Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Where the Crawdads Sing, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival, Necessity, and Violence
Independence vs. Human Connection
Education, Coming of Age, and Adulthood
Prejudice, Intolerance, and Acceptance
Summary
Analysis
By the time Kya is 10, Pa comes home less frequently. Entire weeks go by without him returning to the shack, and when he does, he’s always drunk. For this reason, Kya hardly notices when he fails to come back for an entire month, and it isn’t until another month passes that she realizes he must be gone forever. She wonders what happened to him, thinking that he might have gotten into a bad poker fight or perhaps passed out and died in the mud. Kya doesn’t feel particularly sad, but she suddenly feels even more alone than before. She also realizes that she will have to work extra hard to avoid being put in an orphanage. For this reason, Kya decides to pretend that Pa is still alive when she visits Jumpin’ for gas.
Pa’s disappearance doesn’t bother Kya all that much because he rarely gave her any kind of support. In fact, his violent ways actually posed a threat to her wellbeing, so she has—in a way—escaped one of the sources of danger in her daily life. However, Pa’s presence still tied Kya to another human’s existence, whereas now she must come to terms with the fact that she is completely on her own.
Themes
The one saving grace about Pa’s disappearance is that he left on foot, leaving Kya the boat. This proves helpful, since it enables her to go out into the marsh and collect mussels for dinner. As Kya eats dinner, though, the kerosene lamp goes out, causing her to wonder if she’d be better off turning herself in to Social Services after all—at least that way she would be able to enjoy food and electricity. After a moment of considering this, though, Kya decides she can’t leave the heron and the gulls that visit her on the beach near her shack. The marsh, she thinks, is her only true family.
In the absence of true human connection, Kya forms a bond with the land itself. This makes sense, since the marsh has proved itself to be the only constant in her life, since all of her loved ones have left her. Consequently, leaving her shack and the gulls and the surrounding area is unthinkable, since it would feel like severing the only emotional connection she still has.
Themes
Kya gets up at the crack of dawn and collects mussels before motoring to Jumpin’s. When Kya arrives, she says that she heard that Jumpin’ purchases mussels, and he tells her that he can pay 50 cents for each of her bags. As Jumpin’ fills Kya’s gas tank, Kya goes into his shop and buys some groceries and necessities, eyeing a piece of candy she wishes she could have, though she refrains from splurging. Before leaving, Kya tells Jumpin’ that she intends to keep bringing him mussels, and he says this sounds good to him, since he buys them every three days or so. However, other people often bring Jumpin’ mussels, so he tells her to come as early in the morning as possible. When Kya gets home, she finds the piece of candy she wanted mixed in with the rest of her groceries.
Although Kya doesn’t have anyone in her daily life who takes care of her, this scene makes it clear that Jumpin’ wants to do what he can to help her. Not only will he make it possible for her to earn money by buying her mussels, but he will also go out of his way to show his support—a fact illustrated by his kind attempt to give her Kya piece of candy even though she didn’t have enough money to purchase it. In this way, readers see that Kya is perhaps not as alone as it seems.
Themes
