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
Ed and Joe are unable to track down Kya, but they learn from Jumpin’ that she was out of town on the night of Chase’s murder. When Jumpin’ tells Joe this, Tate happens to be in the bait shop, and he corroborates the story. Apparently, Kya was in Greenville on the night Chase died because she had a meeting with her editor. Because of this, Ed and Joe realize that Kya has a good alibi, though they also have conflicting stories, given that Hal Miller told them he saw her driving her boat toward the fire tower on the very night of Chase’s death. And yet, Miss Pansy Price visits the police station and tells them that she and her coworkers at a local shop—which looks out over the bus station—saw Kya board the bus for Greenville two days before Chase’s death and return the day after.
Again, it isn’t clear yet whether or not Kya is a legitimate suspect in the case of Chase’s murder. Although their relationship seems to have ended on an unamicable note, it would be surprising if she killed him simply to get revenge on him for cheating on her. After all, there has been very little evidence that Kya is a violent person, though it does seem plausible that she would resort to violence as a way of protecting herself. However, Kya was apparently out of town on the night of Chase’s death, rendering it unlikely that she would have needed to resort to violence in order to defend herself from him, since she was hours away.
Themes
