5.+Themes

**// THEMES: //**// Building and breaking trust, the search for order and stability, how family affects the maturation process //  1) ** Building and breaking trust ** "I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand" (Page 34). Christopher has a really tough time understanding people, especially if he hasn't met them before. If he doesn't understand them, he doesn't trust them. Even though he doesn't like talking to people he doesn't know, he figures he has no choice if he wants to find the killer of Wellington. Ricky Renner

 2) ** The Search for Order and Stability ** "Mr. Jeavons asked me whether this made me feel safe, having things always in a nice order, and I said it did" (Page 25). Christopher loves when things occur in order with each other, and when things are neat and tidy. Order makes him feel secure, even if it wasn't always logical. He tells Mr. Jeavons that people do things all the time that aren't logical, but they do it just because they like it in that order. That is why Christopher has a **Good Day** if 4 red cars drive by in a row, it's not logical, it's just in order. Ricky Renner

3) **Building and breaking trust** "I was nervous. I did not know Mrs. Alexander. I knew that she was an old lady and that she liked dogs. But she was a stranger." Earlier in the book, Christopher describes how some one goes from a stranger to some one who is framiliar with. It takes some weeks before that can happen. Mrs. Alexander is still a stranger, but Christopher knows that she does like dogs and was an old lady so he is becoming more framiliar with her, but she is still a stranger. Griffin Shapiro

4) **Building and breaking trust** "Father had never grabbed hold of me like that beforeâ€¦But Father was a more levelhearded person, which means he didnâ€™t get angry as quickly and he didnâ€™t shout as often. So I was very surprised when he grabbed me (pg. 82)." Christopher's Father becomes very angry with him when he finds out that he talked to Mrs. Alexanders. Christopher remembers exactly what his father told him not to do, and even though he claims to have followed his instructions, his father's rage grows. Although his father understands that Christopher does not like to be touched or grabbed, he violently grabs his arm in frustration and hurts him. Christopher will not forget the event and it could damage his and his father's relationhip down the road. <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Madeline Tuohey

<span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">5)**Building and breaking trust** <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"Then, becasue it was Saturday, he said he was going to take me on an expedition to show me that he was properly sorry, an dwe were going to Twycross Zoo."(pg.85) In this qoute we see how Christopher's father is trying to make it up to him as much as he can by taking him to the zoo. His father knew that everything he was doing was wrong to do to an child. <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Taylor Lovelace

<span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">6) **Building and breaking trust** <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Then he said " I'm sorry, Christopher. I'm so, so sorry. You read the letters. (pg.114)" <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We have finally reached the climax when Christopher has read the letters of why his mother left him for Roger ( Mr. Shears). Christopher is totally "out of it" or in a daze because reality does not make sense to him. When his dad walks in and sees him, his dad freaks out. Christopher was so shaken up. He had no idea of what to think of his dad anymore because he has been lying to him for most of his life about his mother. When Christopher was beening touched by his dad, when he was bathing him, he did not even react. Christopher was just so shaken up by his new discoveries. <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Patrick Mohorcic <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">7) **The search of order and stability** <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"I felt giddy. It was like the room was swinging from side to side as if it was at the top of a really tall building and the building was swinging backward and forward in a strong wind. But I knew that the room couldn't be swinging backward and forward, so it must have been something which was happening inside my head (pg. 112-113)." <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">This shows that Christophers is instable. He has no idea what is going on, he was totally confused about reality. Since he found out about his mom left and was still alive, his life has changed and has no order or stability. He cannot comprehend the fact why his mother left his father and himself. There are no numbers to calculate or an "X" to find. Reality just hit Christopher and he has no idea what to do. All he knows is that his father has been lying and this makes Christopher sad and angry. He know has to plan his next move. <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Patrick Mohorcic

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">8) **The search for order and stability** <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">If you haven't figured it out yet, Christopher works better and likes it better when things are in order. He says on page 132, "And then I //Formulated a Plan.// And that made me feel better because there was something in my head that had an order and a pattern and I just had to follow the instructions one after the other." After he found out his dad had lied to him and his mother was still alive, Christopher's life changed completely. His life took a sharp turn and he figured out he no longer could stay with his father in his house. When he started running away, he didn't know what to do so he formulated a plan. He did this so he could just follow the steps and stay calm. <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ricky Renner

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">9) **The search for order and stability** <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"And when im in a new place, because I see everything, it is like when a computer is doing to many things at the same time and the central processor is blocked up and there isn't any space left to think about other things." Page 143. <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Here Christopher is explaining how when he is a new place there is so much information coming into this brain he cannot take it all in. In the train station he had to go sit down in a corner and do math problems to get his brain up and working again. He is just trying reach **order and stability** because that is what makes him feel comfortable. <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Griffin Shapiro

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">10) **The search for order and stability** <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">“So I climbed onto the middle shelf and I pulled one of the cases across like a door so that I was shut in, and it was dark and there was no one in there with me and I couldn’t hear people talking so I felt much calmer and it was nice,” (pg. 163). <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Throughout Christopher’s journey to London, he is overwhelmed by the all the commotion of people and loud noises. He tries to stay calm by finding a quiet place to stop and think so he can make a plan. Because Christopher does not handle chaos and loudness well, he wants to return home. However, he knows that it is dangerous at home so he needs to continue on to reach his mother in London. Because he is in search of stability, his mother is the only option he sees for safety. <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">(Madeline Tuohey)

<span style="background-color: #ff00ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">11) **how family affects the maturation process** <span style="background-color: #ff00ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"So I got on the next train."(pg.184) <span style="background-color: #ff00ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">During this part of the book we see Christiopher still maturing through his life by taking the train to get closer to his mom. The trip is more difficult for him than it would be for use since he has Aspergers and it causes him to pay to much atention to things and worry alot more. <span style="background-color: #ff00ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">(Taylor Lovelace)

<span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Building and Breaking Trust <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"Then he got out of his armchair and he walked over to the kitchen door and opened it and there was a big cardboard box on the floor and there was a blanket in it and he bent down and put his hands inside the box and he took a little sandy-colored dog out(pg 219)" <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The end of the book is here, Christopher is once again with his dad. Christopher will not even talk to his father. His father is miserable and just wants to talk to his son. At the end of the book, his father buys him a golden retriever puppy. His father is trying to regain Christopher's trust. He wants things to be how they were before the murder of Wellington. So he makes a promise with Christopher to do a minute each day and talk to eachother and build up the trust they had. <span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Patrick Mohorcic

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The Search of Order and Stability <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"Christopher, im just about holding this together. But I am this close to losing it all right? (pg 205) <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Now that the mother and father are back in eachother's lives. They are still arguing and seeing this differently. Christopher is moving from house to house and he has no stability in his life. His parents are seperated and both are barely functioning. Mr. Shears has left Christopher's mother and Mrs. Shears has left Christopher's father. Their is no order and all the couples are arguing and have no idea what the next move is. When Christopher's dad buys a puppy, this is an effort for some order and stability. There is still no order in Christopher's life, there has not been any order in Christopher's life ever since he found Wellington dead. However, because of this instability in Christopher's life, he has grown up a little bit and has touched base with reality. He does not fully understand reality however, he has only experienced a little bit. <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Patrick Mohorcic