". This juxtaposition showcases Christopher's confusion towards the social world and positions us readers to see what life is like through Christopher's eyes including his struggles and hardships with relationships. Christopher's struggle to interact with others and understand such a highly social society is explored further as he receives a graphic description of mood faces from his teacher Siobhan, hoping that this might help him with social interactions.