Identity Search

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            Crank is an important novel that I am glad I had the chance to read. Hopkins did a great job of portraying some of the true struggles that adolescents may deal with in transitioning into being an adult. One thing that I love about this novel even with all the darkness that takes place, it isn’t a hard novel to read. I think the style of the novel emphasizes the effect the story should have on readers. The free verse style really allowed readers to create images and emotions in order to fully understand what the character is experiencing. At first glance of this novel, I seen how thick the book was and thought “oh my”, but when I realized the story was written as poems it made it easier to gain interest in and start reading more than I expect. I like how Hopkins didn’t leave anything out when writing about a dark world that most would shy away from. I love how she revealed the highs, the lows, the ugly, and everything that is necessary in order to relate to someone who may be experiencing addiction issues with alcohol or drugs.
            A major theme that played a significant role in this story besides drugs is issues surrounding identity. Within this novel, Hopkins creates two separate worlds between Kristina and Bree. Throughout the novel the main character is struggling with who she chooses to be. I feel like the character Kristina is more of an image that is created with family such as maybe the girl that her mom wanted her to be, and not who the teenager really is. The character Kristina lives up to expectations for her mother, friends, and an image for a “normal” high school, but isn’t really confident or happy about who she truly is as if she may be living for others instead of herself. The character Bree relies more around Kristina being free from others decisions on the way she should live her life. Bree represents the teen that has confidence to do things differently, and make her own choices even if they’re bad.
            I do believe that Crank is necessary in the classroom because it can help students that are dealing with issues that take place in the novel. Crank can also be seen as a preventive tool that encourages students to stay away from this dark place, and ways to avoid it. It is one of those novels that make teaching uncomfortable, but sometimes that is exactly what the system needs in order to save lives.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 15, 2017 at 1:46 PM

    Hey Kesi!
    I definitely agree with the points you made about structure and identity. The way the novel was written in poetry had this strange effect of being both ambiguous and mysterious, but also really easy to picture. I think a lot of the powerful, emotive language helps the reader picture what's going on. I also totally agree that Kristina/Bree is struggling to find her identity. Her addiction makes her personality to a complete 180 because she becomes so reliant on the drug.

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