Finally a Kind of Funny Story that shows the Kind of Funny Story of an Anything But Disease
What is the role of a character (or group of characters) other than the protagonist in your novel?
Craig describes his anxious behaviors as “tentacles” that want to take away all the stability he has in the world. His thoughts seem to get very sequential, fluid, and increasingly chaotic as he rapidly descends into an anxiety attack. He is, however, held up by his “anchors” which best relate to coping mechanisms such as peeing and riding his bike to distract away from the tentacles for a bit and regain his focus. At the beginning, he implies that coping is a means of procrastination and not something vital to his mental health even while he hopes for a “shift” in his mental state to change and go into a more peaceful and “normal” life.
Another anchor for Craig are his maps which he derives from the succinct and straightforward nature of NYC’s roads. Like the concreteness he loves, Craig also forgets many times to realize he’s forcing himself into a box he doesn’t actually need to follow. Having forgotten these for a while, in an art group, Craig is reminded of these and support from the group encourages him to continue working and developing his art skills with this unique talent of his.Â
Craig’s parents and sister do care for him (his mother tries to sneak in his dog when he’s hospitalized at three am and there’s a really cute scene when this happens but yeah), but it isn’t really helping him obviously as he descends deeper into the depression. It’s as if he needs to face the problems himself. Others help him along the way for sure, but it needs to be him that ultimately makes the effort to help his problem. This matters more as he doesn’t have a very stable friend group at the beginning to make sense of what’s paramount of concern for his self. Along the way, he starts throwing away friends that have hurt him or don’t aid to his progress.
Frequently, Craig has imaginary conversations with a drill sergeant in order to divine truth from the issues of his world and put himself down in the process. I feel that these problems also come into play to put his own problems and concerns down in real life and irrelevant by comparing his self to others. Talking with the sergeant seems to distant Craig away from the thoughts he would like very much to avoid and potentially decrease the amount he feels that he’s responsible for these faults in an effort to process the world. Â
Craig often compares himself to others in the beginning and doesn’t feel like he’s accomplished much as he prepared with reckless abandonment to get into a top-tier high school and funnels the stress he gains from handling massive quantities of homework and extracurricular activities as a freshman into his anxiety over getting into Harvard or Yale. When he is finally put into the hospital, he finds people are helping to treat his own problems and he feels less pressure to compare, suggesting the outside world has that mechanism built into it.
The hospital’s program forces individuals to truly introvert on themselves and discover what is important in their lives. Dissuasion from talking to other individuals and developing friends is prolific.Â
Some very important transphobia to discuss. Upon the first reading, Jennifer/Charles is a bipolar transgender fat sex addict who is frequently misgendered and in some cases called an it. While I do not know their pronouns, I find it frankly problematic that they’re not given much time to develop and played off as a joke meant to explore how poorly Craig is initially acclimating to the environment.Â
The minor characters often point out some of the hard patches Craig doesn’t have to deal with. If these characters leave the hospital, they are often unable to find basic needs and still have the ability to relapse and come back into the hospital which is seen as both a blessing and a plague.
Nia is a half Chinese/ half-Jewish girl. While she isn’t fully fleshed out at the beginning, she seems to have a shallow understanding of the depression she and others face, often romanticizing it in a very problematic manner when she seems to more attribute her interest in the subject with the rawness that accompanies the emotions she finds in others such as when she flirts with Craig after she and Aaron break up.Â
Muqtada is an Egyptian man who often spends a great deal of time in the room that he shares with Craig. As time passes, Muqtada, having been encouraged by Craig, begins to step outside the room more and more although he is certainly hesitant at first. He walks in on Craig and Nia having sex at one point and suggests his isolation from the world, through this incident, is an adulterous spouse.  It’s implied he becomes best friends with Armelio after Craig leaves due to their Mediterranean rivalry, moving far more rapidly towards his recovery.Â
Bobby is a heroin addicted man residing under a bland white guy attitude, afraid to move on at some points. He regularly hangs with Johnny who is a bisexual heroin addict with many of the similar problems as Bobby. Bobby begins developing a sense of pride after he lands a successful interview with help from Craig and it’s clear that this passion was always within him, suggesting his addiction (while always present) has the potential to be managed. Johnny is subtle with his characterization. Not talking much, he has small points reflecting a straightforward pensive nature. Bobby and Johnny are a couple (and no one will tell me otherwise) helping each other fight against their addictions, recognizing they may never fully escape their problems.
Noelle is a self harmer who scratched her face with scissors. She is a straighttalker and has very little patience for BS. She catches Craig and Nia having sex and proceeds to vent to him about how men have often used her for her looks and nothing more, leading her to her self harm in an attempt to escape the “pretty game.”Â
Craig’s best friend, Aaron, before he goes into the hospital gets Craig hooked on pot. Later, the two fight about how poorly Aaron handles Craig’s hospitalization and Aaron calls back apologizing, almost desperate to hold onto a friend. Aaron seems to have just as many problems with depression as Craig, but handles them in a completely different and possibly unhealthy manner that can harm him in the future if he isn’t careful.Â
Armelio is a delusional Greek man who is often a source of happiness in the hospital through his card games and upbeat attitude. He tends to think in a straightforward fast manner.Â
Ebony is a black woman suffering from 13 miscarriages fueling her depression. Her bubbly nature comes from her wanting to avoid the dismal nature of her situation.Â
Close to leaving the hospital, Craig realizes he doesn’t need to return to the school causing him so much stress, never realizing that was even a choice. We often force ourselves into these “have tos” (obviously there are exceptions to this, but a nice chunk of problems can be resolved this way) never realizing that these problems aren’t tangible and are more fluid, thus, changeable. They are not escapable, however, as they are always a possibility. It just means that other possibilities exist for his happiness as well.
