Short Chapters

Short Chapters Are Better For A First Person Story

In the book, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon, he uses very small chapters to break up his work. Sometimes they range from being a paragraph to being more than 10 pages. He does not even use the usual format of how chapters break up the story. He will put the number with no title right below other writing. It doesn’t just use a blank page on the left, then a page on the right with the chapter number and title, then some words underneath going on to the next page. He might just put it in the middle, or bottom, or top. This book is in first person which is very key to using these short chapters. The effect that the chapters had on the first person story, really lets the character decide to break up his story, and it felt a lot more free flowing. It was better to read it like this because you lived each day with him, giving insight on what everything was going on. It made the book faster and I feel like this is a strong new tool for first person stories. The short chapters enhance the first person story, and should be used more.

Early off in the book, he gets to chapter five which was only on the third page. The previous chapter before the fifth one only lasted for five short paragraphs explaining his relationship with his neighbor Siobhan and how she treated him. He says that he likes her and how she takes care of him, and what she reads and draws for him. That is all what that chapter was about. Chapter five, was also very short. It only lasted for a paragraph but it made the book progress through a scene that could be very large. “5. I pulled the fork out of the dog and lifted him into my arms and hugged him. He was leaking blood from the fork holes. I like dogs. You always know what dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk.” (End of chapter). This chapter was very concise. It had only a total of six sentences, and it made it very easy to understand what the character thought. This chapter could be a lot longer but it didn’t have to be. The writer captured everything you needed to know about Christopher helping out the dog. If it was a regular chapter that would be long, he would have gone on and on about the dogs blood, not necessary literary elements, and too much of a description.

The short chapters being used by Mark Haddon are very elaborate and enjoyed by many of other readers. In many reviews, they talk about how great of a first person story this is. Christopher is autistic, and many people picked up on this through out the book. It was really good to get the inside look of someone with autism and their inside thoughts. Making the chapters shorter was really well fitting. Also, with how the chapters are numbered which are all prime numbers. Christopher likes to solve puzzles and is very smart with numbers. In the beginning of the book he says “Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.” This made the book very interesting on top of the short chapters. I only say first person because this is what comes straight out of a character's mouth and how he wants to tell the story, unlike a third person story where the narrator is only going into detail about the events that take place, and that they have to break it up in to different parts of the story.

Christopher’s chapter numbers were a great way to communicate how he felt about numbers and how much he likes to solve puzzles. He has a great knack for numbers and what they mean to him. The prime numbers really enhanced the story, and same with the way how they were short. It was a great way to really understand someone with autism because I know from friends that do have it, that they really like numbers and are good with them as well. Sometimes, they might talk about one thing extensively or keep it very short. Thats how the chapters were set up, and everything they did was a real masterpiece and put the story together so much better. An online source explains the chapters very well and how they work. “Equally, Christopher chooses to give his chapters prime numbers because he likes them: they mean something to him. He does not choose prime numbers because they have significance for someone else, like his name meaning carrying Christ. Also like him, prime numbers do not fit in with a typical or easy pattern - they are difficult to identify and they are a rule unto no one.” This describes very well of how the chapters play out. The chapters are a representation of him, not just a story. They hold a meaning that relates just to him and no one else. On top of them holding a meaning to what he likes and what he is good at, they are short too which makes it even better. If these went on for a while, the prime numbers wouldn’t be as powerful because he doesn’t get to show an abundance of them if he wrote long chapters which would mean there would be less. Short prime numbered chapters played out amazingly in this book.