In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, minor characters with whom Christopher interacts are numerous. He always has ongoing difficulties integrating with them. Begging the question is Christopher an outsider, outcast, hermit or non-conformist to which the answer is none of the above. Christopher has a disability and a major part of it is social blindness. In chapter 233 Haddon clearly uses the cogs from a watch to represent that we are all part of a larger system.