xi ABSTRACT
Kumara, Raditya W. 2008. A Study of Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflicts As Seen in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program. Department of Language and Arts Education. Faculty of Teachers Training and Education. Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses the life of an autistic boy, Christopher, the main character in Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This study aimed to find out how Christopher, the main character, is described in the novel, Christopher’s characteristics as an autistic boy, and how he solves his interpersonal conflict as an autistic boy.
This is a library research, conducted through reviewing several theories that are related to the study. Those theories are taken from secondary resources while the primary data is the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. In this study, psychological approach was applied.
The result of the analysis showed that Christopher is the main character in the novel and he is autistic. Christopher, as an autistic boy, also has certain characteristics. He does not like being touched by other people even his parents. He does not like novel object. He has difficulty to interact with other people. It is also hard for him to understand and to use facial expressions and body languages. He has difficulties in understanding spoken language. He has low desire to earn approval of other people. He also has his own way of thinking.
Christopher who is autistic also faces many conflicts with other people. First, he faces conflicts with his neighbors. Second, he faces conflict with the policemen. Third, he faces conflict with his father. Fourth, he also faces conflict with his mother. To solve his interpersonal conflicts, Christopher applies some strategies like mediation, avoidance, informal problem-solving discussion, non-violence approach, non-violence approach.
xii
ABSTRAK
Kumara, Raditya W. 2008. A Study of Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflict As Seen in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Departemen Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni. Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan. Universitas Sanata Dharma.Yogyakarta.
Studi ini membahas kehidupan seorang anak autis, Christopher, tokoh utama dalam novel karangan Mark Haddon yang berjudul The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Studi ini bertujuan untuk menemukan bagaimana Christoper, sang tokoh utama, digambarkan dalam novel ini, untuk mengetahui bagaimana Christoper digambarkan sebagai seorang anak autis dan untuk mengetahui bagaimana Christopher menyelesaikan konflik antara dirinya dengan orang lain sebagai seorang anak autis.
Skripsi ini merupakan studi pustaka yang dilakukan dengan cara memakai teori-teori yang berhubungan dengan skripsi ini. Teori - teori tersebut berasal dari buku - buku yang merupakan sumber sekunder. Adapun yang menjadi sumber primer dari studi ini adalah sebual novel karangan Mark Haddon yang berjudul The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Dalam studi ini pendekatan psikologis di terapkan.
Hasil dari analisis menunjukan bahwa Christopher adalah tokoh utama dalam novel ini dan dia adalah seorang autis. Christopher, sebagai seorang anak autis, juga mempunyai karakter tertentu. Dia tidak suka disentuh oleh orang lain. Dia tidak suka benda baru. Dia mempunyai kesulitan untuk berinteraksi dengan orang lain. Sangat sulit bagi nya untuk memahami expresi muka dan bahasa tubuh. Dia meiliki kesulitan dalam memahami pembicaraan. Dia mempunyai hasrat yang rendah untuk mendapatkan persetujuan orang lain. Dia juga mempunyai cara berpikir sendiri. Christopher yang autis ini juga menghadapi banyak konflik dengan orang lain. Pertama, dia menghadapi konflik dengan tetangganya. Kedua, Dia menghadapi konflik dengan Polisi. Ketiga, Dia menhadapi konflik dengan ayahnya. keempat, dia menghadapi konflik dengan ibunya. untuk menyelesaikan konflik-konfliknya Christopher menerapkan beberapa strategi seperti halnya mediasi, penghindaran, diskusi informal tentang masalah dan solusinya, pendekatan anti kekerasan, dan juga pendekatan kekerasan.
i
A STUDY OF CHRISTOPHER'S INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS
AS SEEN IN MARK HADDON’S
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree
In English Language Education
By:
Raditya Wahyu Kumara
Student Number: 031214111
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
iv
Where there is a
will, there is always
a way.
(Anonymous)
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Allah Swt. I thank Him for His blessing. For that reason I can finish my thesis.
Second, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my major sponsor, Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Yuliwarsono, M. Hum. for giving me part of his time reading my thesis and guiding me patiently. I would also like to thank all lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program for their help and guidance during my study in Sanata Dharma University.
Third, I wish to express my greatest appreciation to my beloved parents, Sri widadjati and Suradi, for their endless attention and prayers to support me during my study. I would like to say thanks to my older sister, Upik, for the inspiration and for supporting me. I would also like to thank my lovely Cipluk for her support, patient, love and advice.
Fourth, my special thanks are dedicated to: Melani, Andreas Yoga, Arinto, Grace, Cherly, Aji, Paul, Ambar, Yuli, Wisnu, Deta, Yoga and Timur for the finest and craziest time we have spent together day or night. And also to “Canteen” and “Tunggorono” community, especially Boy, Sinta et. al..
Finally, I would like to thank them who I cannot mention them one by one for their supports, time, advice, and prayers.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
TITLE PAGE……….i
PAGE OF APPROVAL………ii
PAGE OF ACCEPTANCE………..iii
PAGE OF DEDICATION………iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY………v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……….. vi
TABLE OF CONTENT……….. vii
ABSTRACT……….. xi
ABSTRAK……… xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study………1
B. Objectives of the Study………..4
C. Problem Formulation………..4
D. Benefits of the Study………..5
E. Definition of Terms……….5
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Review of Related Theories………7
viii
a. Definition of Character………. 7
b. Kinds of Character ………... 8
2. Characterization……….... 9
a. Definition of Characterization………... 9
b. Methods of Characterization……….. 10
3. Approaches……….. 12
4. Conflict………..……14
a. Definition of Conflict……….…….. 14
b. Types of Conflict ………..…… 14
c. Theory of Conflict Resolution………..………15
B. Criticism……… 22
C. Theoretical Framework……… 23
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Subject Matter……….. 25
B. Approach………...26
C. Procedure………...27
CHAPHER IV ANALYSIS A. The Description of Christopher………29
B. Christopher’s Characteristics as an Autistic Boy……….30
ix
a. Christopher’s Social Learning Disabilities………31
1) Lack of Awareness of Others………31
2) Lack of Social and Emotional Reciprocity………...33
3) Lack of Social Imitation………...34
b. Christopher’s Communicative Learning Disabilities………35
1) Deficits in Understanding Body Language and Facial Expression…..35
2) Deficits in Expressive Body Language and Facial Expressiveness…..37
3) Deficit in Understanding Spoken Language……….38
c. Christopher’s non- Social Learning Disabilities………...39
1) Lack of Imagination in Play……….39
2) Stereotyped and Repetitive Interest……….…41
C. Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflict……….42
1. Christopher versus His Neighbors………43
2. Christopher versus The policemen………45
3. Christopher versus His Father………...49
4. Christopher versus His Mother……….55
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions……….58
B. Suggestions………..60
1. Suggestion for Future Researchers………..61
x
The Implementation in Teaching Speaking………..62
BIBLIOGRAPHY………....64
LIST OF APPENDICES
xi ABSTRACT
Kumara, Raditya W. 2008. A Study of Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflicts As Seen in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program. Department of Language and Arts Education. Faculty of Teachers Training and Education. Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses the life of an autistic boy, Christopher, the main character in Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This study aimed to find out how Christopher, the main character, is described in the novel, Christopher’s characteristics as an autistic boy, and how he solves his interpersonal conflict as an autistic boy.
