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Chapter 1
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 goes to see his psychiatrist, Dr. Minerva. Craig wants Dr. Minerva to help him but is skeptical that psychiatrists can do anything. He talks to her about his “Tentacles” (the unpleasant tasks that invade his life) and his “Anchors” (the things that make him feel good, temporarily). Craig sometimes stutters or stops mid-sentence. Dr. Minerva asks what Craig wanted to be when he grew up.
Dr. Minerva represents the one area of Craig’s life where he can be honest about what he feels on the inside. Craig’s use of the invented terms Tentacles and Anchors show how even before he started going to therapy, he began thinking of ways to try to categorize, describe, and understand both the negative and positive emotions that he feels.
Themes
