Nicknames in Crank

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     The monster is first presented to the audience on the first page. It is represented opposingly as a monster in the common term that would be described today. Monsters to the reader before reading Crank are scary figures or even items that haunt an individual. As for Kristina, the monster in her life is a drug. She mentions it in the poem titled "Flirtin' with the Monster," "Life was good before I met the monster. After that, life was great. At least for a little while (1)." Kristina, as well as the monster, is being introduced naively to the audience. We do not have any insight into what is going to happen nor do we know what the monster explicitly is until further reading into Crank. Kristina gives her drug of choice the generic name of 'monster' because she knows it is terrible for her but, that is the best name she can give it without possibly admitting she is in the process of becoming a drug addict.
     Further, into the book, we see that the drug is no longer referred to as 'the monster' so much. It is now referred to as 'crank.'  Kristina is becoming dependent on her drug of choice and is now making irrational decisions when it comes to men in her life. She has lost most of her hope in something turning around in her life. On page 207, there is a poem shaped in a cross. This serves as a midpoint between the old Kristina and the new Bree that is bound to take over at any minute. She writes, "Changed my mind. No doubt the good Lord, / If You do still care, please keep me safe/, had weightier things to worry about than the half-hearted apology of a crashing crankster (207)." Not all hope is gone with the sidenote in the poem but, when the drug is mentioned as crank, things are taking a dark turn for the worse.
     Lastly, Kristina reaches a place close to rock bottom while she is getting high every single day. Sometimes more than once a day. Her only goal now is to bare these family activities she has to go through and get as high as possible in the process. In the poem titled "Feeling Good," she expresses that "Every increment required meth or more meth (416)." It is evident that Kristina believes she cannot get through her daily life without doing drugs. Now, she also calls the drug by its name. Kristina is being self-aware of what she is doing. Her simply incorporating the word 'meth' makes the situation much more serious than her playing around with the names as in the beginning. Once she calls it for what is it, there is now a chance for her to willingly and consciously seek or receive help after this point.

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