Mr. Boone’s Character

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CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS

This chapter is divided into two parts. Both of them are based on the problem stated in the previous chapter. The first part discusses about Mr. Boone who is presented in the novel. It aims to answer the question about the way Mr. Boone is described in this novel. I apply the theory of character and characterization in this part. Then, the second part describes the motives of Ed Boone for killing Wellington. This part aims to answer the question related to Mr. Boone’s motives for killing the dog. In order to reach the aim of this part, I use theory of personality structure and defense mechanism to help me answer the questions.

4.1 Mr. Boone’s Character

I use theory of character and characterization to analyze the way used by Mark Haddon in describing Mr. Boone. The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time uses several ways to describe Mr. Boone. Those are characters as seen by another, speech, reaction, and conversation of others Murphy 161-173. Henkle notes that there are two kinds of character. Those are major character and minor character 92-97. Mr. Boone is included as one of the major characters. The reason is because he plays as one of the important characters in this novel and also has big influence to the whole story. Mark Haddon also describes him as one who has static character because there is no changing in his character. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon describes Mr. Boone as a heating engineer who runs a business with his partner, Rhodri. They do heating maintenance and boiler repair. In his daily life, he lives in Swindon, Wiltshire with his son. Actually he has a wife named Judy Boone but he does not live with her anymore. From their marriage, they have one child named Christopher John Francis Boone who has asperger syndrome. Furthermore, in order to build Mr. Boone’s personality, the author describes this character according to the following points. 4.1.1 Loving Here, loving means the father’s love to his son as seen in Mr. Boone. Although his son has asperger syndrome, meaning he does not understand emotions and feelings and has difficulty to communicate with others, Mr. Boone still cares for him. The author describes Christopher as an autistic boy who has different characteristic from common people. Realizing that condition, as a father who really loves his son, Mr. Boone is willing to behave as to what his son wants. There are some evidences that can be found in the novel. One of the examples is when Mr. Boone comes to see Christopher in prison. I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me. 16 From the situation above, Mark Haddon characterizes Mr. Boone as a person who really cares for his son’s condition. Whatever happens to his son, he can control his emotion. He does an action that makes his son feel safe. While he wants to hug his son, he does not do it. Instead, he does what his son’s wants. He prefers to hold his right hand and spread his fingers out than to hug his son. His action shows the sincere feeling of parent to his child. The other evidences happen in his daily life. Mr. Boone always prepares Christopher’s daily needs. He cares for every detail because he knows exactly what his son’s needs and wants are. One of the evidences is when he invites his son to the zoo. He prepares everything well. …he made me some sandwiches with white bread and tomatoes and lettuce and ham and strawberry jam for me to eat because I don’t like eating food from places I don’t know. And he said it would be OK because there wouldn’t be too many people at the zoo because it was forecast to rain, and I was glad about that because I don’t like crowd of people and I like it when it is raining. 85 A good preparation means that Mr. Boone has to plan a condition in a good order so that his son will feel comfortable. Beginning with a simple thing like food, Mr. Boone makes Christopher’s favorite food. He is also aware of the situation, which Christopher dislikes. Mr. Boone knows that his son does not like crowds of people. Then, he thinks that in the rain only a few people will come to visit the zoo. That is why he chooses to go to the zoo on the raining day. Moreover, Mark Haddon tells the readers directly how much Mr. Boone loves his son. Mark Haddon tells this through Mr. Boon’s direct speech. And Father said, “I love you very much, Christopher. Don’t ever forget that. And I know I lose my rag occasionally. I know I get angry. I know I shout. And I know I shouldn’t. But I only do it because I worry about you, because I don’t want to see you getting into trouble, because I don’t want you to get hurt. Do you understand?” 