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
Kya and Chase start spending more time together. Although Chase doesn’t understand Kya’s interest in the marsh and why she likes to paint the things she sees in it, he likes her unique perspective. On her way home from spending time with Chase one afternoon, Kya sees Tate’s boat and discerns that he has come home from college. He looks good, but she turns off her motor and hides until he’s gone. Several weeks later, Chase and Kya kiss for the first time since their incident on the beach. This time, Chase is respectful of her space and doesn’t pressure her to do anything more, which makes it easier for Kya to enjoy the simple pleasure of being close to another person.
During this period, Kya relaxes into the pleasant feeling of being with another person. Once again, she experiences the benefits of human connection, which she hasn’t allowed herself to embrace since Tate let her down. However, it’s unlikely that she has forgotten the pain that can come along with human relationships, especially since she compares her first kiss with Chase to the day on the beach, when he tried to push her beyond her comfort zone. This, it seems, will remain in Kya’s mind as a reminder of what could happen if she lets herself get too wrapped up in their relationship.
Themes
By now, Tate is in graduate school. He has spent the past four years thinking about Kya and regretting that he abandoned her like everyone else in her life. Having returned to the swamp, he wants to apologize to her and, eventually, ask her to marry him. In fact, he has their whole life planned out in his head, knowing that a research lab is soon to be built nearby. In his fantasy, he will work in this lab and live with Kya in the marsh. He goes over this idea as he drives his boat toward Kya’s shack to talk to her, but before he arrives, he sees Chase’s fancy boat roaring through the water. He then watches as Kya motors over to Chase and reach across to touch his fingers, and he realizes that the rumors he’s heard are true: Kya and Chase are secretly dating.
It's obvious that Tate has done some thinking in the years since he wronged Kya. However, he has effectively given up his place in her life, and because this left her feeling lonely, she has replaced him with Chase. Though it might be the case that Tate is a better match for Kya, there’s no changing the fact that he abandoned her, ultimately fulfilling her worst fears about human relationships.
Themes
Several days after Tate sees Kya and Chase together, Kya goes reads some scientific literature she checked out from the library. Sitting outside her shack, she peruses an article called “Sneaky Fuckers.” The article notes that males in nature with “the most prominent secondary sexual characteristics”—like large antlers or strapping muscles—tend to dominate other, less powerful males. Observing this, females mate more often with these alpha males. Interestingly enough, though, some of the less impressive males find ways to trick females into thinking that they’re the alpha males, doing so by strutting about loudly with their bodies puffed up to look larger than they actually are. These males, the article explains, are known as “sneaky fuckers,” a term that reminds Kya of a time when Ma warned her to be careful of boys who try too hard to look tough.
The article that Kya reads about male animals who trick females into mating with them serves as yet another example of the ways in which nature and zoology parallel certain aspects of human life. Of course, Kya hasn’t yet experienced this particular phenomenon, but the fact that she finds it so compelling suggests that she’s actively thinking about how it pertains to her own life, perhaps wondering if Chase is a true alpha male or a “sneaky fucker.” This aligns with her constant attempt to discern whether or not the people in her life pose a threat to her well-being.
Themes
Although certain male species try to trick females into mating with them, Kya knows that many females actually have all of the power. For instance, many female insects eat their potential mates. Thinking about this, Kya considers the fact that this is simply how nature works, since all beings are simply trying to get by in life.
Kya doesn’t cast judgment on the merciless aspects of nature. This is because she herself has experienced what it’s like to do anything necessary to survive, knowing that sometimes one must simply rise to the occasion of sustaining oneself, no matter the moral consequences—this, at least, is what it’s like in the animal kingdom, though it’s worth pointing out that humans have developed various moral standards that preclude people from acting so individualistically.
Themes
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Kya begins to fantasize about marrying Chase, though she recognizes that this might be nothing but a biological impulse to increase the likelihood that she’ll have children. All the same, Kya likes thinking about establishing a life with him. However, she can’t bring herself to ask Chase to introduce her to his parents, and he never brings it up. Instead, he focuses on other things. While fishing one day, Chase says that they should go swimming, promising not to look when Kya takes off her clothes. And yet, he stares at her when she takes off her shirt, eventually reaching out and touching her breasts. When Kya doesn’t pull away, Chase unzips her shorts, and they lie down in the boat. Unthinkingly, Kya bends toward Chase, wanting badly to have sex but stopping him when his hand moves toward her crotch.
Again, readers see that Kya can’t help but gravitate toward human connection. This is made especially clear when she starts entertaining the idea of marrying Chase, something that would go against her individualistic worldview. Indeed, Kya relishes the opportunity to grow close to another person, though it’s apparent that she still wants to respect certain boundaries, as evidenced by the fact that she stops herself from having sex with Chase even though she wants to.
Themes
Disappointed, Chase asks why he and Kya can’t have sex, saying that they’ve waited for a long time and adding that he has been patient. In response, she reminds him that he promised not to make her do anything she didn’t want to do. Still, he doesn’t understand what she’s waiting for, so she asks what would happen after they had sex. How, she wonders aloud, does she know he won’t abandon her? In turn, Chase promises that he won’t leave because he’s falling in love with Kya. This stuns her, especially since she doesn’t know if she loves him. And yet, Kya is happy when she’s with Chase, glad to be rid of her loneliness. Thinking this way, she tells him that she’ll be ready to have sex soon, and he lets the matter go.
Although Chase assured Kya early in their relationship that he would never pressure her into doing anything she’s not ready for, he now tries to guilt her into having sex with him. To do this, he acts like she owes him for being patient. In reality, though, she doesn’t owe him anything, since it’s not her duty to have sex with him, regardless of how long he waits. All the same, Chase charms Kya by saying that he loves her, thereby endearing himself to her simply by declaring something that seemingly nobody else in her life has ever said to her. Once again, then, Kya lets down her guard, allowing herself to grow closer to Chase despite her previous hesitation.
Themes
After Chase’s parents pretend not to see Kya when she passes them in town one day, Kya asks Chase when he’s going to introduce her. She asks if they even know about their relationship, but Chase assures her that they do and that he’ll introduce her soon. As the weeks pass, Kya and Chase come closer and closer to having sex, but never actually do. Meanwhile, the townspeople start gossiping about them, often seeing them floating about in Chase’s boat or catching a glimpse of them on the beach.
Despite everything Chase has promised Kya about their relationship, it seems rather obvious that he doesn’t want to fully integrate her into his life. Instead, he wants to drop by her shack whenever it’s convenient for him, thereby only ever interacting with her in secret. After all, he wouldn’t delay introducing her to his parents if this weren’t the case. Because of this dynamic, Owens intimates that Chase and Kya’s relationship is most likely bound for heartache, since Chase is no more committed to Kya than any of the other people who have abandoned her throughout her life.
Themes
