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
As he prepares to leave, Craig tells Dr. Minerva he’s worried about all the emails he’ll have to catch up with after he leaves. Dr. Minerva asks more about this topic and figures that Craig’s fear of emails, many of which will be about school, is related to his fear of school in general.
Widespread email use only happened a little before the turn of the millennium, meaning that regular email use for high school students was still relatively new when this novel was published. Here, it represents how the quickening pace of technology promises convenience but often only adds to the stress of students like Craig.
Themes
Dr. Minerva asks Craig more about his Anchors, and Craig goes down the hall to grab Bobby. He then shows her his art, and Dr. Minerva is impressed. She asks Craig why he enjoys art. Craig says he doesn’t really have a chance to do art at his high school, so Dr. Minerva asks why he doesn’t transfer. Craig had never even considered the idea, but he soon decides he wants to talk to his parents about it.
Dr. Minerva helps Craig realize that there is more than one type of success in the world. Craig’s fundamental problem is that he doesn’t realize how much power he has to change his situation, and all of Craig’s previous breakthroughs at the hospital lead him to the larger conclusion that perhaps he can change his biggest source of stress: the competitive high school he attends.
Themes
