Christopher, from Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a fictional character, while Look Me in the Eye is John Elder Robison's account of his life with Asperger's. What similarities do you see between the fictional Christopher, and the real-life John Elder Robison? What differences do you see? Please provide examples from the texts to support your response. Your response should be at least 300 words.
Please respond to each of the questions below. Responses should be at least one paragraph . Number your responses so that it is clear which question you are answering. 1. Military school obviously benefited author Wes Moore. What did author Wes Moore go on to do after exiting military school? Do you think there were any other paths that could have set him on the straight and narrow? 2. Prisoner Wes Moore continued to proclaim innocence, saying he wasn’t there for the robbery. Do you think the author believed him? Did you believe him? Do you think he should have been sentenced to life in prison? 3. At one point, author Wes Moore asks prisoner Wes Moore, "Do you think we are all products of our environments?" How would you answer this question? 4. Prisoner Wes Moore says that we are either products of our environments or products of our expectations. Which is it? What about you? (Are you more a product of your environment or m...
Christopher and John Elder have some similarities, but they have countless differences. John Elder is very outgoing, even though he sometimes states how he does not enjoy talking to people or starting conversations. John Elder knows how to take care of himself, while Christopher has trouble using strangers' toilets. Christopher's condition seems to be more severe than John Elder. Christopher cannot tell lies about what he has done, but John Elder can make up a believable story on the spot, like at the faculty party. He told Walter and Annette's friends about how he was working as a garbage collector or sanitary engineer as he called it.
ReplyDeleteChristopher and John both have unique talents. Christopher is taking A level math and has an impossible memory. John is able to fix and modify electronics on equipment like amplifiers and guitars. Most people around these characters are in awe of their unique skills. However, John puts his skill to use right away, but Christopher is taking A level maths so he can go to university to be an engineer, or something of the sort. John is also very good at fixing cars. John Elder has trouble with math because he has difficulty putting things into formulas. Christopher is very different in that aspect because he can give a visual representation of something, but he will also put it into a formula, and he can understand that much easier. When he explains the Monty Hall Problem, he shows a diagram, but he first puts it into a formula to show how it worked.
John Elder is much more mischievous than Christopher. John can get away with things easily because he can lie, unlike Christopher. Christopher can tell white lies, but those cannot cover his tracks all the time, so he knows not to do too many bad things. John Elder is also very spontaneous. He would go to the woods for days at a time or go on tour with bands and barely have to think about it. Christopher has to plan out everything he will do, and it takes all of his courage when he does something out of his comfort zone.
Katelyn Johnson
Good analysis, Katelyn. I especially like what you said about John being able to lie, and being much better equipped to act spontaneously. Well done.
DeleteJohn Elder Robinson and Christopher seem in some cases polar opposites, but in others seem to have some things in common. John Elder Robinson seems to be more violent than Christopher. In the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, when Christopher found the dead dog he is very sad about it. “ I knew that it meant “sad” which was what I felt when I found the dead dog.“(2 Haddon) but in Look me in the Eye, John Elder Robinson mentions his experiences with dogs. “ I used to fear barking dogs… but by that night I could look at them and think, I am your worst nightmare. Come any closer and I will impale you upon my stick.”(79 Robinson) Christopher seems to care more than John Elder Robinson about animals.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest differences I Found about John Elder Robinson and Christopher was that Christopher could not tell a lie and John Elder Robinson was very good at lying. “‘ I always tell the truth’”(18 Haddon) on the other hand John Elder it was really good at lying. He was able to get away with a lot of lies including one about being a garbage collector. “‘ i’ve gotten into the waste management business. Down in Springfield. They’ve started me right at the bottom so I can really learn the business. On a truck, in the north end.’”(97 Robinson) John Elder Robinson was able to get away with the lie and convince many people older than him that he was telling the truth.