This is a library research, conducted through reviewing several theories that are related to the study. Those theories are taken from secondary resources while the primary data is the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. In this study, psychological approach was applied.
The result of the analysis showed that Christopher is the main character in the novel and he is autistic. Christopher, as an autistic boy, also has certain characteristics. He does not like being touched by other people even his parents. He does not like novel object. He has difficulty to interact with other people. It is also hard for him to understand and to use facial expressions and body languages. He has difficulties in understanding spoken language. He has low desire to earn approval of other people. He also has his own way of thinking.
Christopher who is autistic also faces many conflicts with other people. First, he faces conflicts with his neighbors. Second, he faces conflict with the policemen. Third, he faces conflict with his father. Fourth, he also faces conflict with his mother. To solve his interpersonal conflicts, Christopher applies some strategies like mediation, avoidance, informal problem-solving discussion, non-violence approach, non-violence approach.
xii
ABSTRAK
Kumara, Raditya W. 2008. A Study of Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflict As Seen in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Departemen Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni. Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan. Universitas Sanata Dharma.Yogyakarta.
Studi ini membahas kehidupan seorang anak autis, Christopher, tokoh utama dalam novel karangan Mark Haddon yang berjudul The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Studi ini bertujuan untuk menemukan bagaimana Christoper, sang tokoh utama, digambarkan dalam novel ini, untuk mengetahui bagaimana Christoper digambarkan sebagai seorang anak autis dan untuk mengetahui bagaimana Christopher menyelesaikan konflik antara dirinya dengan orang lain sebagai seorang anak autis.
Skripsi ini merupakan studi pustaka yang dilakukan dengan cara memakai teori-teori yang berhubungan dengan skripsi ini. Teori - teori tersebut berasal dari buku - buku yang merupakan sumber sekunder. Adapun yang menjadi sumber primer dari studi ini adalah sebual novel karangan Mark Haddon yang berjudul The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Dalam studi ini pendekatan psikologis di terapkan.
Hasil dari analisis menunjukan bahwa Christopher adalah tokoh utama dalam novel ini dan dia adalah seorang autis. Christopher, sebagai seorang anak autis, juga mempunyai karakter tertentu. Dia tidak suka disentuh oleh orang lain. Dia tidak suka benda baru. Dia mempunyai kesulitan untuk berinteraksi dengan orang lain. Sangat sulit bagi nya untuk memahami expresi muka dan bahasa tubuh. Dia meiliki kesulitan dalam memahami pembicaraan. Dia mempunyai hasrat yang rendah untuk mendapatkan persetujuan orang lain. Dia juga mempunyai cara berpikir sendiri. Christopher yang autis ini juga menghadapi banyak konflik dengan orang lain. Pertama, dia menghadapi konflik dengan tetangganya. Kedua, Dia menghadapi konflik dengan Polisi. Ketiga, Dia menhadapi konflik dengan ayahnya. keempat, dia menghadapi konflik dengan ibunya. untuk menyelesaikan konflik-konfliknya Christopher menerapkan beberapa strategi seperti halnya mediasi, penghindaran, diskusi informal tentang masalah dan solusinya, pendekatan anti kekerasan, dan juga pendekatan kekerasan.
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of five chapters. They are background of the study, objectives of the study, problem formulation, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The background of the Study covers the reasons of choosing the novel and the topic. The second section talks about the objectives of the study to answer the problem formulation. The third one is problem formulation, which gives general description of the problem that will be analyzed in this study. The fourth one describes the advantages of the study. Finally, definition of term explains the meaning of some important terms related to the study.
A. Background of the Study
As human beings, we realize that we do not live alone in this world. There are also other people who live in this world. A person can not live without other people. He should interact with other people. He needs to build relations with other people. However, this condition may lead to the fact that he might get into conflict. The interaction between he and other people may cause him to have conflict within himself or with other people.
force (363). Worchel and Cooper, in their bookUnderstanding Social Psychology, state that there are two types of conflicts they are interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict (460). Jones and Gerard say that intrapersonal conflict is a conflict within an individual because of incompatibility within himself, whereas Raven and Kruglanski see interpersonal conflict as tension between two or more social entities, such as; individual, groups, or larger organizations, which arise from incompatibility of actual or desired responses (qtd. in worchel and cooper 460). Based on the definition of conflict above, it can be concluded that inner conflict and external conflict which are found in literary context have the same meaning as intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict in the context of psychology.
Conflicts can also be portrayed in literary works, such as a novel, because literary works are other copied versions of human reality in real life. Therefore, they portray realities of human life. Conflicts make a story become more interesting and fascinating to the readers (Hudson 10).
how Christopher, an autistic boy, solves his conflict with other people around him.
The story tells about a 15 year-old boy named Christopher who is autistic. He lives with his father, a heating contractor. He lives in Swindon, a city in England. One day he finds his neighbor's dog named Wellington killed. Since he loves it, it is important for him to find the murderer. He decides to solve the mystery. However his father wants Christopher to stay away from a problem. Although his father forbids him to do the investigation, Christopher still keeps continuing the investigation. He also writes his investigation about the incident of the dog in a book.
finds his mother and lives with her. But one day, he has to go back to his home town to do his A math level. He goes back to his hometown with his mother because he is still afraid of his father. At the end of the story he succeeds in doing his A math level.
