where the crawdads sing review essay

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The cicadas buzz and the moss drips and the sunset casts a golden shimmer on the water every single evening. But while “Where the Crawdads Sing” is rich in atmosphere, it’s sorely lacking in actual substance or suspense.

Maybe it was an impossible task, taking the best-selling source material and turning it into a cinematic experience that would please both devotees and newbies alike. Delia Owens ’ novel became a phenomenon in part as a Reese Witherspoon book club selection; Witherspoon is a producer on “Where the Crawdads Sing,” and Taylor Swift wrote and performs the theme song, adding to the expectation surrounding the film’s arrival.

But the result of its pulpy premise is a movie that’s surprisingly inert. Director Olivia Newman , working from a script by Lucy Alibar , jumps back and forth without much momentum between a young woman’s murder trial and the recollections of her rough-and-tumble childhood in 1950s and ‘60s North Carolina. (Alibar also wrote “ Beasts of the Southern Wild ,” which “Where the Crawdads Sing” resembles somewhat as a story of a resourceful little girl’s survival within a squalid, swampy setting.)  

It is so loaded with plot that it ends up feeling superficial, rendering major revelations as rushed afterthoughts. For a film about a brave woman who’s grown up in the wild, living by her own rules, “Where the Crawdads Sing” is unusually tepid and restrained. And aside from Daisy Edgar-Jones ’ multi-layered performance as its central figure, the characters never evolve beyond a basic trait or two.

We begin in October 1969 in the marshes of fictional Barkley Cove, North Carolina, where a couple of boys stumble upon a dead body lying in the muck. It turns out to be Chase Andrews, a popular big fish in this insular small pond. And Edgar-Jones’ Kya, with whom he’d once had an unlikely romantic entanglement, becomes the prime suspect. She’s an easy target, having long been ostracized and vilified as The Marsh Girl—or when townsfolk are feeling particularly derisive toward her, That Marsh Girl. Flashbacks reveal the abuse she and her family suffered at the hands of her volatile, alcoholic father ( Garret Dillahunt , harrowing in just a few scenes), and the subsequent abandonment she endured as everyone left her, one by one, to fend for herself—starting with her mother. These vivid, early sections are the most emotionally powerful, with Jojo Regina giving an impressive, demanding performance in her first major film role as eight-year-old Kya.

As she grows into her teens and early 20s and Edgar-Jones takes over, two very different young men shape her formative years. There’s the too-good-to-be-true Tate (Taylor John Smith ), a childhood friend who teaches her to read and write and becomes her first love. (“There was something about that boy that eased the tautness in my chest,” Kya narrates, one of many clunky examples of transferring Owens’ words from page to screen.) And later, there’s the arrogant and bullying Chase ( Harris Dickinson ), who’s obviously bad news from the start, something the reclusive Kya is unable to recognize.

But what she lacks in emotional maturity, she makes up for in curiosity about the natural world around her, and she becomes a gifted artist and autodidact. Edgar-Jones embodies Kya’s raw impulses while also subtly registering her apprehension and mistrust. Pretty much everyone lets her down and underestimates her, except for the kindly Black couple who run the local convenience store and serve as makeshift parents (Sterling Macer Jr. and Michael Hyatt , bringing much-needed warmth, even though there’s not much to their characters). David Strathairn gets the least to work with in one of the film’s most crucial roles as Kya’s attorney: a sympathetic, Atticus Finch type who comes out of retirement to represent her.

This becomes especially obvious in the film’s courtroom scenes, which are universally perfunctory and offer only the blandest cliches and expected dramatic beats. Every time “Where the Crawdads Sing” cuts back to Kya’s murder trial—which happens seemingly out of nowhere, with no discernible rhythm or reason—the pacing drags and you’ll wish you were back in the sun-dappled marshes, investigating its many creatures. ( Polly Morgan provides the pleasing cinematography.)

What actually ends up happening here, though, is such a terrible twist—and it all plays out in such dizzyingly speedy fashion—that it’s unintentionally laughable. You get the sensation that everyone involved felt the need to cram it all in, yet still maintain a manageable running time. If you’ve read the book, you know what happened to Chase Andrews; if you haven’t, I wouldn’t dream of spoiling it here. But I will say I had a variety of far more intriguing conclusions swirling around in my head in the car ride home, and you probably will, too. 

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Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film Credits

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some violence including a sexual assault.

125 minutes

Daisy Edgar-Jones as Catherine 'Kya' Clark

Taylor John Smith as Tate Walker

Harris Dickinson as Chase Andrews

Michael Hyatt as Mabel

Sterling MacEr Jr. as Jumpin'

David Strathairn as Tom Milton

Garret Dillahunt as Pa

Eric Ladin as Eric Chastain

Ahna O'Reilly as Ma

Jojo Regina as Young Kya

• Olivia Newman

Writer (based upon the novel by)

• Delia Owens
• Lucy Alibar

Cinematographer

• Polly Morgan
• Alan Edward Bell
• Mychael Danna

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Where the Crawdads Sing

By delia owens.

Book review, full book summary and synopsis for Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, a coming-of-age crime drama about a girl growing up alone in the marshes of North Carolina.

In Where the Crawdads Sing , Kya is known in her town as the "Marsh Girl." She grows up in a shack out in the marshes bordering a small village on the coast of North Carolina. Her mother and her four older siblings all leave to get away from their abusive father, leaving her behind to fend for herself. Eventually, her father disappears as well.

