Accentuating Emotions in readers through Visual Story telling techniques in the Novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”

Abstract

The artistic origins of visual storytelling can be traced back to a time predating written communication. In the early stages of human development, communication primarily relied on images and drawings. From the centuries back, the visual medium has proven to be the most effective tool for human communication. This can be traced back from the initiation of cave paintings towards the development of the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The concept of Visual story telling techniques has thus remained intact throughout the human progression and development even after the development of language. This paper aims to explore the how the visual story telling techniques applied in Mark Haddon's novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has occasioned in accentuating emotions by engaging the readers. Through an analysis of visual elements such as diagrams, illustrations, and mathematical patterns used in the book, the paper investigates how these techniques amplify emotional experiences and deepen reader engagement. In addition, it also investigates how the writer has generated the use of visual story telling techniques to portray the characteristic of an autistic protagonist, Christopher John Francis Boone to represent the unique perspective of the protagonist, allowing readers to gain a deeper understanding of autism in emotional and social level. Further, it reveals how the author brings awareness to the challenges, emotions, and thought processes of individuals on the autism spectrum through the technique of visual story stelling.