Previous
Mental Health
Themes and Colors
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.
In It’s Kind of a Funny Story, one of the main ways that narrator Craig learns to better understand his own mental health is through art. Craig has been interested in drawing maps from a young age, but it’s only when he ends up in Joanie’s arts and crafts class at a psychiatric hospital that he starts drawing them again with new, directed purpose. Craig’s maps are based on the human brain, and on his final full day in the hospital he draws portraits of the brain maps of all his fellow patients. Maps, conventionally, are useful for navigation and discovery. Craig’s decision to draw maps of the brain initially represents his attempt to learn more about himself by “mapping out” his brain as though it were a city block. He eventually learns how to map out other brains, showing how his journey of self-discovery is only possible through the help of others. Craig’s experience with music and the guitar therapist Neil follows a similar path, as he starts by learning about himself (that he has the rhythm to play drums and dance) before ultimately helping him to connect more with other people (such as when Craig tracks down Egyptian music to play for his roommate Muqtada). In establishing this link between art, self-expression, and human connection, then, It’s Kind of a Funny Story portrays art as a powerful tool for healing and self-fulfillment, helping people to first get a better sense of themselves so that they can make richer, more fulfilling connections with others.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…
Art and Self-Discovery ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Art and Self-Discovery appears in each chapter of It’s Kind of a Funny Story. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
chapter length:
Get the entire It’s Kind of a Funny Story LitChart as a printable PDF.
Art and Self-Discovery Quotes in It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Below you will find the important quotes in It’s Kind of a Funny Story related to the theme of Art and Self-Discovery.
Chapter 3
Quotes
She got me some thick paper—white construction paper. Later on I grew to prefer straight computer paper. I went back under my fort and turned the light on and started on my first map. And I did that for the next five years—whenever I was in class, I didn’t doodle, I drew maps. Hundreds of them. When I finished, I crumpled them; it was making them that was important. I did cities on the ocean, cities with two rivers meeting in the middle, cities with one big river that bent, cities with bridges, crazy interchanges, circles and boulevards. I made cities. That made me happy. That was my Anchor. And until I turned nine and turned to video games, that was what I wanted to be when I grew up: a mapmaker.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
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 38
Quotes
“Ha! Listen, for real, here’s my card.” Neil pulls out a simple black-and-white business card that identifies him as a Guitar Therapist. “Whenever you’re out of here, and I’m sure it’ll be soon, give me a call and we can talk about volunteering, and—I’m serious—I might like to buy some of these.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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 44
Quotes
“I’m going to throw a wild notion at you.” Dr. Minerva leans back, then forward. “Have you ever thought about going to a different school?”
Chapter 48
Quotes
“This I have not heard in so long!” He’s grinning so much I think his glasses are going to fall off.
Chapter 50
Quotes
So now live for real, Craig. Live. Live. Live. Live.
Live.
