How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn't understand what someone was saying. But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people's faces move very quickly. (3.5)
This is a touching, but ultimately quite sad, image. It's one of the few times we get a sense of just how difficult it is for Christopher to be unable to communicate with people, and the effort he has put forth to try to better understand what people are saying.
Quote #2
I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. (5.2)
Christopher places great emphasis on facial expressions. One could argue, though, that it isn't how fast these expressions move, or how complicated they are, that gives him the most trouble. This dog example in particular suggests that the real issue is that people often try to conceal their true feelings and intentions, and disguise this emotion behind a misleading smile or a frown.
Quote #3
I like policemen, too, and I wanted to answer the question properly, but the policeman did not give me enough time to work out the correct answer. (11.14)
Even when Christopher does want to interact with a stranger (a rare occurrence), he finds it really difficult.
Quote #4
This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them. (13.1)
Regardless of how Christopher might try to deny it, Shmoop thinks he has a sense of humor – it's in there somewhere, he just needs to recognize it.
Quote #5
Siobhan also says that if you close your mouth and breathe out loudly through your noise it can mean that you are relaxed, or that you are bored, or that you are angry and it all depends on how much air comes out of your noise and how fast and what shape your mouth is when you do it and how you are sitting and what you said just before and hundreds of other things which are too complicated to work out in a few seconds. (29.4)
Isn't this an amazing passage? Who knew we were doing something so darn impressive every time we read someone's body language and facial expressions? It does sound way too complicated to work out in a few seconds. Such an amazing feat! And, the way he describes it, it's entirely understandable that Christopher is unable to do it so quickly.
Quote #6
And this is because when people tell you what to do it is usually confusing and does not make sense.
For example, people often say "Be quiet," but they don't tell you how long to be quiet for. Or you see a sign which says KEEP OFF THE GRASS but it should say KEEP OFF THE GRASS AROUND THIS SIGN or KEEP OFF ALL THE GRASS IN THIS PARK because there is lots of grass you are allowed to walk on. (59.3-4)
We don't know about this one. Christopher's an unbelievably bright kid. Just as he's learned about skills like being polite and chatting, shouldn't he be able to infer what this kind of sign really indicates? We know he values exactitude, but this seems like an example of him just wanting to show how most people are, as he says, "stupid" (139.8).
Quote #7
I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand. It is like being in France, which is where we went on holiday sometimes when mother was alive, to camp. (67.4)
What do you make of this comparison? Christopher writes that he finds strangers hard to understand. This makes sense, since the people around him know he has difficulty with body language and adjust their communication accordingly, while strangers will speak to him in ways he doesn't understand. But do you think it makes sense to compare this to people literally speaking in a foreign tongue? Do you buy it? Does this change the way you think of Christopher's disorder?
Quote #8
I didn't reply to this either because Mrs. Alexander was doing what is called chatting where people say things to each other which aren't questions and answers and aren't connected. (67.67)
It isn't difficult to connect Christopher's idea of conversation to math problems. In his mind, "chatting" would be like one person saying "two plus two" and another person responding "seventy-five," or "eighteen times thirty" and "six."
Quote #9
This is what Siobhan says is called a rhetorical question. It has a question mark at the end, but you are not meant to answer it because the person who is asking it already knows the answer. It is difficult to spot a rhetorical question. (127.15)
By now we can understand why rhetorical questions would be confusing to Christopher. Using the same analogy from the previous quote, this would be like someone asking him, "What's sixteen divided by four?" and not expecting an answer. What's different about this example is the last sentence, which reveals a sadness, or weariness, at his confusion.
Quote #10
And I said, "Thank you for supper," because that is being polite. (149.45)
This is a perfect example of the way Christopher has learned to interact through rote memorization of social customs. We can just imagine the lesson: "And then when someone cooks you dinner, you should say, 'Thank you for dinner.'" "Why should I say that?" "Because that is being polite."
Quote #11
I wonder if you can understand any of this. I know it will be very difficult for you. But I hope you can understand a little. (157.15)
This line appears in one of Christopher's mother's letters – the one in which she explains why she left him and his father. After going on at length, with heart-wrenching explanations and recollections, she writes that she realizes Christopher might not be able to understand any of the letter at all, suggesting that she's writing this letter as much for herself (as a release valve, as a way to express her own grief and guilt) as she is to apologize to Christopher.