This novel uses the first person “I”. The narrator creates a character in which he puts himself as the autistic boy. From this novel, we can see what it is like to be an autistic boy because by reading this novel it seems that we explore the world of autism by ourselves. We can also see Christopher's perception and feelings about things that happen in his life. I believe that this novel is very interesting to analyze because it does not only show us how an autistic boy behaves in his daily life but also how an autistic boy behaves in solving the conflicts.
B. The Objectives of the Study.
The aim of this study is first to find out the description of Christopher as the main character in the novel. Second is to find out the characteristics of Christopher as an autistic boy. Third is to find out the conflicts that Christopher faces and to analyze how he deals with his interpersonal conflicts.
C. Problem Formulation
In this section, there are two problems that arise into discussion. They are formulated as follows:
1. How is Christopher described in the novel?
3. How does Christopher solve his interpersonal conflicts?
D. Benefits of the Study
There are some advantages of this study. First, analyzing this novel gives me more information about Literature and autism. I know more about the characteristics of an autistic child, how he behaves toward other people and how he solves his intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts.
The second benefit is for those who are interested in literary work. This study can help them understand how the writer characterizes the character and the message, which the writer is going to present for readers.
The third benefit is for the readers of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. They can use this study as a reference in analyzing a literary work.
E. Definition of Terms
This section deals with the important terms used in this study to avoid any misunderstanding when reading this study. The terms are described as follows: 1. Character
the main character in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
2. Interpersonal Conflict
According to Redman conflict refers to the struggle between two opposing forces, idea and belief (363). There are two kinds of conflict, interpersonal conflict and intrapersonal conflict. Redman also states that Interpersonal conflict refers to a struggle between the protagonist and an outside force (363). In this study, interpersonal conflict refers to Christopher’s interpersonal conflicts, conflicts which happen between Christopher as the main character of the novel with other people around him.
3. Autism
7 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter discusses the theories that are used to analyze the topic of this study. This chapter is divided into three sections, namely review of related theories, criticism, and context of the novel. Review of related theories consists of theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of approaches and theory of conflict. Criticism contains some criticism on Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Theoretical framework explains how the theories in review of related theories are employed to answer the questions in the problem formulation.
A. Review of Related Theories
1. Character
a. Definition of Character
Character is a person who does the action in a story. From characters, the reader can enjoy the development of the story from beginning to the end. Fictional characters of a story will lead the reader to imagine or may experience the course and the emotional aspects of the story through their action and their dialogue (Stanton 17).
b. Kinds of Character
Forster states that there are two kinds of characters, flat and round characters. A flat character is simple and there is not much individualizing detail in this character (74). Forster also says that this kind of character is flat because the readers see only one side of him. Round character is more complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle individuality. Therefore, it is difficult to describe this kind of character. This character is more or less the same as a person in real life and has the capability of surprising us.
Based on Forster’s statement about kinds of characters, the character can be recognized from their complexity. A flat character does not have a complexity in the sense that there are not much traits or individualizing details in him. Therefore, general readers can recognize this character without any difficulty. Furthermore, a round character is more complex than a flat character. Readers do not easily recognize a round character because this character can change his personality into someone that we do not expect before.
the content of the story. He plays from the beginning till the end of the story and influences the whole story, so his appearance is more often than the other characters. From his action, the idea of the story is conveyed. While minor characters are characters who plays less important role than major characters. Their appearance supports the main character to develop the story so that they appear only in a certain setting (155).
A major character is the centre of the story because he endures problems, conflict, happiness and sorrow. From his actions, the reader knows the author's messages of the story. A minor character does not play a big role in a story, it is because the minor characters do not play significant roles in the story.
2. Characterization
a. Definition of Characterization
that they exist for the readers as lifelike” (81). In other words, characterization is the way the author shows and tries to make his characters alive and understandable for the readers as a realistic in his literary work such as a novel. b. Methods of Characterization
According to Rohrberger and Woods, Jr, there are two principal ways that can be used by an author to describe his characters; they are direct means by which the author uses description of physical appearances, intellectual, and moral attributes, or the degree of character sensitivity and dramatic means which means that the author places his character in certain situations to show who they are from the way they behave or speak (20).
Murphy proposes that there nine ways of describing characters in a story (161– 173). Those are described as follows:
1) Personal description
A character is described through the details of his physical appearance such as face, skin, body, clothes, and hair cut.
2) Character as seen by another
The author illustrates the character from the point of view of another character or person.
3) Speech
4) Past life
The author gives a clue to events, which happened in the characters past life, that shape a person’s character through direct comment, the readers thought, or conversation through the medium of another person.
5) Conversation of others
The reader would know the person’s character through the conversation of the people and the things they say about the person.
6) Reaction
The author also gives the readers a clue by letting us know how the character reacts toward various situations and events as a way to describe the character.
7) Direct comment
The author gives comment to the character personality directly. 8) Thought
The author gives a clue about a character’s characteristics through what the character is thinking about.
9) Mannerism
3. Approaches
According to Marry Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Jr, there are five approaches which can be used in analyzing a literary work. They are the formalist approach, biographical approach, the sociocultural – historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach (6 -15). The description of each approach will be stated as follows;
a. The Formalist Approach
This approach tries to examine the literary work without the reference to the fact of the author’s life without reference to the genre of the work or its place in the development of the genre or in literary history, or without reference to its social milieu. The formalist approach concerns about demonstrating the harmonious involvement of all parts to the whole and pointing out how meaning derived from structure and how matters of technique determine structure (6 – 7). b. The Biographical Approach
c. The Sociocultural – Historical Approach
The sociocultural – historical approach leads the readers to analyze a novel in reference to the civilization that produces the novel. Civilization is defined as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people. Meanwhile, it is necessary to investigate the social milieu, the cultural and the historical background in which a novel is created (9).
d. The Mythopoeic Approach
Using the mythopoeic approach, the readers analyze the novel by trying to discover certain universally recurrent patterns of a human thought. The universally recurrent patterns are those that found first expression in ancient myth or folk rites and are also basic to human thought that they have meaning for all man (11).
e. The Psychological Approach
4. Conflict
This section consists of some theories related to conflict. They are the theory of conflicts, the types of conflicts, and the conflict resolutions. The theory of conflict is needed to analyze the major character's interpersonal conflict psychologically.
a. Definition of Conflict
Laurence Perrine defines conflicts as clash of actions, ideas, and desires or wills between two individuals or among people in the society. The conflict can include physical, mental, emotional, or moral aspects. In the real life people try to avoid conflict because they prefer to live without any clash or quarrel. Although people try to avoid conflicts, they will face a conflict, even without wars or large scale of disagreement (44).
