Character Clues
Character Analysis
Actions
Obviously, the way the characters behave toward each other goes a long way toward showing who they are. Kristina cracks under the pressure of her parents' high standards and tries drugs. Brendan takes advantage of Kristina's naivety and rapes her. Robyn acts like a goody-goody cheerleader by day but transforms into a bad girl drug user by night. Most of the time, these characters' actions give us a big heads up that they don't exactly have it together.
Hang on a minute, though. On the other hand, we can learn as much about the characters from what they don't do as what they do do (that's right, we said doo doo). Think about it. Chase knows that he needs to set "boundaries" (I Gave Up the Bus.4-5) when it comes to his drug use and is aware that things aren't so great with Kristina, and yet he's not strong enough to quit. Kristina's mom knows there's something up with her daughter, but she never puts her foot down and does a hardcore investigation.
In most cases, the characters' failures to act are clear-cut signs of denial and fear to admit that things aren't going well. In Kristina's mom's case, acknowledging her daughter's drug use might reflect badly on her as a parent, while for Chase, it's easier to hide from Kristina's issues than help her get through them. Either way, lack of action is a major clue to characterization in Crank.
Family Life
Kristina's family might pretend to be perfect, but they don't exactly have it all together. We don't need to rely on Kristina's commentary in order to see it either—Kristina's parents' divorce, the strained relationship between Kristina and her mom, Scott's heavy-handed approach to raising children, and Kristina's mom's serious selfish streak all point to some major dysfunction. Throw in a daughter in full-on rebellion and you've got the stuff reality TV shows are made of.
The striking thing about Kristina's family is that they all seem to live pretty separate lives from each other. Kristina's mom is "a wannabe writer and workout fanatic" (I Got in a Car with a Stranger.3) who frequently puts her own interests ahead of her family; Scott's mostly obsessed with his job; Leigh's off living her own life at college; and Kristina's too busy being Bree to notice the effect her behavior has on her family. Ultimately this lack of communication and connection plays a serious role in Kristina's downfall.
Direct Characterization
While there's plenty we can infer about the people in Kristina's life, one of the benefits of a first-person narrator is that she often lets us in on exactly what she thinks of them. While her opinions of them often change, the tried and true technique of direct characterization gives us an up-front analysis of who the characters are and what we can expect.
We learn from Kristina, for example, that Chase is "Reno High's storied bad boy" (As If That Weren't Enough.1), that Sarah is "crazy smart, pretty" (The Phone, Still in My Hand, Rang.3), and that Brendan is "tall, handsome, and gainfully employed" (Two Guys in One Day?.2), though this doesn't necessarily equate to him being a nice guy. Still, these facts give us just enough information about the characters to assess who they are when we meet them.
Names
Plenty of people's names aren't big deals in this book, but there are two we wanted to draw your attention to. We'll start with Kristina since she's our main character. What gives? Well, her last name is Snow, which conjures ideas of pure untainted whiteness, which can be seen as a symbol for her innocence. She starts the book as fresh to the ways of the world as new fallen snow.
And then she meets Adam. Pro tip: Any time you're dealing with a character named Adam, you should probably ask yourself whether they are somehow connected to the acquisition of knowledge and/or some sort of fall from grace. Because this is what Adam is associated with in the Bible—and in the case of Crank, so is Kristina's first boyfriend. Not convinced? Kristina practically comes right out and says as much:
It isn't hard to fall from grace. Revisit Genesis. Maybe I'll go with you. Might be fun. (Bree? Who Was She?.4-5)
Adam is from Genesis in the Bible—and here Kristina is speaking to Adam, who's just explained that he goes by Buddy because his name is a lot to live up to. And she's also openly suggested (as Bree, of course) that she just might "fall from grace" by following his lead.
Just as Adam is the first man in the Bible, he's also the first man in Kristina's life, romantically-speaking. And just as things start out hunky dory and innocent for Adam's lady friend in the Bible, so, too, does Kristina start out unhip to the darker parts of the world—but once Adam comes along, well, she doesn't stay this way much longer.