Question

I am reading The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time.I am not a native English.So Can you tell me what does "spreading my fingers out in a fan" means?

Answer 1

It means one is holding all their fingers out from the palm, as in showing the number 5. It resembles an old fashioned fan.

Answer 2

In context to the book, doing this is an expression of love and caring between Christopher and his parents. Chris, due to his autistic tendencies, can't bear to hug his father; it makes him feel trapped. Instead, they touch fingers when they were spread out in a fan to signal that they care about each other.

Answer 3

Thank you:)