Crash by Jerry Spinelli: An Analysis

Rising action: There are a series of dramatic scenarios played out in Jerry Spinelli's novel Crash, including the stroke of Crash's grandfather Scooter, and the issue of whether the mall coming to the city will be stopped. But the main line of 'rising action' is the question of whether Crash will make a personal sacrifice of his pride to allow Penn Weber to run in the Penn Relays.

The incidents leading up to Crash's decision to sacrifice his determination to always be the best and to lose a race so Penn can run are the 'rising action,' a series of incidents that pile up that lead to the climax. Scooter's stroke generates Crash's sense of compassion for Penn and Penn's elderly relative. Crash's rejection of his cruel friend Mike and acceptance of Penn cumulate in the climax of Penn being able to run in the relays.

Climax: Penn's race in the great Penn relays is the climax. This takes the reader by surprise, given that at the beginning of the books, most of the clues Jerry Spinelli gives about the sporting climax of the book suggest that the climax will be a great football victory by Crash

Falling action: The falling action takes place when Jane, the cheerleader who is friends with Penn (a male cheerleader) asks Crash to her 4th of July party. Jane rejected Crash before at a school dance, because she found him arrogant, but she perceives the change in Crash. Now Crash is compassionate, when before he was completely self-interested and only cared about football -- and himself.

Resolution: Penn runs in the relay, his namesake sees him run, and Crash does not 'win' the girl, but he wins a new friend in the form of Penn and at least has a chance at winning the pretty cheerleader.

Problem / conflict: How will Crash learn to be a mature individual and deal with his talent but lack of insight about others?

Solution: Crash learns about compassion from his grandfather's fragile physical condition, and the limits of proving yourself through physical excellence. He loses a race and wins a friend, and rejects someone who he thought was his friend, but realizes that the two of them only bonded through cruel tricks.

Works Cited

Spinelli, Jerry. Crash. New York: Yearling, 1997.