It's Kind of a Funny Story

This blog is about :
Close reading of a few chapters of "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini


       Ned Vizzini suffered from depression. He wrote books about it, talked about, sought help about it, but depression is a disease, not unlike cancer, or malaria. It can't be cured, only treated, and controlled. "It's Kind of a Funny Story" is a book based off of Vizzini's five days in Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he started his story.

      The protagonist of "It's Kind of a Funny Story" is Craig. Craig is a 15 year old high school student, that just wants to succeed in life. He has a good family, a great education, but a troubled mind. I noticed that Craig thinks he will never make it in life. He gets 93's in school, and thinks because of it, he is average, and will get nowhere. I think his brain is wired to think that every tiny mistake he makes will end up in his life failing. I am now going to separate how I think Ned Vizzini's brain works from Craig's, so that I don't get confused.

    Many people have power in "It's Kind of a Funny Story." Firstly, Craig has power to check himself into the hospital when he is feeling suicidal. He has the power to save his own life, to make himself happier, and to save everyone he knows pain. His "best" friend Aaron has a lot of power as well. I think that Aaron is a symbol for what Craig thinks of himself. Craig is always worried about what others think about him, including his best friend. I think that his best friend is all of his worries wrapped up into one, because Craig thinks Aaron will succeed at life, while he will fail. Aaron has a girlfriend, Craig does not. Aaron didn't study to get into their top school, Craig studied for the whole summer. Aaron is happy and relaxed, while Craig is uptight and depressed. And it goes on and on and on.

   There was one particular word that stood out to me in "It's Kind of a Funny Story," and that word was "shift." I think shift perfectly sums up and describes Craig's condition. Shift means to move, but not by much. To just move over a bit one way or the other. Craig is shifting as well. He isn't recovering from depression, because that is impossible, he is simply shifting in the right direction, to become happier.

     The book is bittersweet, we know that he doesn't jump off the bridge, but we also know he isn't completely healed, and he won't ever be. We know he is happy now but we also know that he will have to take pill the rest of his life to keep him feeling that way. In conclusion,  there are many more things in "It's Kind of a Funny Story" that I did not cover, as I couldn't closely read the whole book. However the parts I did read were extremely inspiring and powerful in every way.