86 From this speech, Mr. Boone explores that he loves his son very much. Because of his love, he wants to protect his son from trouble. Unfortunately, sometimes he looks to be over protective to his son. He tells Christopher some big lies because of his worry. He tells Christopher that Mrs. Boone has to go to hospital. “Your mother has had to go to into hospital” 23. Besides, the worst lie that he tells to Christopher is about the death of Judy. Father said that she died of a heart attack and it wasn’t expected. I said, “What kind of heart attack?” because I was surprised. Mother was only 38 years old and heart attacks usually happen to older people, and Mother was very active and rode a bicycle and ate food which was healthy and high in fiber and low in saturated fat like chicken and vegetable and muesli. Father said that he didn’t know what kind of heart attack she has and now wasn’t the moment to be asking questions like that. 27 Mr. Boone decides to lie because he thinks that it is better if Christopher does not know the true condition of his mother. He assumes it is the best way so that it will not hurt Christopher. He also thinks that this is not the right time to tell Christopher that his mother has an affair and left him. In addition, to complete the description of Mr. Boone, in this case is his love to his son, Mark Haddon uses direct statement coming from Christopher’s view. “…father looks after me when I get into trouble, like coming to the police station and he looks after me by cooking meals for me …. which means that he loves me.” 87 Once again, the author states an evidence of a big love coming from Mr. Boone to his lovely son. Not only by word but also by an action, Mr. Boone shares his love to Christopher. 4.1.2 Patient The word patient here indicates one’s characteristic that is patient while dealing with his son and his wife. In this novel, Mr. Boone is a patient person. He is a person who is the most levelheaded in his family. Dealing with an autistic boy, who has special characteristic, is not easy. “He is unable to recognize different feelings and faces of express them, apart from very basic emotions like laughing and crying” Arnaiz 2006. That is why someone who deals with this person should have extra patience. A parent, who has an autistic son, has many difficulties in controlling emotion and feeling Robledo and Ham-Kurcharski 1-5. This is what happens to Mr. Boone. He has to control his emotion and his feeling in dealing with his son. This also means that he has to be patience. Mark Haddon characterizes Mr. Boone as a patient person. It can be proven when Christopher gives a statement that his father is a levelheaded person. “…father was a more levelheaded person, which means he didn’t get angry as quickly and he didn’t shout as often” 82. Besides, as a husband he behaves as a patient person. I’m not like your father. Your father is a much more patient person. He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn’t let it show. But that is not the way I am and there’s nothing I can do to change that. 106 This statement is said by Mrs. Boone in her letter, which is addressed to Christopher. By looking at Judy’s statement, I can conclude that Mr. Boone is more patient than her. The other good side of Mr. Boone is his patience in preparing Christopher’s needs. For someone who has asperger syndrome, heshe needs extra care and attention. Mr. Boone acts carefully in his speech and behavior while dealing with his beloved son. The example is when he wants to put shelves up in the living room. At that time, Christopher is watching television. Hence, he decides to transmit the information carefully to avoid misunderstanding between them. Then father said, “I’m going to put those shelves up in the living room, if that’s all right with you. I’ll make a bit of racket, I’m afraid, so if you want to watch television we’re going to have to shift it upstairs. And I said, “I’ll go and be on my own in my room.” And he said, “Good man.” 96 This conversation shows Mr. Boone’s effort to deal with his son. Since he knows that a person who has asperger syndrome has difficulty in communicating with others, Mr. Boone speaks clearly and carefully to make Christopher understand. Moreover Christopher only wants to hear clear instruction because it will not make him confused. The other proof is illustrated in Ed Boone’s behavior. He is able to prepare Christopher’s daily needs. The example is when he prepares Christopher’s supper. He cooks food, which his son likes even though it is not always easy to prepare. And father said, “Excellent, excellent. What do you fancy for chow tonight?” Chow is food. I said I wanted baked beans and broccoli. 96 He has to cook the kinds of food that his son wants. If he refuses to do it his son will not want to eat. Not all people can do what Ed Boone does. We can see the example from what has been done by Judy when she does not give Christopher his favorite food. And then you and me had that argument. Do you remember? It was about your supper one evening. I’d cook you something and you wouldn’t eat it. And you hadn’t eaten for days and days and you were looking so thin. And you started to shout and I get cross and I threw the food across the room …. and afterward, at home, your father and I had a huge argument…. And he said I should just give you what you wanted, even if it was just a plate of lettuce or a strawberry milk shake. 