According to Perrine conflict in a literary work may consist of one conflict that is stated clearly and the reader can easily identify the conflict. It may also consist of many conflicts that are difficult to be understood by the reader. To understand multi conflicts the reader should analyse the conflicts one by one (44). According to Redman a conflict means the struggle between two opposing forces, ideas and beliefs (363). Conflict can happen between a person with other people and a person within himself.
b. Types of Conflict
an outside force. Inner conflict happens when the characters need to do an action but their belief prevents them to do something. The clash between their belief and their feeling will force the characters to choose one of them. Second, external conflict, which refers to a struggle between the protagonist and an outside force, happens when the characters have to face outside forces which are not similar to the character's desire, belief or thinking. The different desire, belief or thinking will create a conflict between the character and people around him. (363).
Jones and Gerard say that intrapersonal conflict is a conflict within an individual because of incompatibility within himself, whereas Raven and Kruglanski see interpersonal conflict as tension between two or more social entities, such as; individual, groups, or larger organizations, which arise from incompatibility of actual or desired responses (qtd. in worchel and cooper 460)
According to Atkinson and Hillgard, psychologically, there are two kinds of conflicts that happen in our daily lives. Those are internal and external conflicts. External conflicts mean conflicts between us and other people who live around us, such as with friends, teachers, or with families. Meanwhile internal conflicts are conflicts within our selves (424).
c. Theory of Conflict Resolution
Moore (23-38) suggests four approaches to be the strategy to achieve resolution of conflict. He divides the approaches into four categories. They are private decision-making by parties, private third-party decision-making, legal (public) authoritative third-party decision-making and extralegal coerced decision-making. The description of each approach will be stated as follows;
1. Private Decision Making by Parties
1) Avoidance
People sometimes prefer to interact with certain condition, in which they feel it has less potential of conflict. Some people like to keep inside their feeling in order to avoid conflicts. This happens because of the lack of their motivation to face the potential conflict and its resolution. They tend to see a relation based on the potential conflicts than the value of the relation itself. They often leave the situation totally when they see that it might cause conflicts (Moore 23-24).
2) Informal Problem-Solving Discussion
3) Negotiation
Negotiation is applied when the parties find that the way to resolve their conflicts is by communicating their interest between them. This process may lead to a conflict resolution, in which both sides have the opportunities in achieving what they both want. They voluntarily join in a temporary relationship to transfer each others' needs and interests, so that the process of exchanging specific resources or to resolve their future-form of their own relationship will lead to the resolution (Moore 25-26).
4) Mediation
Mediation is another option for the resolution of a conflict. In mediation, a volunteer is needed to help the parties to find the resolution. The volunteer acts as a source that provides information needed which is helpful for the resolution. The volunteer also negotiate the possibilities of a better relationship. The success of the mediation depends on the degree of emotional status of the parties who have the conflicts. The decision is made by the parties not by the volunteer. The mediation is only needed when the parties find that they cannot resolve the conflicts on their own (Moore 26 -27).
2. Private Third-Party Decision Making
1) Administrative or Executive Dispute Resolution Approach
third-party's integrity and judgment should be trusted by the dispute parties, so that the agreement process can be done (Moore 27-28).
2) Arbitration
Quite different from administrative or executive dispute resolution approach the arbitration process takes a fully impartial and neutral party to make the decision or just to provide the necessary information which can lead to the conflict resolution. This process is a private process which is not open to public (Moore 29 -30).
3. Legal Authoritative Third-Party Decision Making
1) Judicial Approach
A judicial approach involves the intervention of a party that is seen as the institutionalized authority. In this approach, the resolution process is no longer in a private but more on a public area. In this approach, the parties who have conflicts usually hire lawyer to defend their behalf, the case is presented before a totally impartial and neutral third-party. The decision of the case is not merely considered by the dispute-parties' concern, interest, and arguments but more on the broader society's standard and values. The result of this approach is usually a win-lose condition where one party is declared as the right one while the other one as the wrong. (Moore 32-33)
2) The Legislative Approach
have significant utility for individuals. In this approach, the decision regarding the outcome is made by another win-lose process. It probably uses voting. The process of legislative approach to the problem solving might take a long time (Moore 34 -35).
4. Extralegal Coerced Decision Making
This approach deals with using a stronger means of coercion to force an opponent into compliance or submission. There are two types of extralegal approaches.
1) Non-Violence Approach
This approach is applied when there are people or a group of people who do not behave as they should. This approach forces them to behave in a desired manner. Usually this approach can be effectively used when the disputes-parties must rely on each other for their living. For example, a husband should provide his wife with a sufficient amount of support (money, attention, care, etc). This approach involves social norms disobedience and it does not use any kind of physical coercion (Moore 36-37).
2) The Violence Approach
5. Autism
a. Definition of Autism
According to Bryna Siegel autism is a disorder in the capacity for social understanding. Along with this there comes to be certain ways that the child with autism also has difficulties with language and how he processes the information coming from that senses (11). Based on this definition, Autism is defined as a disorder which makes a person has difficulty to interact and communicate with other people. A person who suffers from autism tends to withdraw his self from his social environment.
b. Characteristics of Autistic Learning Disabilities
According to Bryna Siegel autistic children have some characteristic of learning disabilities; they are characteristics of social autistic learning disabilities, characteristic of communicative autistic learning disabilities, and characteristic of non-social learning disabilities (91-99). The description of each characteristic will be stated as follows;
1. Characteristics of Social Autistic Learning Disabilities
1) Lack of Awareness of Others
2) Lack of Social and Emotional Reciprocity
An autistic child has lack of social and emotional reciprocity. It can be seen when a child is uninterested in doing things to please his parents or others. He is uninterested to learn a new thing to earn attention or approval of other people (Siegel 91). In another word, an autistic child has low desire to please other people and low response to social praise.
3) Lack of Social Imitation
Usually, children learn new thing by” automatically” copying other children and adults because most things that others do are somewhat or very interesting, merely because someone else is engaged in their activity. An autistic child does not seem to be motivated to copy action from other people (Siegel 92).
