Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing

1. Once Ma left, Kya cleaned after herself and Pa and took care of the house so it would be decent for Ma's return.

   • She showed self sufficiency at a very young age taking care of everything
   • Kya goes to school because she wants to learn to read and what came after 29. She also wants the hot lunches
     • She gets teased at school and does not want to return this causes her to avoid the townspeople throughout the rest of her life
     • Kya takes Pa's boat out and gets lost in the ides then Tate an old friendhelpes her.
       • This established a very significant moment considering this was one of the first decent interactions with another person she had in a while since avoiding the towns people
       • Pa leaves and Kya finds mussels to sell to Jumpin
         • Now being parentless she had to support herself by selling supplies and using nature to nurture herself
         • Kya hides from a group of kids from school behind a bush
           • She hides because of her experience with the townspeople this then caused her to make eye contact with Chase Andrews for the first time which has a big impact on her life later on
           • Kya leaves an eagle feather at the stump
             • She is playing a game with another mystery person by leaving feathers which gives her comfort that someone else is there with her and she is not totally alone
             • Kya gives Jumpin and Mabel two jars of raspberry jam
               • She wants to repay them for their kindness and she first hand sees prejudice and intolerance in this town when boys are throwing rocks at Jumpin showing her how unfair the world outside the marsh is
               • Tate teachers her the alphabet and brings her a book and Kya practices reading
                 • She is enhancing herself intellectually and the book also teachers her things about the natural world. This will affect her throughout life since she is becoming literate

2. Tate introduces poetry to her and she looks for Ma’s old poems

   • Poems become a big part of her life later giving her comfort and a way for her to calm herself down when she is stressed and anxious
   • Kya waits for Tate who is going to college but he does not come
     • She was already hesitant trusting someone again after her family past and he abandons her as well making her feel even more alone than before
     • She watches fireflies where females lure the male in before eating him
       • This becomes a turning point in Kya’s perspective and thinking where she finds her strength and later mimics what the fireflies have done on Chase Andrews. This is all in ways of coping to not feel as hopeless and she probably did when being abused by her father
       • Kya goes on boat with chase
         • She became infatuated with him but later he becomes sexually aggressive
         • Kya goes to motel room with chase
           • He begins talking about marrying her and she has sex with him – a huge shift in character growth since she is growing up into an adult
           • Kya buys a newspaper and sees an engagement announcement for Chase and Pearl
             • Kya is betrayed yet again by someone she trusted she cries, and this prompts her to handle this situation differently than the others due to her character development throughout the years

3. Kya writes a book after tate sent samples to a publisher

   • This slowly helps rekindle their friendship and she is able toa ctually sustain herself and use this money on improving the shack. She is turning her life around instead of falling into the footsteps of her Pa.

4. Kya drives her boat into a storm then gets chased and arrested for the murder of Chase Andrews

   • Kya goes to trial and spends time in a cell
     • Kya was taken advantage of my chase multiple times she stays silent during this part because she plotted his murder because she wanted revenge and to gain some power back.
       • She gets off as innocent and tate asks her to marry him she says yes
         • They live the rest of their life together because she no longer wants to be alone, she also stays away from the town since they all shunned her at one point