Christopher’s father had made him promise to stop investigating the death of Wellington, but, due to the curious way in which Christopher’s mind works, he had found a sort of loophole in the promise. Christopher lists five parts to the promise on page 56.
1. Not to mention Mr. Shears’s name in our house.
2. Not to go asking Mrs. Shears about who killed that bloody dog.
3. Not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.
4. Not to go trespassing in other people’s gardens.
5. To stop this ridiculous bloody detective game.
Asking about Mr. Shears, he reasons, was not any of these, and so he talks to Mrs. Alexander about Mr. Shears. During the course of the conversation, Christopher learns the reason why his father doesn’t like Mr. Shears. It turns out Mr. Shears was having an affair with Christopher’s mother, and this, Mrs. Alexander says is “why your father thinks that Mr. Shears is an evil man.” It is for this reason, she goes on, that Christopher shouldn’t go around talking about him.
In Patricia Schultheis’ review of the book, below she mentions that Christopher’s world of logic can be chilling to the reader. She mention’s the “horrors” of autism.
http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/journals/missouri_review/v027/27.2schultheis.html
Her review, though it does mention the humor that can be found in the novel, suggests a very dark reading of the book. It’s in this chapter where I am tempted to agree with her. Christopher learns of his mother’s infidelity with the same lack of emotion that that he might learn a new math equation. Or, a saddening thought, it is possible that he might experience more emotion with the new math equation.
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