Previous
Craig
Noelle is a 15-year-old girl whom Craig meets during his time in the psychiatric hospital. She has cuts on her face from self-harm, and she initially doesn’t speak much, communicating with Craig only sporadically and through written notes. Once Noelle does open up to Craig, however, she can be very talkative and enjoys playing a game that involves asking questions back and forth with Craig. Because of all the questions they ask each other, Noelle and Craig’s conversations help them better understand not just each other but also themselves, forcing them to reflect on their own lives. Noelle represents the possibility of hope in difficult times, and she is a positive force that contrasts with the negative peer pressure Craig experiences in other facets of his life.
Noelle Quotes in It’s Kind of a Funny Story
The It’s Kind of a Funny Story quotes below are all either spoken by Noelle or refer to Noelle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 31
Quotes
“I have to have surgery to clear them up. You think I should?”
“No. Why hide what you’ve been through?”
“I don’t know if that’s really a question. It’s too obvious. Wouldn’t I be happier without scars?”
“I don’t know. It’s tough to tell what would make you happy. I thought I’d be happier in a really tough high school, and I ended up here.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32
Quotes
It’s depressing, though. I mean, this room is what I expect a mental hospital to look like. Adults reduced to children, sitting with finger paints; a jolly supervisor telling them that everything they do is great.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 34
Quotes
“You don’t want any of your Anchors being members of the opposite sex you’re attracted to,” Dr. Minerva says. “Relationships change even more than people. It’s like two people changing. It’s exponentially more volatile. Especially two teenagers.”
Chapter 41
Quotes
“You were the one who suggested I do stuff from childhood,” I continue. “I used to do these when I was a kid, and I forgot how fun they were.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 42
Quotes
“So now,” I continue, “instead of a quarter-life crisis they’ve got a fifth-life crisis—that’s when you’re eighteen—and a sixth-life crisis—that’s when you’re fourteen. I think that’s what a lot of people have.”
“What you have.”
“Not just me. It’s the . . . um . . . should I keep going?”
“Yes,” Noelle says.
“Well, there are lot of people who make a lot of money off the fifth- and sixth-life crises. All of a sudden they have a ton of consumers scared out of their minds and willing to buy facial cream, designer jeans, SAT test prep courses, condoms, cars, scooters, self-help books, watches, wallets, stocks, whatever … all the crap that the twenty-somethings used to buy, they now have the ten-somethings buying. They doubled their market!”
Get the entire It’s Kind of a Funny Story LitChart as a printable PDF.
Noelle Quotes in It’s Kind of a Funny Story
The It’s Kind of a Funny Story quotes below are all either spoken by Noelle or refer to Noelle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 31
Quotes
“I have to have surgery to clear them up. You think I should?”
“No. Why hide what you’ve been through?”
“I don’t know if that’s really a question. It’s too obvious. Wouldn’t I be happier without scars?”
“I don’t know. It’s tough to tell what would make you happy. I thought I’d be happier in a really tough high school, and I ended up here.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32
Quotes
It’s depressing, though. I mean, this room is what I expect a mental hospital to look like. Adults reduced to children, sitting with finger paints; a jolly supervisor telling them that everything they do is great.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 34
Quotes
“You don’t want any of your Anchors being members of the opposite sex you’re attracted to,” Dr. Minerva says. “Relationships change even more than people. It’s like two people changing. It’s exponentially more volatile. Especially two teenagers.”
Chapter 41
Quotes
“You were the one who suggested I do stuff from childhood,” I continue. “I used to do these when I was a kid, and I forgot how fun they were.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 42
Quotes
“So now,” I continue, “instead of a quarter-life crisis they’ve got a fifth-life crisis—that’s when you’re eighteen—and a sixth-life crisis—that’s when you’re fourteen. I think that’s what a lot of people have.”
“What you have.”
“Not just me. It’s the . . . um . . . should I keep going?”
“Yes,” Noelle says.
“Well, there are lot of people who make a lot of money off the fifth- and sixth-life crises. All of a sudden they have a ton of consumers scared out of their minds and willing to buy facial cream, designer jeans, SAT test prep courses, condoms, cars, scooters, self-help books, watches, wallets, stocks, whatever … all the crap that the twenty-somethings used to buy, they now have the ten-somethings buying. They doubled their market!”