John Elder Robinson seems to be more violent than Christopher. Although they have many differences they also have some things in common. Both Christopher and John Elder Robinson have things that they do that most people find strange or different. “[Christopher Doesn’t] like yellow things or brown things and refuses to touch yellow things or brown things”(46 Haddon) John elder also had some behavioral problems. “ [I had] problems looking people in the eye… I was also guilty of bobbing and bouncing and weaving [my head]”(88 Robinson) John Elder Robinson and Christopher, though both of them suffered from Asperger’s, had differences and things in common with each other.
Good connections between the two, Ada. I think your observations about their very different relationships with animals are particularly good. One suggestion, though, is to thoroughly proofread before publishing--have a second look at your last sentence.
DeleteAlthough Christopher is fictional and John Elder is real, they have both similarities and differences. Both of the characters run away from home to escape either one or both of their parents. In Look Me in the Eye, John Elder runs away during a birthday party for one of his parents’ friends. He’s telling stories to the guests about his life, when his mom and her friend tell him to stop telling lies, so he tells the group he needs to leave. “And with that, [he] walked quickly to [his] motorcycle, put on [his] helmet and leather jacket, and kicked over the engine. The back wheel spun up little clumps of grass as [he] rode away, [his] crazy parents and their fiends receding in the rearview mirror” (Robison 100). Whereas John Elder runs away and gets a job and begins a life, Christopher runs away from his dad and goes to find his mom. At first, Christopher just hides in the backyard, and then he runs away and soon enough, he is on the train to London.
ReplyDeleteAnother similarity they have is that they have trouble with social interactions. When John Elder was younger, he had a lot of trouble making friends. As John Elder said to his mother “[he] just [doesn’t] know how to make friends… no one likes me” (Robison 17). Later on though, he learns how to communicate with others. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher never mentions having friends, which makes me think he doesn’t have any. Christopher also has trouble deciphering emotions, so his therapist, Siobhan “draws lots of these faces and then [writes] down next to them exactly what they [mean]” (Haddon 3).
One difference that Christopher and John Elder have is that Christopher cannot lie, but John Elder can, and is very good at it. As I previously mentioned, John Elder was telling stories to his parents’ friends at the party. These make believe stories were about how John Elder has “‘gotten into the waste management business. Down in Springfield”’ (Robison 97). Christopher on the other hand, cannot lie at all. When Christopher is at the police station, he tells the police officer “‘I always tell the truth”’ (Haddon 18).
Abby, I like your observation about Christopher and friends. I hadn't really thought about the fact that he doesn't have friends until you pointed it out. Good job.
DeleteChristopher and John Elder both have a form of Asperger’s syndrome, but they are very different people. John is much more outgoing then Christopher. He talks to lots of new people he meets while working with bands on their equipment. He doesn’t talk to everybody, and still is a little shy, but he seems much more comfortable talking to people. Christopher, on the other hand, is very shy. He tends to try and avoid conversations with people he doesn’t know. John seems much more comfortable with people in general. He likes hanging out with friends, like Jim, and working with people on projects, like Jim’s homemade furnace. He even likes tricking people that he’s talking to. “I walked back to the group of garbage aficionados I had collected. ‘Folks, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go. They just called from work. One of the other garbage companies firebombed one of our trucks’” (pg 100). John Elder had a great time telling a crowd lies about his job as a Sanitation Engineer. Christopher wouldn’t talk to these people and, if he did, he would never tell a lie.
ReplyDeleteChristopher and John are different but they do have some similarities. They are both very smart. Christopher is great at math. He seems to be able to understand complex equations. John is also very smart. He understands how tech works, especially sound equipment. John dropped out of school and started a successful career in the sound industry. He is able to fix and improve amplifiers and speakers. Christopher is also in a very high level math at a younger age. They are both very smart at a younger age than most. They seem to understand how equations work and apply to real circumstances.
Another similarity is that most people don’t understand them. John Elder and Christopher realize that other people see them as weird. They don’t like to look people in the eye and don’t fully understand other people's emotions. They don’t seem to be that affected by the opinions of others but they still recognize that others view them as strange and different.
Madelyn, I really like your observation that other people view both men as strange and different. The more interesting part to me, is that both men know that others see them as different.