2. Characteristics of Communicative Autistic Learning Disabilities
1) Deficits in Understanding Body language and Facial Expression
A child who suffers from autism appears to have poor comprehension of gestures or facial expression such as smile or nods of encouragement, frowning, shaking head “no” (Siegel 94).
2) Deficits in Expressive Body Language and Facial Expressiveness
An autistic child does not use a full or subtle range of facial expressiveness or body language to convey emotion communicatively (Siegel 94).
3) Deficits in Understanding Spoken Language
or phrases once heard may not reappear increasingly or ever again. This is why they have difficulties in understanding spoken language (Siegel 94-95)
3. Characteristics of Non-Social Autistic Learning Disabilities
1) Lack of Imagination in Play
Children with autism tend to show little fantasy, limited representation of social situation and limited language use as part of play (Siegel 99).
2) Stereotyped and Repetitive Interest
Children with autism tend to avoid novel objects and actions. They prefer familiar actions to new actions (Siegel 99).
B. Criticism
Mark Haddon's novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a new novel. The criticism on Mark Haddon and his literary works comes from many sources such as daily news, magazines, and also from the readers. The criticism is used for helping the reader to understand the author’s work deeper. Mark Haddon is a great British writer especially in children book and television screen-plays. Many people are interested in reading this novel because this novel is easy to read. Therefore, some comments of other people will be presented in this section
'mystery': the thoughts and feeling we share even with those very different from us.
The second comment is from Arthur Golden, the author of Memoirs of a Geeisha. He says that he has never read anything quite like Mark Haddon’s funny and agonizingly honest book, or encountered a narrator more vivid and memorable. He advises us to buy two copies, the readers won't want to lend their out.
The other comment comes from Ian McEwen, the author ofAtonement, he said that Mark Haddon’s portrayal of an emotionally disassociated mind is a superb achievement. He also states that Mark Haddon is a wise and bleakly funny writer with rare gift of empathy.
The Washington Post Book World states that Mark Haddon is both clever and observant, it makes the effect is vastly affecting. It can be seen from his novel which entitledThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
C. Theoretical Framework
In analyzing the novel, some theories are applied. The theories are theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of critical approach, theory of conflict, the theory of conflict resolution and the theory of autism.
The theory of characterization is used to analyze the characteristics of Christopher. The characteristics of Christopher can be identified from his personal description, he as seen by other characters, his speech, his reaction, his thought, and his manner.
Theory of conflict is applied to get a better understanding about conflicts that happen in one's life. In understanding what kinds of conflict that Christopher faces during his life as an autistic boy.
25 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into three sections. The first section is subject matter which explains the content of Mark Haddon’sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. The second section is approach which explains the approach that I use in this study. The third is procedures which contain series of steps in conducting this study.
A. Subject Matter
The subject of analysis in this thesis is a novel entitledThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Time by Mark Haddon. It was written and published in 2003. The novel was originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape, Ltd., London. It was reprinted by Vintage Books in 2003. It consists of 226 pages.
The story tells about a 15 year-old boy named Christopher who is autistic. The story tells how Christopher lives in the society and faces many conflicts. One day he finds his neighbour’s dog named Wellington killed. He decides to solve the mystery of the death of the dog. His father forbids him to do the investigation but still keeps continuing the investigation. He also writes his investigation about the murder of the dog in a book.
about the death of dog. It makes him confused because the policeman asks many questions to him quickly. Finally, he hits the policeman because he does not like being touched by the policeman.
He also faces a conflict with his father. The conflict happens because when he forgets putting his book about the investigation about the murder of the dog in the kitchen. His father, incidentally, finds and reads the book. He is really angry with Christopher and throws away the book. Christopher searches his book in his father's room. Accidentally, he finds some letters from his mother. He is really surprised to know that his mother is still alive because his father has told him that his mother has passed away. His father also admits that he has killed the dog. His confession makes Christopher frightened because for him, a murderer is an evil person and he should be punished. After knowing that his father kills the dog, he decides to live with his mother. He starts a remarkably brave experience by going to London to find his mother. Finally he finds his mother and lives with her. But one day, he has to go back to his home town to do his A math level. He goes back to his hometown with his mother because he is still afraid of his father. At the end of the story he succeeds in doing his A math level.
B. Approach
This Psychological approach leads us to analyze the character from the psychological point of view. The character's behaviour, mind, and appearance must be noticed. By using the psychological approach, we can analyze the detail of the character’s behaviours, mind and appearance. The psychological approach helps me to understand the character's personality better and the character’s personality is related to his social relationship with other people around him.
By applying this approach, we can understand the character’s reasons why he has conflicts with certain people and why he solves those conflicts in certain ways. The reasons behind the conflicts and the conflict resolution are related to the character's personality. Therefore, the psychological approach is appropriate to analyze the problems in this study.
C. Procedure
The procedure of this study was consisted of some steps in analyzing Mark Haddon’sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. First of all, I read the novel several times to get the best understanding about its content. Then, I read it again and I focused on the character’s depiction, and the conflicts that the main character faced.
In the second step, I formulated the problem formulations. In this case, the problem formulations were related to the main character’s characteristics and the character’s interpersonal conflicts.
which would be analyzed such as; conflict and character. The information was used to support the study. The information was obtained from some literature books and psychology books, especially books which were related to conflict and character. I also gathered the data from some sources in the internet. They were important as the guidance and direction in answering the questions in problem formulation.
Then, the fourth step was doing the analysis. I analyzed the characterization of Christopher as the main character of the novel. The analysis also discussed about the conflicts that Christopher faced and how he solved the conflicts. In this analysis I used the psychological approach and also applied some related theories such as: character, characterization, conflict, conflict resolution and autism.
29 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter will be divided in two parts. The first is Christopher’s Characterization which gives the description of Christopher’s characteristics as the main character in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeand the second is the interpersonal conflicts that he faces and how he solves the conflicts.
A. The Description of Christopher
Character is a very important element of a novel. According to Abrams, in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms, characters are “the person presented in a narrative or dramatic work.” (23). It means character is the person who is presented in a literary work, such a novel. A character, in a novel, has his own characteristics or in another word, each character in a novel has distinctive characteristics.
