Full Tilt

“‘I go places sometimes,’ he told me, his voice as thread and distant as his eyes. ‘Don’t know why I go places…I just do.” 

Quinn’s confession foreshadows his coma and his spiritual, not physical, arrival at the park. It also illustrates the gap between Quinn and Blake—a gap that must be reconciled if they are to survive the park.

“Seven years old, spinning out of control. My first ride…No! I told myself. No, I would not go there. I wouldn’t think about it. I pushed the memory down so keep, not even the Kamikaze could shake it loose.” 

The Kamikaze triggers many of Blake’s fears, which takes him back to the bus crash. This is the first glimpse at the tragedy, and it is the first time Blake refuses to face his trauma. Even the coaster, which terrifies him, is less scary to Blake than his memory of the crash. Allowing himself to think about the crash is Blake’s key to survival.

“Until now all I had from the university was an acceptance letter and a dozen forms to fill out. But here, spread out before me, was solid reality on a collision course with me.” 

Blake sees college as a concept until Carl gifts him the envelope. His hesitation about attending Columbia becomes something concrete. The physical evidence of his future plans signals a moment of change; Blake fears change because it involves risk. Shusterman’s use of the phrase “collision course” evokes imagery of the bus crash, the trauma of which threatens to limit Blake’s potential.