Addiction: Crank By Ellen Hopkins

Kevin Browne-Gretzinger
Student #: 5219704
February 3, 2017
Addiction: The World That Everyone Should See – Featuring Crank by Ellen Hopkins

The novel Crank by Ellen Hopkins follows through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl named Kristina who simply refers to herself as “Bree”. The novel continues with the pathway of her life as it leads into substance misuse and addiction. Through her work, Hopkins creates a genuine look into the progression of an addict from a very personalized point of view. The style of writing, being very poetic, allows readers to understand the story at a deeper, emotional level. Some components of the story I disagree with. However, Hopkins still succeeds at challenging many norms regarding addiction,

creating sympathy for the main character, making it a fantastic (and necessary) read for all audiences.
My initial reaction to the novel was of frustration because of the unorthodox style of writing, making it difficult to follow. However, as I progressed further, I realized that this was done purposeful as it gave deeper insight as to Kristina’s thoughts and feelings. In fact, when reading certain pages when the text is read in different directions (such as top to bottom instead of left to right), it creates a different meaning. One such example is shown on page 207: “If You do still care, Lord, please keep me safe.” When read top to bottom, she claims that she changed her mind and decided not to pray because she felt that God had more important problems to worry about, but in reality, she did. This suggests that she was afraid, but did not want to admit it. Kristina describes Reno, but when reading top to bottom on only the right side of the page, it creates a different meaning: “… the monster’s sad, little victims waiting to find it.” (p. 273-274) Even though on these two pages she is describing how she is craving to find meth, it implies that she is also a victim. These conflicting thoughts show how she does realize that she has a problem, however, she still is looking forward to finding it regardless. This is an important concept for understanding addiction because it shows how even though the user knows it is hurting them, they still want to use it regardless. Continuing through the novel, these patterns had less disagreement. Kristina describes treating her depression using her addiction: “better enough way better truly above depression the trick was just calling the monster” (p. 353) This shows how her addiction started to change the way she thought about it and normalized it. Even though at first the writing style made reading the story more difficult, as I continued reading it made it easier to understand how Kristina was feeling and how her addiction was affecting her. It was also entertaining to try to discover hidden meanings within each page, giving an entirely different level of interaction with a novel that I have not experienced before.
Hopkins succeeds at challenging many stereotypes associated with addictions through Kristina’s journey.

Often times individuals see the end result associated with addiction, unable to see how they were before the addiction took hold of their lives. Through Crank, readers are able to experience how a successful high school student with high academic aspirations leads to abandoning these goals due to substance abuse. Hopkins makes excellent use of common knowledge of teenagers being especially vulnerable in their attempt to find a place of belonging. Kristina found this belonging with Adam, leading to her meeting him in the back room of the bowling alley where she first used methamphetamines: “Somehow I didn’t care about back-room parties. It was my turn. I’d been invited.” (p. 82) This allows readers to empathize with Kristina, even though they may not have used drugs in the past, as they remember that similar need for

belonging.
My personal feelings are very similar.

I was able to draw from my own experiences as a teenager, filled with feelings of needing to “fit in”, and applied it to Kristina’s situation. This allowed me to relate to her story and generated compassion for her choices. In high school, I volunteered at an organization called Start Me Up Niagara. Working during the meal program on weekends, I interacted with many individuals who were suffering from addiction. Only seeing the end result, the negative consequences resulting from their addiction, it was very hard to understand how an individual can lead to this path. One man I met spoke about his bachelor’s degree in psychology, which made me wonder how someone who was relatively successful ended up in their current position. It was easy to judge them for their choices, with my immediate thoughts wondering how they ended up making such poor decisions leading to their current

state.
With the ingrained idea that an addiction is simply due to poor choices, it ignores the complexities of each individual, distancing oneself from the fact that addictions can take hold of anyone. Kristina distances herself by blaming her actions on “Bree”: “Life is full of choices. We don’t always make good ones. It seems to Kristina you gotta be crazy to open your windows, invite he demons in. Bree throws rocks at the feeble glass, laughs.” (p. 83) This dehumanizes addiction, leading to negative labels such as “junkie”. This is an important concept to everyone, not just those directly affected by addiction, because it can happen to anyone.
In my personal experience in post-secondary education, addiction has been treated solely as a disease. Instead of asking “how can we prevent this from happening in the first place”, instead we ask “how can this be treated?” From a public health point of view, it is much more effective to prevent rather than to treat. By acknowledging the steps that lead to addiction and shared vulnerabilities that come with being human, it can lead to better understanding and increased support.
Even though the novel aimed to relate with readers, I failed to be convinced by some events that took place. When Kristina met Robyn to find a new drug supplier, she was able to with relative ease. She was willing to open up to Kristina immediately: “I reached into my pocket for the semimutilated bindle. Robyn’s pupils went all the way black. I thought you’d lost some weight. It’s better than the Atkin’s diet, huh?” (p. 377) Considering Robyn’s position as head of the cheerleading team, she had a lot to lose if others found out about her habit. By comparison, considering the weight loss effect it had on Robyn, it should be noticeable on Brendan too. He is described as the opposite; muscular and physically fit, in which the latter is a required trait of a lifeguard. With the crashing effects of meth as described in the book, with days of extremely low energy, I have difficulty being convinced that he is able to maintain his physical stature. Chase, being granted a scholarship for being a talented linebacker, also would face some form of difficulty considering his use of the drug. My reflection on this is that Hopkins attempts to show that anyone can experience drug addiction. However, she fails to show how it affects them realistically.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel. I would enjoy reading future works by this author because it provides differing perspectives than my own, allowing me to better understand the world and subjects such as addiction with increased entertainment value as compared to reading a textbook. The gripping nature of the story definitely makes it more memorable. I would recommend this novel to all audiences because it provides context to addiction. With context, comes understanding and with understanding comes empathy. Only when society can do both, we can hope to help those with addiction more effectively. In order to challenge society’s norms, the greater the audience, the greater the effect.