Milligan states that a major character is the most important character in a literary work. He plays a very important role because he becomes the focus of the story. He plays his role in the story from the beginning till the end of the story and influences the whole story, so his appearance is more often than the other character. Through his action, the idea of the story is conveyed (155).
plays a significant role in this novel. Christopher appears from the beginning until the end of the story. He also becomes the narrator of the story. As the narrator, Christopher leads the reader to his way of thinking. “My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057.”(2). So, it can be concluded that Christopher is the main character because this novel tells about his life journey.
Christopher is also a round character because it is difficult to describe him in a simple word. He has his own way of thinking which is different from common people and has his own point of view in seeing this world and solving some conflicts that he faces.
B. Christopher’s Characteristics as an Autistic Boy
As presented in chapter two, there are methods to analyze the characteristics of a character. One of them is proposed by Murphy. He states that there are nine ways to analyze the characteristic of a character: personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction, direct comment, mannerism and thought (161-173). In order to analyze Christopher’s characteristics, some methods of characterization proposed by Murphy are applied.
information coming from that senses (11). In another word, it can be said that Autism is defined as a disorder which makes a person have difficulty to interact and communicate with other people. A person who suffers from autism tends to withdraw himself from his social environment.
Christopher who is an autistic has some characteristics which are different from common people. The following are Christopher’s characteristics as an autistic boy.
1. Christopher’s Learning Disabilities
According to Bryna Siegel autistic children have some characteristics of learning disabilities; they are characteristics of social autistic learning disabilities, communicative autistic learning disabilities, and non-social learning disabilities (91-99). As an autistic boy Christopher also has these learning disabilities. The description of each Christopher’s characteristic as an autistic boy will be described as follows;
a. Christopher’s Social Learning Disabilities
1) Lack of Awareness of Others
A child who is unaware of others and what he is doing fails to apprehend a great deal of experiences that feed into the child’s development of how and why people interact in the ways they do (Siegel 93). It means that this child fails to comprehend many things around him which other children might notice. It also happens to Christopher who also has difficulties to interact with other people.
suffers from autism tends to withdraw himself from his social environment. So, it is not surprising if an autistic boy such as Christopher has this characteristic. ”Talking to strangers is not something I usually do. I do not like talking to the strangers. I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand.” (34).
In the statement above Christopher says that he does not like talking to a stranger. He does not like new people around him. He does not like to open himself for new people who come in his life. It indicates that he does not like to interact with people around him. “It takes me along time to get used to people I do not know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe.” (35).
Christopher says that he needs along time to make him open himself to other people. The way he interacts to new people around him indicates that he is a person who is difficult to open himself to a new environment. According to Byrna Siegel, it happens because an autistic boy is lack awareness of others. It means that they fail to apprehend how people around him do the interaction. For that reason, it is hard for Christopher to interact with new people around him.
2) Lack of Social and Emotional Reciprocity
An autistic child has lack of social and emotional reciprocity. It can be seen when a child is uninterested in doing things to please his parents or others. He is uninterested to learn a new thing to earn attention or approval of other people (Siegel 91). An autistic child, generally, has a low desire to please other people and a low response to social praise.
Christopher also has this characteristic, Christopher is a stubborn boy. It can be seen when his father asks him to stay out from the murder case but, Christopher does not obey his father’s advice. “I decided that I was going to find out who killed Wellington even though father had told me to stay out of other people’s business.” (28).”Christopher decides to continue his investigation about the murder of Mrs. Shears’s dog, Wellington. Even though, his father has warned him not to interfere other people business but he still wants to find the murderer of dog. He knows that his father will be angry if his father knows that he still does this investigation.
Then Father asked,” What the hell you were doing in her garden?”
I said,” I was doing my detective work trying to find out who killed Wellington.”
Father replied,” How many times do I have to tell you Christopher?” Father said, “I told you to keep your nose out of other person’s business.” I said, “I think Mr. Shears probably killed Wellington.”
Father did not say anything (48-49)
allowed to investigate the murder of the dog. But since he wants to find the murderer of the dog he keeps doing the investigation.
Christopher’s decision to keep continuing his investigation to find out the murderer of the dog, although his father has told him not to do this investigation, obviously shows that Christopher is a stubborn boy. It can also be said that he is uninterested to earn attention or approval of his father. He does not need his father’s approval to continue his investigation. This is one characteristic of an autistic boy which is named lack of social and emotional reciprocity.
3) Lack of Social Imitation
Usually, children learn new thing by copying other children and adults automatically. It is because most things that others do are a bit or very interesting, merely because someone else is engaged in their activity. An autistic child does not seem to be motivated to copy action from other people (Siegel 92).
Byrna Siegel’s theory about an autistic child who has lack of social imitation can also be seen in Christopher. Christopher has different point of view about constellation from common people. He has his own opinion about Orion constellation.
But this is really silly because it just stars and you could join up the dots in any way you wanted, and you could make it look like a lady with an umbrella who is waving or the coffee maker which Mrs. Shears has, which is from Italy, with a handle and steam coming out, or like dinosaur. (125)
The Quotation above explains Christopher’s opinion about constellation Orion. People say that constellation Orion is called Orion because Orion is a hunter with a club and bow and arrow. He criticizes this public opinion about Orion constellation. He said that everyone can join up the dots in any way they wanted. So, it does not always look like an Orion but it can be a lady with an umbrella or coffee maker which Mr. Shears has.
His logical thinking is obviously seen in this case. This fact also proves that he seems not interested to copy what other people say. This fact is appropriate to Byrna Siegel’s theory about autistic person who seems not interested to copy other people’s action.
b. Christopher’s Communicative Learning Disabilities
1) Deficits in Understanding Body language and Facial Expression
… then she drew some other pictures
But I was unable to say what these meant. I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to hem exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn’t understand what some was saying. But, it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people faces move very quickly (3).
Christopher asks Siobhan, his teacher, to explain the meaning of some facial expressions because he does not understand the meaning of facial expressions she has drawn. He says that it is very difficult to decide which of the diagrams most like the expressions that people make. It is because people’s faces move very quickly. This fact shows that he has a problem in understanding facial expressions.
