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Nia
Aaron is Craig’s friend and Nia’s girlfriend. Craig and Aaron bond over watching movies together, and Aaron teaches Craig how to smoke pot. Craig is jealous of how effortlessly Aaron seems to succeed in school, barely studying and still finding time for a relationship with Nia. When Craig is in the hospital, Aaron angers Craig by being insensitive and telling everyone about Craig’s hospitalization. Ultimately, Aaron tries to apologize, bringing Craig a record of Egyptian music that he asked for to play for his roommate Muqtada. Aaron represents the complicated role that peers can play in mental health, sometimes offering support and other times applying unwanted pressure.
Aaron Quotes in It’s Kind of a Funny Story
The It’s Kind of a Funny Story quotes below are all either spoken by Aaron or refer to Aaron. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 10 Quotes
I had a sudden urge to walk out over the trussing and lean over the water, to declare myself to the world. Once it came into my head, I couldn’t push it away.
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This quote describes the first time that Craig thought seriously about suicide. Notably, the idea sneaks up on him and he doesn’t realize at first what he’s doing. Craig initially thinks that he is just out having fun with his friends Aaron and Ronny while Nia is asleep back at Aaron’s place. The idea of walking to a dangerous part of the Brooklyn Bridge just seems like a sudden and exciting whim to Craig at first. But once Craig follows this whim, he realizes that it has put his life in danger and that the sense of freedom and exhilaration Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti
Chapter 14 Quotes
“He’s always talking about himself and his problems. Like you. You’re both self-centered. Only, you have a low opinion of yourself, so it’s tolerable. He has a really high opinion of himself. It’s a pain.”
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In this quote, Nia draws an important distinction between Craig and his friend Aaron. Both boys, in Nia’s mind, are highly self-absorbed. But while Craig has low self-esteem, Aaron has high self-esteem. Craig thinks of himself as inadequate compared to others, and this is often a source of shame for him. But as Nia points out, Craig’s lack of self-confidence can in some ways be a good thing, making him less boastful than someone like Aaron, who has a high opinion of himself. Nia, who herself has a complicated relationship with both Craig and Aaron and is not an impartial Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi neces
Chapter 28 Quotes
“You want my girl, dude. You’ve wanted her for like two years. You’re mad that you didn’t get her, and now you’ve decided to turn being mad into being depressed, and now you’re off somewhere, probably getting turned into somebody’s bitch, trying to play the pity card to get her to end up with you … And I call you as a friend to try and lighten your mood and you hit me with all of this crap? Who do you think you are?”
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In this quote, Aaron calls Craig at the psychiatric hospital and, after an increasingly heated exchange, reveals some of the negative things that he thinks about Craig. Although Aaron has been Craig’s best friend for a while, this phone call brings up some of the resentment that has been building in each of them over their course of their friendship. Although this passage is full of conflict, it is also the beginning of Craig and Aaron’s journey toward being more open with each other. Craig’s feelings of inadequacy compared to Aaron were initially one of the factors driving his depression. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta ita
Chapter 39 Quotes
“You’re not like all these other people with their stupid little problems. You’re like, really screwed up.” She giggles. “In the good way. The way that gives experience.”
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After Nia comes to visit Craig in the psychiatric hospital and tells him that she recently broke up with Aaron, she offers the above observation about Craig being “really screwed up,” apparently as an attempt at flirtation. Craig has liked Nia for a long time, and at one point, Nia coming to say that she likes Craig would have been his fantasy come true. But while Nia starts out by complimenting Craig on his maturity, she eventually says that the thing she likes about Craig is that he’s “really screwed up,” almost as though she is fetishizing his depression. Although Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur labor
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.
