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
Craig joins Humble, the nurse Monica, and a woman who goes by “the Professor” in the smoking lounge at about 10:00 p.m., although Craig doesn’t smoke. Craig learns that he has a phone call and is surprised to learn that it’s Aaron. Aaron jokes around, asking if there are any girls in the psychiatric ward, and Ronny joins in too, while Nia tells them to stop.
Just as Craig is starting to get used to his new life in the psychiatric hospital, the sudden phone call from Aaron forces him to remember his old life. Craig feels ashamed to have to admit that he needs serious help for his depression, once again showing how his feelings of inadequacy come stem in part from his tendency to compare himself to his peers.
Themes
Craig doesn’t like that Aaron is calling from a party, telling everyone that Craig’s in a psychiatric hospital, but Aaron says people think it’s awesome. Craig gets angry and makes a reference to Nia taking anti-depressants, but she tells him to stop. That night, Craig can’t sleep, so he goes to the nurses’ station. With Smitty’s supervision, he gets a sedative.
This passage shows one of Craig’s flaws as a character. Even though he knows how bad it feels for his mental health struggles to be public, he makes Nia’s own private struggles public. This shows how Craig still has a lot to learn about how to interact with his old friends in a healthy way.
Themes