Christopher does not like people laughing at him. Even though, the person who laughs at him does not always mean insulting him. Christopher is a little bit angry when Rhodri laughs at him, “I don’t like when Rhodri laughs at me a lot. Father says it is being friendly.” (67). Then his father explains to him that Rhodri’s laughs do not mean insulting him. This fact indicates that he is not able understand well the meaning of laughing and it can be concluded that Christopher who suffers from autism is hard to understand other people’s facial expression. 2) Deficits in Expressive Body Language and Facial Expressiveness
An autistic child does not use a full or subtle range of facial expressiveness or body language to convey emotion communicatively (94). In another word, it means that an autistic person usually communicates with other people without using any facial expressions because they have problem in using body language and facial expression. Christopher has an unusual way in expressing body language.
I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his hand and spread his finger out in a fan. I held up my left hand and 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).
On one occasion, Christopher hits the policeman because the policeman asks many questions about the murder of the dog. These questions make Christopher get confused and not able to answer the questions from the policeman. Because Christopher can not answer the question, the policeman decides to hold Christopher’s arm and it makes Christopher angry and hit him. “The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this and this is when I hit him.” (8). His response toward the policeman action shows that he has difficulty in expressing body language. So, it can be concluded that Christopher has difficulty in expressing body language.
3) Deficits in Understanding Spoken Language
Most autistic children have “selective hearing” which means an autistic child responds to some thing like a jingle but no to others. For autistic children, words or phrases once heard may not reappear increasingly or ever again. This is why they have difficulties in understanding spoken language (Siegel 94-95).
This audio disorder also can be found in Christopher’s characteristic. The following proves that Christopher suffers from this disorder.
He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were striking up in my head like loaves in the factory where uncle terry works. The factory is bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And Sometimes a slicer is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. And I sometimes think of my mind as a bread-slicing machine (7)
When the policeman gives him too many questions quickly, he says that it is like a slicer which is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming out and there is a blockage.
So, he tries to comprehend the question from the policeman but before he understands it, the policeman asks him another question. It makes him unable to answer all questions from the policeman because he needs a lot of time to understand a sentence before he continues thinking other sentences. That Christopher has difficulty in understanding spoken language is obviously seen in this case.
c. Christopher’s Non-Social Learning Disabilities
1) Lack of Imagination in Play
Children with autism tend to show little fantasy, limited representation of social situation and limited language use as part of play (Siegel 99). It is described in the novel that Christopher can not tell jokes because he can not understand them. “This will not be a funny book because I can not tell jokes because I do not understand them.” (8).
His statement clearly shows that he has limited language use as a part of play. Jokes are a part of play which uses language so when he states that he does not understand joke, therefore he has limited language use as a part of play.
The second main reason is that people often talk using metaphors ….
And when I try and make picture of the phrase in my head it just confuses me because imaging an apple in some one’s eye does not have any thing to do with liking some one a lot and it makes you forget what the person was talking about (14)
He says that it is confusing to envisage an apple in some one’s eye. It is clearly seen that he has problem in using metaphor. So, it can be interpreted that Christopher has lack imagination of play.
Christopher is a critical person. It can be seen when he criticizes the utterance “Be quiet” he considers that this utterance is not clear enough. He suggests that it should be clearer such as “Be quiet for five minutes etc”. So that, people clearly knows how long to be quiet
For example, people often say” Be quiet,” but they don’t tell you how long to be quiet for or you see a sign which says KEEP OFF THE GRASS but it should say KEEP OFF THE GRASS AROUND THIS SIGN or KEEP OFF ALL THE GRASS IN THIS PARK because there is lots of grass you are allowed to walk on. (29
Based on the way he criticizes the utterance “Be quiet”, it can be interpreted that Christopher has limited representation of social situation. A normal person who has good understanding of social situation will understand that sign well.
In the quotation above, He repeats his statement that he does not understand jokes. Based on the fact that he does not understand jokes, it can be concluded that Christopher has he has limited language use as a part of play.
2) Stereotyped and Repetitive Interest
Children with autism tend to avoid novel objects and actions. They prefer familiar actions to new actions (Siegel 99). Christopher does not like new people around him. It also can be interpreted that he does not like novel object around him.
Christopher says that he always likes things in a nice order. It can be interpreted that it is part of his Repetitive interest.
Mr. Jeavons asked me whether this made me feels safe, having things always in nice order, and I said it did. Then he asked if I didn’t like things changing. And I said I wouldn’t mind things changing if I became an astronaut, for example, which is one of the biggest changes you can imagine, apart from becoming a girl or dying. (25).
He also states that he wouldn’t mind things changing if he becomes an astronaut. The implicit meaning of his statement is that he actually does not like something changing but if it is good for him he will tolerate that changing. To be an astronaut is his dream, so it will be good to change if he becomes an astronaut.
stranger around him, it can be concluded that he tends to avoid novel objects and actions.
According to Byrna Siegel, children with autism prefer familiar actions to new actions (99). It also happens to Christopher. He prefers familiar actions to new actions or object. New people around him can also be meant new object for him and he does not like this. Then he states that he needs along time to get used to people he does not know. “It takes me along time to get used to people I do not know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. I just watch them until I know that they are safe.” (35).
It can be seen when there is a new member of staff at school he does not talk to them for weeks and weeks. He just watches them until he knows that they are safe. It means that he will accept new people around him after they are familiar to him. It proves that Christopher prefers familiar actions to new actions.
C.
Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflicts
entities, such as; individual, groups, or larger organizations, which arise from incompatibility of actual or desired responses (qtd. in Worchel and Cooper 460).
Christopher as the main character of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timefaces conflicts with the some people around him. As an autistic boy, Christopher has his own thinking which is different from common people. The fact that he has difficulties to interact with other people in his social life leads him into some conflicts with people around him. The conflicts are between him and his father, him and the policemen, him and his mother, him and his neighbors. The following are some interpersonal conflicts that Christopher faces and how he solves the conflict.
1. Christopher versus His Neighbors
The conflict happens when Christopher finds Mrs. Shear’s dog is murdered by someone. Christopher is trying to see what happens to the dog. But suddenly Mrs. Shears sees him and she thinks that Christopher has killed her dog, even though Christopher does not murder Wellington.
I had been hugging the dog for 4 minutes when I heard screaming. I looked up and saw Mrs. Shears running toward me from the patio. She was wearing pajamas and house coat.
She was shouting at me. It makes me scared that they are going to hit me or touch me and I do not know what is going to happen.