108 We can see clearly how Judy reacts to her son when there is a problem between them. The statement above shows that Judy cannot control her temper. In contrast, Mr. Boone believes that actually she can avoid having problem with his son. Dealing with this situation Mr. Boone argues that giving Christopher what he wants, though sometimes it seems not healthy, is a must. 4.1.3 Honest Here, the word honest describes a father who always tells the truth to his son. Mark Haddon creates Mr. Boone as an honest person. It can be indicated by looking at what he has done for his son. For example when he shares to his son how much he loves him, he says it directly. As strong as his direct statement to his son, the author also describes Mr. Boone’s honesty by Christopher’s opinion of his father. He states that his father is an honest person because what he says is always the truth, “…he always tells the truth…” 87. The interesting part is when Mark Haddon develops Mr. Boone’s personality. Sometimes Mr. Boone cannot handle his temper. This moment only happens in certain condition. The example is when Christopher begins to find out the information about Wellington being killed. “Christopher you have to stay out of trouble, Ok?” “It’s only a bloody dog, Christopher, a bloody dog.” “Leave it.” 20 Then father banged the steering wheel with his fist and the car weaved a little bit across the dotted line in the middle of the road and he shouted, “I said leave it, for God’s sake.” 21 “I will not have that man’s name mentioned in my home.” I asked, “Why not?” And he said, “That man is evil…” “OK, Christopher. I am going to say this for the last and the final time. I will not tell you again. Look at me when I’m talking to you, for God’s shake. Look at me. You are not to go shaking Mr. Shears who killed that bloody dog. You are not to go anyone about who killed that bloody dog. You are not to go trespassing in other people’s garden. You are to stop this ridiculous bloody detective game right now.” 49-50 If I see the basic character that Mr. Boone has, I indicate that he has strong reason why he becomes sensitive and angry. Actually, the reason is really simple. He is an honest person. It means he has difficulty to be a liar. When he becomes a liar there will be a guilty feeling. As a result, the guilty feeling becomes a force that stimulates his high temper. It happens when he tries to hide his guilty feeling but the condition does not support. For example, in this case, Mr. Boone does not want to let Christopher know that he is the murderer of the dog. Then to cover it, he creates some lies and rules, which must be followed by Christopher. These rules contain everything connected to the dead dog. It also means that Mr. Boone does not want to hear anything about Mr. Shears to whom the dog belongs. However, Christopher breaks the rules. He breaks them because of his curiosity of the dead dog. He really wants to find the murderer of the dog. Unfortunately, this situation definitely makes Mr. Boone angry with him. So the main idea in this case is like this, when Mr. Boone is angry with Christopher it means that he wants to cover the bad things, which he has done. The reason is because it is hard for him to tell the true condition to his son. Besides, he feels guilty too. “…some people may lie or hide his feelings because of social expectation…” Huffman, J. Vernoy, M. Vernoy 409. Moreover his son believes that his father always tells the truth. He indirectly feels under pressure of what his son believes. There were tears coming out of his eyes. “Are you sad about Wellington?” he looked at me for a long time and sucked air in through his nose. Then he said, “Yes Christopher, you could say that. You could very well say that.” I decided to leave him alone because when I am sad I want to be left alone. 21 This situation happens after Mr. Boone gets angry with Christopher because he states that he is going to find out the murderer of the dog. In the early morning when Christopher wants to have a drink, he sees his father drinking scotch and watching the television. Suddenly, the tears come out of his eyes. This example indicates that actually Mr. Boone also feels guilty about what he has done to Wellington. Then, to cover it he becomes a liar and a sensitive person who will easily to get angry if someone asks everything about the dead dog. 4.1.4 Tidy The word tidy indicates a person who loves something arranged in a good order. Besides being a loving, patient, and honest father, Mr. Boone is a tidy person. He always arranges many things in a good order. He arranges his household goods and Christopher’s daily needs in a nice order. His behavior also shows that he is a tidy person. I said that when father got up in the morning he always put his trousers on before he put his socks on and it wasn’t logical but he always did it that way, because he liked things in a nice order, too. Also whenever he went upstairs he went up two at a time, always staring with his right foot. 24 FORCES FORCES MEDIATOR MEDIATOR The statements above are said by Christopher to describe his father. In that moment, actually Christopher wants to point out that he has a similarity with his father. Both of them like something in a good order.

4.2 The Hidden Reasons of Ed Boone to Kill the Dog