Craig Gilner Character Analysis

A teenager struggling with depression, Craig Gilner, from Ned Vizzini’s novel, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, is admitted to the psychiatric hospital after having thoughts of suicide. Craig is a victim of depression, and finds himself struggling with everyday tasks, any normal teenage boy could do. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Craig demonstrates that living with depression is difficult due to the ongoing unpredictability of the disease, the relentless obsessive thoughts that go along with it and the inability to trust others when it comes to dealing with his mental illness.

For ten years my parents sheltered me from the truth about my Grandfather’s suicide. The day he died is a blur, but I remember our afternoons together in his garden reading books he brought home from the library he worked at, and evenings eating Chinese food and watching ice skating—two of his favorite things. Finding out he committed suicide left me with myriad questions. As I matured my desire for understanding intensified. Drawn to human behavior and the mechanisms that affect it, I applied to the University of California at Berkeley as a Psychology major. In the summer prior to beginning my studies Anthony killed himself.

The relatable Craig Gilner is in high school, “plagued by social…, academic…, and familial pressures” (Clabough 2) that give him overwhelming anxieties. Craig’s extremely self-critical, believing “everything [he has] done is a failure… and there is no hope [him]” (Vizzini 106). Indications of major depressive disorder include his self-loathing- feeling “dead, wasted, awful, broken, and useless” (Vizzini 158). It is the presence of these insecurities that are impertinent to notice because he will materialize “a plan and a solution: [he is] going to kill [himself]” (Vizzini 126). Craig believes he is “good at nothing” (Vizzini 259) and muse[s] at how [he] would kill [himself]” (Vizzini 173): Craig “suffer[s] from serious depression” (Vizzini 199). Despite his suicide plan, he sought help and after a few months of medical attention he returned to normal life as a healthy young

On October 5, 2016, Fowlerville High School freshman, Brendan Kangas, committed suicide. His whole school and community was struck with grief, previously unaware of Brendan’s battle with depression. The next day school was held on schedule, and it was a very unproductive day. According to the faculty, kids were crying in classrooms, and uninstructed teachers did not know how to handle the situation (Brent). Many Fowlerville students have struggled academically, unable to cope with the news of Brendan’s death. Fowlerville was not prepared to handle such a crisis and administrators were unaware of the effect Brendan’s suicide would have on the school. Since then, several other students in Brendan’s community have attempted to take their lives as well (Brent). Suicide has not only a problem in

In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).

Professor Crawford is a assertive human. He does not like to be corrected. The first time Jamal turned in an essay Professor Crawford doubted that he wrote it by himself. Crawford doubted Jamal because he was African American. Jamal is an extremely talented writer and Crawford knows, but he refuses to accept the fact and continues to bring Jamal down. Crawford wanted to see if Jamal can come up with his own words so he made Jamal write an essay with his supervision.

“ The top mission for the counseling center on campus is keeping their students’ safety, so after a couple times I talk to my doctor about “suicide”, they told me if I keep the dangerous idea, they would contact hospitals,” said Danny, “I know their dilemma, but I just have much pressure when I knew I would be hospitalized. Then I tried to digest the bad feeling by myself.”

Craig is a fifteen year old boy living in Brooklyn with his family of four, and all he wants is to succeed in life, if he doesn’t kill himself first. He is depressed and pretty much hates his life, he wants to be normal. His best friend, Aaron, stole his crush, Nia, which makes him hate life even more. His stress eventually manifests itself in an eating disorder, use of pot, affected sleep habits, and suicidal thoughts. So, he admits himself to a nearby psychiatric hospital. "I'm fine. Well, I'm not fine -- I'm here." (Vizzini, 11) Many teens deal with stress themselves and cope in many different ways, and don’t pay attention to what is going on within themselves because they are too busy just making sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Ottawa- Dan Stoddard was doing what he does every day when he came across a woman who seemed to be in danger. He asked her what was wrong and she confided in him that she was being abused physically and emotionally and that she needed a phone. Stoddard could have very well ignored this women but he the just thing and called transit security. In the end, the police came and were able to take the woman to a safer place.

Cory is naturally brilliant at sports due to his father skills. In his early years Troy played baseball as a result, Cory is now playing football. He was fantastic at playing football, same as his father was at playing baseball. That is why he was recruited. According to the reading Cory says “coach Zellman say the recruiter going be coming by to talk to you”(35). Cory was excellent at football, much like his dad at baseball. In order to be recruited he has to be skilled and get excellent grades. According to the reading Cory says, “I get good grades, Pop. That’s why the recruiter wants to talk with you. You got to keep up your grades to get recruited. This way I’ll be going to college”(36). He was a respectable student that received excellent

Scott Anderson exhibits the fact that Greg Ousley is a dynamic character by telling that Greg greatly matures in prison, becomes educated, and wants to work with young people upon being released. The change in Greg that first appears is his growth to maturity in prison. This is portrayed when the author states, “he occasionally turned to prison dope and moonshine for brief relief,” but Greg says, “I work across the hall from the superintendent.” Greg now working across from the superintendent exemplifies the fact that he has grown in maturity since the days of prison dope and moonshine because of the trust that the prison officials have in him. Greg becomes further dynamic by becoming an educated person. Greg pursues an advanced education as

Roland Goubert hates it, he hates what he’s done and he hates what they made him do. The Goober felt guilty for the destruction of Room 19 and Brother Eugene’s breakdown. “He was one of those kids who always wanted to please everybody” (pg. 29).

According to the World Health Organization, “Suicide has surpassed homicide to become the second leading cause of death among ten to twenty-nine-year-olds; in 2012, suicide claimed the lives of more than five-thousand people within this age bracket” (Onieal 14). Five-thousand young people felt that the weight of the problems they were faced with was too much to handle, and suicide was the only solution. As a teen who struggled with clinical depression and anxiety, this is an issue that is very real to me. So many of these suicides could have been prevented if we were more aware of how many teens are struggling with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, and offered our support and strength to those who feel too weak to hold on any longer.

Doctor Constance Scharff pens an article discussing suicide on college campuses and the overwhelmed mental health system that is responsible for monitoring the students’ needs (Scharff, 2015). The article mentions that college aged students more frequently receive mental health services as youth to be able to handle the college stressors in the future. This trend the facilities are ill equipped to deal with the more complicated mental health issues like suicide. Unlike other articles reporting on suicide, this article promotes positive ways to deal with the stressors instead of blaming the system for the rise in deaths or problems.

“68% of the world’s population has an IQ in between 85 and 115” (Quora) The highest IQ ever recorded was 190 by Marilyn Vos Savent. (The Richest) Charlie is a 32 year old man with an IQ of 68. He works cleaning the bathrooms and delivering at Donner's Bakery. He is also a candidate and participant for an experiment, he undergoes a surgery to make him three times as smart as he is at the moment. As fast as the gained the knowledge, it went away. After what he had learned had gone away he ran away as well to go somewhere where people did not know him as the person who used to be intelligent. The risks of Charlie's surgery were greater than the rewards.