Question 1

At the beginning of Chapter 179, what does Christopher do when he hears his father calling for him?

Accepted Answer

Christopher hides and clutches his Swiss army knife for protection.

Question 2

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Accepted Answer

He thought about all the possibilities (page 130) and thought that none of them were safe.

Question 3

What happens when Christopher goes to Mrs. Shears' house?

Accepted Answer

There is no answer. He was going to tell her about Wellington and he would stay with her. Christopher got no answer and got scared because he saw people from the "drug house."

Question 4

What does Christopher eventually decide to do?

Accepted Answer

He decides to go to London to live with his mother. He tries to drop off Toby at Mrs. Alexander's house but she says it might not be a good idea and asks if he has talked to his father. He is frightened and has to break a window to get back into his house. He starts to formulate a plan. He overcomes many obstacles to start his journey to London. See Chapter 179.

Question 5

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Accepted Answer

Do you think that Christopher is acting heroically? Describe why or why not.

Question 6

Why does the narrator say he does not like new places? Chapter 181

Accepted Answer

The narrator doesn't like new places because he "sees everything." It is overwhelming because he can't glance at things like other people. He registers and remembers everything like how many cows were in the field when they went on a trip in 1994. He later goes on to say it is like a computer trying to do too many things at once and the central processor unit is blocked.

Question 7

In retrospect, what does the narrator say he lied about in Chapter 13?

Accepted Answer

He said he lied about not being able to tell jokes. Check out page 143.

Question 8

Describe some of the obstacles that Christopher overcomes from the time he gets to the train station to the time he actually boards the train to London.

Accepted Answer

Check out Chapter 191. He tries to calm himself by doing math problems in his head. At each step in the journey, he needs to keep working up the courage to continue. For example, he sits in a cafe for two and a half hours.

Question 9

Why does Christopher like timetables?

Accepted Answer

He likes timetables because he "likes to know everything that is going to happen." He goes on to say that time is a mystery and a timetable helps "make sure you don't get lost in time."

Question 10

The policeman found Christopher. His father had contacted the police for help finding his son. Christopher told the policeman he was going to live with his mother. When he went to the toilet (which was incredibly traumatizing for him), Christopher hid on a shelf behind luggage.

Accepted Answer

Who finds Christopher on the train and how does he get away?

Question 11

In Chapter 163, Christopher states that the "mind is just a complicated machine." Discuss why he thinks this is the case.

Accepted Answer

Christopher states that the mind turns on and off like a computer. He describes saccades which stop us from seeing everything (otherwise we would be sick). He says that people think they are not like computers because they have feelings and computers do not. However, he states that feelings are just like having a picture on the screen. See pages 116-119 for more explanations.

Question 12

Describe the Smarties test that Christopher took when he was young.

Accepted Answer

There was a Smarties tube with a pencil in it. When asked if he thought what his mother or someone else would think is in it, he stated that they would think a pencil would be in it.
It shows that he is focused on his own perspective and cannot really see others' perspectives.

Question 13

What big secret does the narrator's father reveal in Chapter 167.

Accepted Answer

It was the Father who killed Wellington. He got into an argument with Mrs. Shears and he implies that they were a couple. She cared more for the dog than for the father and Christopher. When the dog went a little wild on him, he stabbed it with the fork. He describes his anger as a "red mist."

Question 14

How does Christopher react?

Accepted Answer

He was really frightened. When his father put up his hand for Christopher to touch, he screamed and pushed his father off the bed. He waited for his father to fall asleep so he could escape the house. He took Toby and hid in the shed while deciding what to do. Do you think he will ever trust his father again? Think back to Christopher's definition of love he gave earlier.

Question 15

Discuss the significance of Orion in Chapter 173.

Accepted Answer

The narrator talks about how Orion got its name because people think the constellation looks like a hunter. He feels this is a lie because the stars could be connected in any which way. Christopher doesn't like lies and his father had not told him the truth about Wellington.

Question 16

Why did Christopher's father, Mr. Boone kill Wellington?

Accepted Answer

Because when Christopher's mother left Christopher's father, Mr. Boone, and Mrs. Shears, Eileen Shers, spent a lot of time together and she took care of him and Christopher. Mr. Boone thought there was something more going on between them but Mrs. Shears cared more for the dog than she did for them so he got really angry and somewhat jealous so he killed the dog.

Question 17

How did Christopher react to his dad when he told him about the dog?

Accepted Answer

Christopher screamed and pushed him back so that he fell off the bed and onto the floor

Question 18

How did Christopher feel about his father after he had murdered the dog?

Accepted Answer

He was very frightened and scared of him and thought that since he had akilled the dog he could as well kill him

Question 19

What did Christopher do later that night when he found out about Wellington?

Accepted Answer

He ran away from home. First, he hid in his garden but the next day he went further away

Question 20

Who was the first person Christopher thought of to live with?

Accepted Answer

Mrs. Shears but she wasn't home

Question 21

What is something Christopher does for the first time ( overcomes this fear) when he decides to go to London to live with his mother?

Accepted Answer

He was going somewhere ( apart from the shop at the end of the road ) on his own for the first time

Question 22

How did Christopher know all about trains?

Accepted Answer

Because when he was younger, his parents gave him a train set for Christmas.

Question 23

Why does Christopher run away from home decide to live with his mother?

Accepted Answer

Because his father killed Wellington and lied about it and about his mother being dead so Christopher was scared of being in the house with him and his mother was his only option

Question 24

What does Christopher do to calm himself?

Accepted Answer

counts and breaths or does maths

Question 25

Why doesn't Christopher like new places?

Accepted Answer

Because he sees everything

Question 26

Who helped Christopher to buy the tickets in the railway station?

Accepted Answer

A policeman

Question 27

What is something Christopher does that helps him when he is frightened or angry?

Accepted Answer

To do something that has a rhythm to it, like when he walks in the underground train station and imagines a red line which he walks on he said left, right, left, right

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