At the beginning of Crank, Kristina's your average high school student—quiet, an overachiever, not particularly interested in rocking the boat. Relationships? Forget about it. Breaking the rules? No way.
So how does this innocent kid transform into a drug-using, sexually active delinquent who's a teen mom by the end of her story? In one word (or maybe two, in this case) it's a desire to rebel against her parents' high standards. In another, it's crank. Kristina's crazy journey with the monster takes her relative innocence, chews it up, and spits it out, leaving her disoriented and changed beyond her comprehension.
Questions About Innocence
- When she first meets Adam, Kristina has no desire to get involved with him. What changes her mind?
- How do Kristina's various love interests take advantage of her inexperience? What are the consequences?
- How does returning home to Reno jar Kristina's sense of how much she's changed?
- How do Kristina's experiences with Adam, Brendan, and Chase test some of her previous assumptions about romance?
Chew on This
Kristina's feelings of being out of place when she returns home only fuel her desire for drugs and relationships.
Kristina's innocence proves to be a crucial factor in her downward spiral—once she gets on this ride, she has absolutely no clue how to get off.