Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It’s Kind of a Funny Story, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Mental Health
Art and Self-Discovery
Peer Pressure vs. Self-Empowerment
Friendship and Romance
Summary
Analysis
The three younger people in the ward invite Craig over to their part of the dining room. Jennifer, who has a blue streak in her hair, says that Craig is the hottest person in the ward. Becca, a bigger girl, explains that Jennifer is a sex addict. Noelle, who is blonde and has cuts on her face, abruptly leaves. She comes back to the window and holds up a piece of paper that says Jennifer has a penis. It turns out this is true, and when Smitty comes in, he refers to “Jennifer” as “Charles.” Craig has never met anyone like Jennifer/Charles, whom he starts calling “J/C.”
Craig continues to learn new things about himself. He realizes that despite his fears and self-doubt, he can be attractive to girls, after all. He also learns some surprising things about sex and gender from J/C. J/C reflects how some patients don’t fit neatly into labels, a lesson that applies not just to sex and gender but more broadly to mental health issues, where people’s experiences don’t always fit neatly into a diagnosis.
Themes
