Crash is a novel about the difficulty of communicating with other people.
For Scooter, this problem is literal. After his stroke, he can only say one word, and that one word is gibberish. And yet, people still seem to understand him, more or less.
Crash, on the other hand, has tons of words to use, but his emotions are so confusing that he has a hard time articulating them. Similarly, the gestures he uses to express those emotions make no sense at all. He grabs Penn's button and then hands it right back to him. He leaves a meatball on the Webb family's porch.
Like "a-bye," Scooter's word, when Crash tries to express himself, it comes out as nonsense.
Questions About Language and Communication
- Which character is the best communicator? Explain your answer.
- There are two examples of Penn's writing in the book. What are they? What do they tell us about him?
- What makes Scooter such a good storyteller?
Chew on This
Crash is about the perils of communication.
Crash is about the importance of finding an effective way to communicate with others.