The Crash

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and child abuse.

Although The Crash features numerous examples of characters making false assumptions about each other based on misleading perceptions, Tegan’s impressions of Hank and Polly offer the most pronounced example. Unlike everyday assumptions that aid mental efficiency and are relatively harmless, these assumptions create conflict and escalate peril as Tegan misidentifies who is her ally and who is her captor. The novel’s message is not an encouragement to ignore red flags or proceed without caution. Rather, it urges mindfulness of how fear, stereotypes, personal experience, and self-interest influence perception, creating bias that furthers the propagation of presumptions and fuels poor decision-making.

Tegan’s feelings about Hank and Polly are based on surface observations, emotion, and guesswork. She’s in a state of panic after her crash, and Hank’s appearance intimidates her, so she interprets him as a threat. By itself, this response is natural and potentially beneficial because it triggers caution. However, this general sense mutates into specific beliefs that Hank is an abuser and is holding her captive, supported by what she sees as evidence to support her theory. The bruise around Polly’s wrist and Polly’s lie about Hank making her quit her job both feed into Tegan’s already-formed assumption.