Crenshaw functions as both character and symbol in the novel. He represents Jackson’s need to believe that the impossible can happen, and, more broadly, he represents a core human need for comfort when facing life’s harsh realities. Crenshaw cares about truth because he reflects the values of his creator, Jackson, but Crenshaw is also silly and whimsical. He revels in riding the wind on the minivan’s roof and in fashioning a bubble beard for himself and his rubber duckie. He wants to leap onto Sara and Tom’s bed and walk on their heads because it would “be amusing” (66). He can surf, skateboard, stand on his head, and do cartwheels.

That Jackson, who loves facts and trusts knowledge, can create such a fantastical and whimsical creature represents the need and the capacity he has for magical moments, escape, and comfort.

Communication is an important motif in the novel. Paradoxically, Jackson copes with his family’s problems both by retreating into facts and by creating a fantastical imaginary friend who inspires him to believe in the impossible. What he does not do is express how he feels to his parents. He does not tell them he is angry or scared and tries to be helpful so as not to add to their burdens.