The seagulls that Kya feeds and interacts with on the beach near her shack provide her with the only kind of connection she can count on no matter what happens. Because of this, they become a symbol of her intense and undying connection to the natural world, which is the only thing in her life that remains constant. While people come and go, entering Kya’s life only to disappoint her by disappearing once again, the seagulls are always there when she wants to spend time with them. However, while they make her happy to a certain extent, there’s no denying that they don’t banish her loneliness, since they don’t satisfy her need for human connection. And yet, the gulls do remind Kya that she’s not completely on her own in the world, even if she can’t always turn to humans for support. In this way, then, the birds reflect not only Kya’s desire for seemingly any kind of connection, but her ability to turn to nature for companionship.
Seagulls Symbol Timeline in Where the Crawdads Sing
