Flashbacks
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing: Flashbacks 1 key example

Chapter 15. The Game: 1960
Explanation and Analysis—Why Didn't You Stick?:

In this passage the author uses a flashback to connect Kya’s longing for stability and family to a childhood memory about nail polish and the importance of sticking together. Kya remembers a day when her mother, instead of letting fear take over after getting stuck in the marsh, led her daughters back home: 

Lying there Ma said, “You all listen now, this is a real lesson in life. Yes, we got stuck, but what’d we girls do? We made it fun, we laughed. That’s what sisters and girlfriends are all about. Sticking together even in the mud, ’specially in mud.” 

Ma hadn’t bought any polish remover, so when it began to peel and chip, they had faded, patchy pink nails on all their fingers and toes, reminding them of the good time they’d had, and that real-life lesson. Looking at the old bottle, Kya tried to see her sisters’ faces. And said out loud, “Where’re you now, Ma? Why didn’t you stick?”