Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

What Guide/Mentor?

Whether it's a parent, a teacher, or a wizard of Middle Earth, most young adult protagonists have a responsible adult authority figure helping them navigate the dangerous waters of adolescence. In Crank, though, this type of mentor is noticeably absent. Sure, the story's packed with parents, teachers, cops, and other adults, but none of them really seem to put their feet down and take a stand against Kristina's behavior. In fact, many of them actually are part of the problem.

Check out Kristina's parents, for one. When you really think about it, this whole situation is Kristina's dad's fault, and her mom is too much in denial for most of the book to recognize that Kristina needs help, like, yesterday. Maybe part of the point of the mentor being left out is to show how the very people who should be guiding Kristina away from drugs and sex aren't doing their jobs, and how this same scenario is probably true for many real-life cases of addiction. Either way, not having someone to guide her is a major problem for our main girl.