An overarching theme of Wink is the power that creative self-expression has to liberate people from emotional pain. Rob Harrell gives Ross many ways to manage a difficult situation, including different forms of self-expression (i.e., music and sketching), but it takes Ross some time to express himself without fear of embarrassment. Once Ross discovers that punk music gives him relief from painful feelings, he throws himself into learning to play guitar, which leads to the fearless expression of his authentic, imperfect identity in the novel’s climax.

Ross already had problems with expressing himself before his cancer diagnosis. He admits that he was invisible until his illness made him stick out; he thinks that being invisible, or at least blending in, is a good thing. Cancer changes his inconspicuous status at school to that of the “Sick Kid” who attracts stares and questions wherever he goes. Ross’s natural self-consciousness makes his new situation unbearable, and it gets worse when the side effects from radiation cause constant pain and humiliation. At this point, Ross’s only means of self-expression is his sketchbook, but he doesn’t think very highly of his visual art because he expects too much of himself, idolizing his mother as the one with real artistic talent.