Identity Search
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.
Hey Kesi!
ReplyDeleteI 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.