Liar Liar

         In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time by Mark Haddon, the central conflict is between Christopher, the protagonist and his father, Ed Boone.  Ed is very protective of Christopher because he is afraid that his only son, who has Asperger's Syndome, will get hurt by others.  This results in him making up multiple white lies in order to prevent Christopher from discovering the haunting truth.  In the beginning of the novel, Christopher starts off wanting to solve the mystery of the murder of Wellington, his neighbour's dog.  He begins his investigation by asking his neighbours questions and snooping in their yards.  Christopher comes close to solving the mystery as he narrows down the possible suspects but his father tries to stop him from furthering the investigation.  Ed hides the notebook Christopher uses to record his observations and track the progress he makes with the mystery.  Also, Ed sternly tells Christopher that he must not ask anymore questions about Wellington.  Christopher disobeys his father and continues the investigation only to unravel yet another mystery.  Christopher goes into his father's room to search for his notebook and stumbles upon letters addressed to himself written by his mother.  He uncovers the truth that his father had tried so hard to hide from him.  A couple years ago, Ed informs his son that his mother had passed away from a heart attack.  However, the letters were written after her death and he soon realizes his mother had not died.  In fact, she left Ed for another man and moved to London.  This leaves Christopher hurt and confused as his father is one of the only few people he can trust.  Ed tries to explain his motive but Christopher refuses to listen.  Right when Christopher feels that nothing else can go wrong, his father also reveals that it was him who murdered Wellington.  He wonders how he can ever believe the words his father tells him again and Christopher starts to feel alone and scared.  His mind starts to churn and Christopher realizes that it is a possibility his father might try to kill him as he also killed Wellington.  With this idea in mind, Christopher decides that his only chance of survival is to secretly take a train to London and look for his mother.  The conflict between Christopher and his father is not yet resolved and it is unknown if Christopher will go through with his plan.
           This situation is easily relatable because every person in this world has told a lie in order to prevent someone else from getting hurt.  A white lie can be as shocking as the one Ed told his son or as small as telling your little sibling that the meal they cooked for you with ingredients you are afraid to know is delicious.  I believe that there are some instances in which lying is acceptable.  A few years ago a good friend gave me an item of clothing for my birthday.  It was in a colour I look horrible in and had a cut and style I would never wear.  Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I put on my brightest smile and told her I loved it.  Sometimes telling someone the truth does more bad than good.  It would only cause drama and conflict between us if I told her that her gift was not something I would wear.  She went out of her way to purchase it for me and even if it was not exactly on point, she still put a good amount of thought into it.  Ed's lie may seem unjust and he could have gone about it in a different way but it is plain to see that his only motive was to protect his beloved son.