DeleteJohn and Christopher have two different backgrounds but at the same time, they had a lot in common, just handled in various different ways. Looking at John, you can see his mischief and conquering ideas begin towards the beginning of the book, when he starts to create traps and schemes for pranks. His abilities start to warp into the man he becomes, fixing and repairing, finding a true purpose in life. Christopher on the other hand is still focused on his young adolescence and never got around to his older days, which is really where the distinction between the two kids starts to unravel. Christopher, being less mischievous, has family issues as well but ends up to be a prodigy of sorts in school, completely countering the life style John made.
ReplyDeleteThe similarities of John and Christopher really focuses on their home and family life. John is forced with fighting parents who cannot get along, an alcoholic father and a clinically crazy mother growing up, forcing him to feel left by himself. Christopher had the same idea, his father and mother split due to marriage problems and Christopher was left on the outs, maybe not as much, but still somewhere where he was left to his own devices. Another similarity that stands out is that Christopher and John both have trouble with social skills. Christopher has trouble as people do not understand him, thinking he is a freak of sorts, John is thought of as weird and a creep for his reactions and "posing." These two have some similarities, but growing older, their differences shine.
Christopher is seen as a kid who wants to learn, invested in his books, and striving to be the best. His home issues do hurt him but he tends to take his mind and explore with it, allowing nothing to truly hold him back. The biggest thing is he is always honest. No matter what he tries to always tell the truth, even if it hurts. The closest lie he told was a "not the whole story" lie, where he is technically telling the truth, but not everything. However, John Elder, he is the type to lie about lots of things. Such as in the book, when John is invited to a party where he ends up telling unbelievable stories that he makes up. He lies to others and ones closest it seems, not being afraid to be himself. Unlike Christopher, he struggled so much in school from family problems that he started failing out of all of his classes, eventually dropping out. From there on out however, nothing can be cast as a difference because John had grown much older, and that ends up like comparing a caterpillar to a butterfly. That is what I think between these two characters.
-Porter
I like what you had to say about the respective conflicts between their parents. It's also a good observation when you say that we only get to see Christopher in his younger years. One suggestion would be to thoroughly proofread and be careful of redundancy---for example, "various different ways."
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ReplyDeleteLook Me in the Eye Review
ReplyDeleteFrom the moment Christopher was born, John Elder was a role model for him. Even though John thought of his little brother as a clone or a permanent playmate, he later on realized that they're two different people.
John Elder, and Christopher Richter are both born with Asperger's Syndrome. Though they both are affected by it, they are so different. Chris is a very shy kid, who tries to stay in the shadows, and not interact with most people. As for John, he is an extrovert who (over time) learned how to react to other people's emotions, and phrases that might be needed at certain times. He talks to people more openly, and doesn't always care if he is talking to a stranger, a friend, or a loved one.
Both boys are smart, and excel at many different areas of expertise. John, and Chris are very smart, and know how to work many different equations out, and think fast in real life.
John dropped out of school, and joined a sound industry that made him land into a very successful career. He fixes amplifiers,speakers, and enhances technology.
Chris is still a young kid, but becomes more, and more smart. He is able to solve very hard problems, and works very hard. As a shy child, he keeps a lot to himself, and tries to not be in anybody's way.
As both brothers have Asperger's Syndrome, they kind of grow on it. Something that is very bold, and stands out in both of them that people do not understand, is that they still have trouble understanding the way people communicate with each other. Most think and react very jumpy to John's ways of reacting to their conversations since he seems inappropriate.
The book once again shows me that people do judge a book by it's cover since they have nothing else to compare to, but themselves and people they're surrounded by.
The problem I have with this book is that I literally felt exactly like John when he felt rejected and hurt as a kid, because he didn't know how to interact with others. As a kid I was told to act as someone my parents would usually think as very normal in Russia (we have very different standards) and I honestly got a little bit bullied because of my behavior, but after a long time, I learned how to talk to people "properly" and be appropriate in a sense.
Interesting post, Alena. I found your last paragraph particularly intriguing. I'm guessing we can all relate to John a little bit. It's just that he probably has more to deal with than most of us, right?
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