Blankets - Plot

The plot of Blankets centres around the life of Craig Thompson, with a primary focus on his teen years and his first romance.

Blankets begins by establishing that Craig and his brother Phil live with their strict, poor, religious family and are forced to share a bed together. This leads to conflict between the two boys as they cannot comfortably sleep in the bed together. These conflicts lead to Craig beginning to see himself as a failure of an older brother. As the boys grow older, eventually, Craig and Phil receive their own beds, and start to grow apart.

At school, Craig is bullied for several reasons, including his skinny appearance, his family's background, and his family's poverty. This bullying continues into high school. Craig finds escape from this and the rest of his life through his art. He finds that drawing helps to liberate him and make his life worthwhile.

In high school, Craig becomes a slacker. He let's his grades slip, he skips class and he does not see school as being of any value. It's for this reason that Craig desires winter break, as it gives him a reprieve from school. However, Craig is forced to attend a church camp during the winter for a week, a trip he often hates as he cannot afford to ski or snowboard. However, this time, Craig meets a girl named Raina.

Raina is also unimpressed with the camp, and convinces Craig to skip mandatory events to spend time with her. The two become close, and continue keeping in contact after the camp ends. This eventually leads to Craig convincing his mother to let him visit Raina in Michigan.

Raina's family is unfortunately in the process of a divorce, an event that forces unwelcome responsibility on Raina to take care of her siblings. Despite this, Raina and Craig manage to find time to nurture their budding romance at night. The two frequently spend the nights together, cuddling under a quilt Raina made for Craig, and setting an alarm before her mother awakens so they do not get caught. Raina and Craig eventually become intimate with one another.

However, after Craig leaves, Raina becomes distant and no longer wishes to pursue this relationship. Craig is hurt, but eventually lets go of Raina and moves on with his life.

The story culminates with an adult Craig returning to his parent's home, and confessing to his brother that he is no longer a Christian, a fact he keeps hidden from his parents. Craig proceeds to explore the attic of his parents house, and rediscovers the quilt Raina made for him.