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In this quote, Muqtada reacts joyfully to the Egyptian music that Aaron has helped Craig bring into the psychiatric hospital. Muqtada is typically a reserved and stern person who doesn’t seem to have much in common with Craig, being much older and coming from around the world in Egypt. Although Craig initially keeps Muqtada at a distance, he learns through the course of his time at the hospital that he can find things in common even with someone who seems as different from him as Muqtada. That Craig and Muqtada both suffer from severe mental health problems, despite their very Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas de
Chapter 50 Quotes
I’m not better, you know. The weight hasn’t left my head. I feel how easily I could fall back into it, lie down and not eat, waste my time and curse wasting my time, look at my homework and freak out and go and chill at Aaron’s, look at Nia and be jealous again, take the subway home and hope that it has an accident, go and get my bike and head to the Brooklyn Bridge. All of that is still there. The only thing is, it’s not an option now. It’s just… a possibility, like it’s a possibility that I could turn to dust in the next instant and be disseminated throughout the universe as an omniscient consciousness. It’s not a very likely possibility.
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In this quote, Craig dismisses the idea that just because he has managed to get discharged from the psychiatric hospital, he has also overcome all his mental health issues. Craig’s story does end happily, but in this passage, Craig adds a more somber note of realism to the story, acknowledging that there’s no guarantee that his current period of happiness will last. Craig realizes that he could fall back into the same old patterns of caving to peer pressure and school-related stress, but at the current moment, he feels like that possibility is as remote as being turned into “an Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium e
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Aaron Character Timeline in It’s Kind of a Funny Story
The timeline below shows where the character Aaron appears in It’s Kind of a Funny Story. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...this makes it difficult for him to talk to other people. He’s at his friend Aaron’s house with his other friend Ronny and with Aaron’s girlfriend, Nia. Aaron offers Craig marijuana,...
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Chapter 8
In eighth grade, Craig got accepted to the prestigious high school. Aaron did too, even though he barely studied. They have a party, where Aaron invites girls...
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Craig, Aaron, and Nia play a version of Scrabble where they’re allowed to make up words. Craig...
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Chapter 9
Aaron and Nia talk on the couch at the party, then they start to make out....
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Chapter 10
The house party has thinned out, but Ronny is still there playing PlayStation on Aaron’s couch. Aaron comes back, and Ronny teases her about Nia, who is asleep in the...
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...starts climbing onto the parts of the bridge only meant for workers to repair cables. Aaron thinks he’s crazy. Craig goes up to the top, where there’s nothing to stop him...
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Chapter 11
Craig finds the rest of eighth grade easy. He and Aaron keep hanging out, often with Ronny (who becomes their dealer) and Nia (who becomes Aaron’s...
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Chapter 13
...Even at his best, he struggles with self-esteem. One day at a movie-watching session, when Aaron is out for coffee, Nia asks Craig if something’s wrong, and he admits that he’s...
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Chapter 14
Craig asks Nia if she always planned to hook up with Aaron at the party. She doesn’t want to talk about it at first, but eventually she...
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Chapter 25
...from Nia, saying she’s worried about him after their last conversation. The second is from Aaron asking to hang out. The third is from his science teacher, saying he’s missing some...
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Craig calls Sarah and asks for her to give him the numbers of Nia, Aaron, and his science teacher out of his cell phone. In the middle of the call,...
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Chapter 28
...Craig learns that he has a phone call and is surprised to learn that it’s Aaron. Aaron jokes around, asking if there are any girls in the psychiatric ward, and Ronny...
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Craig doesn’t like that Aaron is calling from a party, telling everyone that Craig’s in a psychiatric hospital, but Aaron...
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Chapter 30
Nurse Monica takes Craig to an office to interview him. Craig talks about how Aaron called, but Craig has decided he’s done with Aaron and Nia too. Monica says she’s...
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Chapter 33
...idea that he should be in school. He checks his voicemail and has one from Aaron apologizing and one from Nia’s friend Jenna, who is going through an experience similar to...
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Chapter 39
Nia is crying. She says that she and Aaron broke up shortly after Craig told Aaron she was on anti-depressants. Craig fears she blames...
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Chapter 40
...depressed. Nia says she always wanted to hook up in a hospital, because she and Aaron never did anything interesting. Craig doesn’t like being compared to Aaron.
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Chapter 45
Aaron arrives as a visitor with the record Egyptian Masters Volume Three. He apologizes to Craig,...
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Chapter 48
...because he doesn’t want to watch a violent movie. Craig plays the Egyptian record that Aaron brought, and Muqtada is overjoyed, saying that it features Egypt’s greatest singer. Armelio comes over,...
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