“Let go of the dog”, she shouted. “Let go of the dog for Christ’s sake.” I put the dog law on the lawn and moved back two meters.
She bent down. I thought she was going to pick the dog up herself, but she didn’t. (4)
the dog on the law and moves back two meters. This means Christopher wants to reduce the tension between him and Mrs. Shears, so that Mrs. Shears stops her shouting.
According to Moore, avoidance is usually preferred to be applied in solving a conflict if the parties related in conflicts like to keep inside their feeling to avoid conflicts. This happens because of the lack of their motivation to face the potential conflict and its resolution. They often leave the situation totally when they see that it might cause conflicts (23-38).
Another conflict between him and his neighbor happens when he tries to collect information about the murder of the dog by asking Mr. Wise. But, he is disappointed because Mr. Wise laughs at him and it makes him angry.
I asked Mr. Wise if he knew who had killed Wellington on Thursday night.
he said,” bloody hell, policeman really are getting younger, aren’t they.” Then he laughed. I don’t like people laughing at me so I turned and walk away. (39)
Christopher does not like Mr. Wise when he laughs at him. He decides to leave him because he does not like someone laughing at him. The different thought between Christopher and Mr. Wise has created a conflict between them.
difficulty in understanding facial expressions. So, it can be said that autism disorder also has a role in creating conflict which happens between Christopher and Mr. Wise.
Christopher decides to leave Mr. Wise in order to avoid the worse situation. So, it can be concluded that Christopher applies avoidance as the conflict resolution between him and Mr. Wise. He applies the same conflict resolution when he faces the conflict with Mrs. Shears.
Based on the conflicts between Christopher and his neighbors, it can be seen that he tends to apply avoidance when he notices that the situation is getting worse. And, it seems that avoidance is Christopher's best solution to face the conflicts with his neighbors.
2. Christopher versus the Policemen
The conflict between Christopher and the policeman is a sequel from the conflict between Christopher and Mrs. Shears. A policeman and a police woman arrive after Christopher faces the conflict with Mrs. Shears. The policeman asks many questions which make Christopher confused and can not answer the questions from the policeman.
Why were you holding the dog? “I like dogs,” I said
“Did you kill the dog?” he asked I said,” I did not kill the dog” “Is this your fork?” he asked I said,” No” (7)
spoken language. What the policeman says to Christopher makes Christopher stressful and he does not know what to say to the policeman because he needs a lot of time to understand what the policeman says.
Bryna Siegel explains that most autistic children have “selective hearing” which means an autistic child responds to some thing like a jingle but no to others. For autistic children, words or phrases once heard may not reappear increasingly or ever again. This is why they have difficulties in understanding spoken language (94-95). Christopher can not quickly understand what the policeman says. It is because he has difficulty in understanding spoken language. Then, it can be seen that Christopher’s difficulty in understanding spoken language leads him into a conflict with a policeman.
The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this
And this is when I hit him. (8)
Because Christopher can not answer the question, the policeman decides to grasp Christopher and it makes Christopher angry and hit him. The policeman decides to arrest Christopher for assaulting him. In this case, it is obviously seen that Christopher can not control himself. So, he hits the policeman and it makes the tension between them is getting worse.
The policeman looked at me for a while without speaking and then he said,” I am arresting you for assaulting a police officer.”
This made me fell a lot calmer because it is what policemen say on television and films.
Then he said I strongly advised you to get into the back of the police car, because if you try any of that monkey business again, I will seriously loose my rag. Is it understood?”
I walked over to the police car, he opened the back door and I got inside. (9)
We know that policeman has an authority to arrest Christopher for assaulting him. He decides to arrest Christopher. Christopher realizes that he must accept this decision because it is guilty for assaulting the police. Christopher must behave in desired manner. So it can be said that in this case, the conflict between Christopher and the policeman is solved by applying non- violence approach.
Christopher is arrested in the police office for a while before his father comes to the police office. His father tells the policeman that Christopher is an autistic boy and he does not like being touched.
He said,” I have spoken to your father and he says that you didn’t mean to hit the policeman.
I did not say anything because this was not a question he said,” Did you mean hit he policeman?”
I said,” yes”
He squeezed his face and said,” but you didn’t mean to hurt the policeman?”
I thought about this and said,” no. I didn’t mean to hurt the policeman. I just wanted to stop him touching me.” (17)
Mediation is another option for the resolution of a conflict. In mediation, a volunteer is needed to help the parties to find the resolution. The volunteer acts as a source that provides information needed which is helpful for the resolution. The decision is made by the parties not by the volunteer. The mediation is only needed when the parties find that they cannot resolve the conflicts on their own (Moore 26 -27).
In this case, Christopher’s father is the volunteer who gives information to the policeman about Christopher personality. Christopher does not ask his father to come and to help him. However, his father logically will not let his child get into trouble or in another word it can be said as a form of a responsibility of a father towards his son. The policeman can understand why Christopher hits him. The mediation process is among Christopher, the Policeman, and Christopher’s father as the volunteer.
Another conflict between Christopher and another policeman happens when Christopher decides to leave his father and to go to London by train. He meets a policeman in the railway station. The policeman is trying to stop Christopher to go. It is because Christopher’s father has called the police station and he asked help from the policemen to find Christopher.
And then I thought he was going to take me back to father and that was frightening because he was policeman and policemen are meant to be good, so I started to run away, but he grabbed me and I screamed. And then he let go.
and he said,” OK, lets not get overexcited here.” and then he said,” I’m going to take you back to the police station and you and me and your dad can sit down and have a little chat about who’s going where.”
and he said,” well, we can talk about that as well.” and then he said,” Right young man, I think you have done enough adventuring for one day.”(159)
There is a different desire between Christopher and the policeman which creates a conflict between them. Christopher wants to leave his father whereas the policeman tries to take Christopher back to his father. In this conflict, informal problem-solving is applied by Christopher and the policeman to reduce the tension of the conflict between them.
Informal problem-solving happens when avoidance is no longer possible and the pressure of the conflict grows stronger that the parties cannot let the disagreement continue, Christopher and the policeman use the informal problem-solving discussion to resolve their differences. The results of this discussion are either the conflicts are resolved more or less to the satisfaction of the people involved (Moore 24). Even though Christopher and the policeman do not find the best solution for the conflict between them, the discussion between them can reduce the tension between them.
3. Christopher versus his father
