I think the term you really want instead of « white lie » is: But all confidence is gone, and what`s more, Christopher is even afraid of his father because Ed Boone also killed Wellington. « That meant he could murder me because I couldn`t trust him, even though he said, `Trust me,` because he lied about a great thing. » (Haddon 152-153) Lies not only lead to a loss of trust, but the loss of confidence turns into fear. Christopher and his father are not hiding the truth. At least that`s what the reader takes away from the first chapters of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Looking at events from Christopher`s perspective, there is no doubt that his story should not be true. Given his condition, the reader follows the story told by Christopher, although it is rather emotionless. He seems to trust his father unconditionally, which is an important basis for their relationship. Christopher is aware that his father loves him, and although Christopher doesn`t like to be touched, they have found a way for his father to show his love. A path with which even Christopher feels comfortable, as he describes it to the reader in the novel. If the white lie is as described in Wikipedia, then my question is: which one did I and the other native speaker think was a « white lie » that was also described in the curious incident? Notes – For more clues about the second secret, see Father`s reaction to Mr.

Shears. Ironically, while the father lied about what happened to his mother, according to Christopher`s worldview, he only told a white lie about Wellington, as he never denied killing the dog because he was never asked. If you ask us, Christopher has a pretty narrow definition of lying. (We can break it down like this: Adding things – or exaggerating them – is lying and not being acceptable. But taking things away – leaving things out – is not a lie and that`s okay.) And, hey, even by his own definition, he may not be lying, but he`s certainly not telling the truth. What is described in the passage you provide is actually called « half-truth. » A white lie is when you tell someone that their outfit looks good if they don`t have time to change it. A white lie is not a lie at all. This is the place where you tell the truth, but you don`t tell the whole truth. (Haddon 48). This shows that if there is a scenario where Christopher has to do something to cover up what really happened, it has to happen in a rushed way. This statement also sums up Chris` life in that he has to compensate for even the smallest things he does because his illness affects his brain and the way he sees things. We see the effects of Chris and Krista Morrell`s disability Mrs.

Bellian ELA SCP August 20, 2018 the way he deals with telling the truth throughout the story by upsetting his father with him whenever he knows Chris is telling a white lie. In « The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, » Chris` father, Ed Boone, constantly evades the truth by lying to himself and his son. The biggest lie Ed hid from Christopher was that his mother was dead. The quote: « Then he said, `I did it for your good, Christopher. In no uncertain terms. I never wanted to lie. (Haddon 114) was after Chris discovered the truth about his mother. In the first sentence, he says that he deliberately lied to protect Christopher from the truth so that he would not be hurt. He then uses the word « honest » and assumes that after lying to Chris about something extremely disturbing, he would trust whatever comes out of his mouth. And in the third and last sentence, it says that the lie was accidental, which was exactly the opposite of what he had said before. This shows that Ed is so used to lies that he is not aware of his words.

It also shows that Ed is selfish because he lies to people and doesn`t think about the impact it has on them. Dad makes dinner when Christopher comes home; Christopher`s plate is designed so that different foods don`t touch each other, because if they touched each other, he couldn`t eat them. Father asks where Christopher was and he replies that he was outside, which is a white lie. Christopher explains that a white lie is not a lie at all, but does not tell the whole truth. Dad says he got a call from Mrs. Shears and reminds Christopher to keep his nose out of other people`s business. Christopher tells Dad that Mr. Shears is the prime suspect, but that only upsets Dad more. He knocks on the table and knocks out some of the food, which means Christopher can`t eat it anymore. Father does not want the man`s name to be mentioned in the house because it is evil; Christopher asks if this means he could have killed Wellington, which only frustrates Dad more. Christopher adds that he knows he was told not to intervene, but Ms. Shears is a friend.

My father says she`s not a friend anymore. The father repeats his order to Christopher: don`t ask Mrs. Shears who killed the dog; do not ask anyone who killed the dog; do not invade the gardens of others; and stop the detective game. Father makes Christopher promise this, and he does. Examine the role of truth and lies throughout the novel. « The most dangerous lies are the lies you tell yourself. » In « The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime », Mark Haddon pits the characters of Christopher Boone and his father against the truth.