Blog Post for "It's Kind of a Funny Story," by Ned Vizzini

             In the young adult book, “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” by Ned Vizzini, a struggling teen named Craig, has to cope with the depressing environment he lives in. His friends pressure him to do drugs and drink alcohol, and his family seems not to realize his difficulties as a teen.  Craig is crushed as high school weighs him down with work. He wants to commit suicide but is stuck between two worlds. But somehow Craig finds himself through the mess, and he joins a clinic for people with difficulties in life. He finally finds the real him, and puts his friends aside, focusing on how to ‘live’ again.

             Teens face many problems through the middle-stages of their lives. High school, family, and friends are some of the problems in a teen’s life.  Sometimes teens can’t help themselves with all of the problems they have, and become somewhat depressed. Craig becomes depressed when he realizes that he isn’t living his life the way he wants to. He feels concealed, not free. 

             Craig, before joining the hospital clinic, used to hang out with his longtime friend Aaron. They used to hang out all the time. But through his experience with Aaron, he realized that Aaron was not a good friend or choice in his life. Aaron pressured him into doing immoral things such as taking drugs and drinking alcohol. I infer that Craig chose not to continue his life immorally.

 

             A metaphor in the book is the connection with Craig and the Brooklyn Bridge. Before he went to the clinic Craig would go to the bridge to calm down. His problems slipped away as if they weren’t present in his life. I think this is kind of an ironic note that Vizzini added in his book. Usually a bridge is a type of symbol of suicide because many people commit suicide by jumping off bridges. But with Craig it is the opposite. Even though he has an urge to commit suicide, it isn’t the slightest with the bridge. The bridge symbolizes Craig’s freedom from reality. 

             When Craig joins the clinic, at first he feels misplaced, like he isn’t supposed to be at the clinic. He feels like his case isn’t as severe as the others. But he soon realizes that many of the people there, are just like him, and I infer that these people are also just trying to find their own places in the world. Noelle a girl at the clinic used scissors to cut her face because she couldn’t deal with the sexual abuse she was dealt. Craig became friends with her and a connection built between the two of them.

             Through art and friendship, Craig finds himself away from the peer-pressure of the outside-world. He drew maps to calm himself as a kid but re-introduced them when in the clinic. The maps served as something to get his mind off of depression, something that expressed himself.

             But finally he copes with his depression and realizes that he only got through it because of two things:

             Blocking out peer-pressure and reaching deep inside himself to reveal the real Craig.