As is common in young adult literature, the novel Crabbe emphasizes the difficulty of the passage from childhood to adulthood. The novel represents the challenges adolescents and young adults face, including how to define their own identities despite the expectations of adults and institutions, clarifying what their values are in the face of pressures to conform from adults and institutions, and navigating important challenges related to substance abuse, mental health, and sexuality.

Crabbe’s character arc in the novel is one that follows the expected pattern for a coming-of-age narrative. At the start of the events recounted in his journal, Crabbe is confused and angry because he feels that the life he is living is not a meaningful one. A big source of his discontent is that all the important decisions in his life are made by his teachers and parents, with no reference to his own desires or values: he lacks autonomy. Before going to the wilderness, his responses to this lack of autonomy are self-destructive ones, like drinking too much or going along with expectations because doing so appears to be the easy way out. 

During his time in the wilderness, however, he learns constructive ways to respond to these expectations and pressures.