Commitment and Loyalty

Rape. Pregnancy. Drugs. Police. The book Crank by Ellen Hopkins deals with it all in telling the story of Kristina. Kristina is a teenager who is looking to branch away from her comfort zone and start a new personality-- one she has named Bree. Unfortunately, Bree makes all the wrong decisions, and Kristina has to pay the price. Smoking weed, snorting meth, and taking ecstasy pills help her cope with her confusion, satisfy her never-ending hunger from when a 'friend' named Adam introduced her to them. While sorting through her life there is always just one person that has truly been there for Kristina, and that is Chase.

The reason this character stands out to me the most, is because he is one of those individuals that is almost "too good to be true". He is loyal, supportive, committed, and caring. Out of the three boys Kristina dated in the time span of less than a month-- he is the only one who treated her respectably. Brendan illegally forced Kristina into doing something she wasn't comfortable with, as did Adam. In addition, he felt they had an open relationship, even though it broke Kristina's heart. 

When Kristina called Chase and told him she was feeling upset, he came to comfort her. And when she told him that Brendan had raped her the night before, he was more mad at himself than he was at Brendan, for not being there to protect Kristina. This showed that his love for Kristina wasn't about competing with other guys, but it was being there for one another. "I should have been there for you" he sobbed as they embraced. His tears portrayed sincerity and sorrow, and implies that he truly cares for Kristina.

Towards the end of the story, Kristina tells Chase she is pregnant. Now in most cases, one would assume that a relationship would end there. But Chases was one of the few that stood by her. And, he wanted to keep and raise the child, even when he found out that the child wasn't his. In one of her moments of doubt, Chase assures her that he will support her and she says, "Chase likewise promised to care for us, work two jobs if need be." Promising to work two jobs, is showing a great deal of commitment.

And finally, he asks to marry her.

He has proved to Kristina that he is ready to take on the responsibility that has been laid out before him.

Realistically, if a girl gets pregnant in her teen years, she has to raise a child without the help of a father. Brendan, the true father, was reluctant to give Kristina cash. In some cases, the family will stop supporting the girl as well. So I found Kristina incredibly lucky to have a family that supported her decision not to abort her child, and to have Chase who loved her and was willing to do anything to help.

Overall, Crank took the reader through some very dark topics and if I'm correct, based off the author's daughter. Ellen didn't write this novel randomly, but because it is a story that people can actually relate to. Kristina's life went downhill at a very rapid pace, but Chase helped her slow down--hopefully later to help her up again.

The Dark Side

     The dark side: it's a line never to be crossed. It's that place that has so many warnings and barbed wire fences keeping you away from it, holding you back from becoming the unknown. But what if all of those warnings and barbed wire fences are just illusions? What if we constantly are drifting from one side to another, but we just don't notice those warning signs on our way there? In Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Kristina/Bree is a teenage girl who was once, and part of her still is, a smart, sensible girl who became addicted to Crystal Meth, referred to as "crank" or "the monster." She crossed over to a darker side by way of "Bree," her (kind of) alter-ego. Through Kristina/Bree, Ellen Hopkins conveys that we all pass from the dark side of our personality to our better side constantly.

     Ellen Hopkins uses her structure to show this. For example, in the poem "I was Aglow," she describes the plainer facts about a party on the left side, like "Soon the house filled/with friends,/ with acquaintances,/ with complete strangers." These are thoughts of a simple, stable girl. The thoughts of Kristina. Then, on the right side, she says, " and I wanted to get to know each and every one." These are clearly different. They are form the mind of a crazy, wild, audacious personality. Bree. She subconsciously moves from her dark side to her regular side quickly, without even thinking. Her dark side is a part of her. It's not like jumping out of a body and into another. It's you.

     Like Kristina, we all have this part of us. Though everyone believes that their dark side is so far off, so hidden away, it's not. It not just this dead part of us that you can never even imagine going to. It's a place we constantly drift towards without knowing, without noticing that we're doing it. The bad parts of our selves are not covered in glass. Our personalities don't work like that. It's not like one day, you break the glass and it all comes pouring out. It's always inside of us, unconfined, yet unnoticed sometimes. Remember that you don't need anything to get to this place- it's just a part of you. It shows in some more than others, but it's still not untouched. No matter how pure a heart is, it's still there, looming, waiting far you to cross that blurry border to have a thought, or an action, or even a word that is subtle, but everything about it is still dark.