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
With Pa in the motorboat, Kya goes to get gas from a black man named Jumpin’, who owns a gas dock and bait shop between their shack and Barkley Cove. When Pa introduces Kya, Jumpin’ gives her a warm hello, but Kya is unable to say anything in return, unused to interacting with strangers. After filling up the tank, Pa suggests that he and Kya go to the Barkley Cove Diner. Kya has never eaten in a restaurant, but Pa takes her without any apparent sense of unease. As they walk in, Kya hears somebody speculate that they must not be able to read the sign that says “shirt and shoes required.”
Although this outing isn’t all that extravagant, it is monumental for Kya, who rarely interacts with other people. Not only does she meet Jumpin’, but she also ventures into Barkley Cove and dines in a restaurant. And all the while, she’s painfully aware of the fact that she and her father don’t fit in. When she hears somebody disparagingly comment that she and Pa probably can’t read the sign about shirts and shoes, she most likely thinks back to her humiliating day in school, which reinforced her desire to sequester herself from society.
Themes
After the meal, Kya goes outside while Pa pays. As she waits, a young girl says hello to her and reaches out for a handshake. Before anything else can happen, though, a woman comes barreling toward them, scooping up her daughter and telling Kya to go away. She then tells her daughter not to go near Kya because she’s dirty, claiming that people from the marsh shouldn’t come into town because they carry diseases.
Once again, Kya is forced to confront the fact that the townspeople are prejudiced against her and her family. Even though she’s just a harmless young girl who has been brought up in poverty, people like this woman demonize her by suggesting that she shouldn’t ever come to Barkley Cove because she carries diseases. In turn, this behavior reinforces her reclusive tendencies, confirming her belief that venturing beyond the confines of her sheltered existence only brings humiliation.
Themes
Pa and Kya start playing cards at night, and Kya fantasizes about her mother returning so that they can have a normal family life, now that Pa is behaving amicably. Of course, he still leaves for undetermined stretches of time and comes home drunk, but this happens less than it used to. In the past, he would come home and beat Ma, shouting at her whenever he was drunk. Once, Kya tried to stop him, so he grabbed her, yanked down her pants, and whipped her with his belt.
It’s clear in this period that Kya is actively trying to see the best in her father. This is because showing Pa kindness is the only way to ensure her own safety, since he evidently responds well to her benevolence. And yet, Kya hasn’t forgotten his abusive ways, perhaps because she knows that she still needs to be on her guard when she’s in his presence.
Themes
The seasons pass, and it’s September again when Kya finds a letter in the mailbox. She can’t read the words, but she identifies Ma’s handwriting, so she rushes home to show it to Pa. Because he’s not there, though, she sets it on the table and waits for him to return, wishing all the while that she could open it, though she knows she wouldn’t be able to read it. Finally, Pa returns and reads the letter before storming outside with a bottle of liquor and zooming away in the boat. Kya emerges from her room, runs into the kitchen, and sees that Pa has burned the letter. Devastated, Kya scoops the ashes from the trash bin and puts them in a small cigar box.
Kya’s lack of a formal education puts her at a disadvantage in this scene, as she finds herself unable to read her mother’s letter. Considering that she has been waiting for more than a year to know why Ma left, this moment must frustrate her enormously, especially since Pa burns the letter in a fit of rage. If only Kya could have read it herself, she could have kept it from her father and thereby preserved the peace that had crept into their daily lives. Now, though, Pa has flown off the rails once again, and Kya is no closer to understanding why Ma left.
Themes
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Pa stays away for two days, and when he finally returns, he’s drunk and mean. Kya asks him what Ma said in her letter, but he yells at her to mind her own business, telling her to forget about Ma because she isn’t coming back. During this period, Kya tries to pray but doesn’t know how, having trouble remembering the few prayers she learned from Ma. Pa, for his part, never takes Kya fishing again.
The brief period of peace between Kya and Pa officially ends after the arrival of Ma’s letter. This, it seems, is why Kya never allowed herself to forget Pa’s abusive ways, sensing that he could return to his embittered worldview at any moment. Once again, then, she must learn how to adapt to her environment, somehow figuring out how to coexist with Pa without sending him into violent rages.
Themes