Where the Crawdads Sing is part bildungsroman and part crime drama, centered around Kya, a wild and unkempt girl. The book follows the ups and downs of her life. She lives a lonely life, but her story is a hopeful one as well. With a little help, she's able to survive and even learn to read.

Despite her status as an outcast, her natural beauty catches the eye of two men in town. However, when the body of Chase Andrews, the local hotshot, is discovered in the marshes, she quickly becomes a prime suspect. The fragile life she has struggled and fought so hard to build is at risk.

(The Full Plot Summary is also available, below)

Full Plot Summary

The Prologue opens with the discovery of the body of Chase Andrews in a swamp in 1969.

In Part I , Kya Clark grows up with her abusive father in a shack in the swampy outskirts of town in the 1950's (her mother and siblings all leave due because of Pa's abuse). Kya meets Tate, a boy from town that befriends her. When Kya is 10, Pa disappears (a couple nearby, Jumpin' and Mabel, help Kya to survive). As she grows up, Kya develops a keen knowledge of the outdoors. Kya and Tate reconnect, he teaches her to read, and it grows into a romance. When Tate leaves for college, he promises to come back, but later Tate worries that Kya (wild and unkempt) can't fit into his world. He doesn't return, and Kya gives up on him.

(Flash forward) Many years later, the body of Chase Andrews, the town hotshot and ladies' man, is found in the swamp at the bottom of the fire tower. An investigation starts up.

In Part II , Kya is now 19. Chase Andrews has been pursuing Kya aggressively, and she finally gives in to his advances. One day, Chase takes her to the fire tower, and she gives him a shell necklace as a gift. He promises to marry her, but Kya soon discovers that Chase is actually engaged to someone else. She dumps him. Meanwhile, Tate comes back and apologizes for what happened. He also wants to help Kya turn her nature diagrams into a book. Eventually, Kya's book is published in 1968.

In 1969, Kya is identified as a suspect in the Chase Andrews murder. Notably, Chase's shell necklace that he always wore was not found on his body. Eventually, Kya is arrested for Chase's death. The trial proceeds (reviewing evidence such as the missing necklace, fibers found on Chase's body, Kya's whereabouts, plus Chase had attacked Kya after being rebuffed two months before his death). But Kya is found not guilty, and she and Tate profess their love for each other.

Time passes, and Kya and Tate turn her shack into a nice cottage and remain there. Kya passes away at 64. Tate goes through her things and discovers evidence (in the form of a poem Kya wrote under a pseudonym and notably Chase's shell necklace) that Kya killed Chase. The book ends with Tate destroying the poems and tossing the necklace into the ocean.

For more detail, see the full Section-by-Section Summary .

If this summary was useful to you, please consider supporting this site by leaving a tip ( $2 , $3 , or $5 ) or joining the Patreon !

Book Review

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens opens with a picture of a map and the discovery of a dead body in the marshes of North Carolina.

I was intrigued immediately when I saw it in the bookstore, though I put off reading it for a while. Ultimately, though, my curiosity won out as it hung in the bestseller lists, and I’m very glad it did.

Where the Crawdads Sing is about resiliency and survival, but also alienation. I loved the part about Kya’s childhood; it made for a unique story line as Kya learns to navigate the world on her own. The story focuses thematically a lot on her status as an outcast and sense of abandonment, as she is forced to fend for herself. In terms of pacing, it is eventful and mostly fast-moving.

Kya’s story has elements of romance, mystery and even a courtroom thriller interlude. Nature enthusiasts will also enjoy this book, as Kya’s love of the nature around her is conveyed through detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna, a reflection of the author’s background as a former wildlife scientist.

The compelling imagery is descriptive in the right places and sparse when it serves the story better instead. The book has a strong sense of place, transporting you to a different life where you can smell the salty air and sink your feet into the muddy grounds outside the seaside village.

Meanwhile, the discovery of a dead body leads to the Chase Andrews investigation that provides the suspense in the story. Kya’s story is also interspersed with flash-forwards detailing the progress of the investigation. I found this worked well, adding an element of mystery, since it’s not clear how it will play out for Kya or what exactly happened that night. There’s compelling evidence on both sides and the pacing of the investigation is spot-on, making for pleasurable and suspenseful reading.

Some Criticisms

As she heads into her teenage years, the romantic storylines start kicking in, and the melodrama starts ramping up as well. My enthusiasm waned a little bit at this point. The book is increasingly divorced from reality (the idea that a teenage boy would teach her not only to read but about her period seemed far-fetched, and it goes on from there) and plot events get a bit contrived.

Additionally, Kya’s internal journey, her mentally processing the events of her life, felt a little surface level. She struggles with being abandoned by her mother, and the book brings in interesting parallels to nature, but beyond that, events simply happen without much reflection. It felt like there were a number of missed opportunity for it to be a more insightful book.

But, for whatever criticisms I had while reading, the story easily won me over. As it approaches the date of the crime and the investigation ramps up, I was totally engrossed.

Read it or Skip It?

I read this book quickly and found myself delighted by it by the end. The book is more melodrama than a serious literary novel, but is such an engaging story that it’s easy to accept. It’s part romance, mystery, courtroom drama and ode to nature, all of which make for an appealing tale about the town outcast.

The setting is a distinctive “slice-of-life” that’s commonplace, yet not often portrayed clearly in books or movies. It is vividly drawn in a way that infuses the story with energy, a credit to Owen’s genuine love and respect for nature.

Where the Crawdads Sing has been very popular among book clubs, and deservedly so. It’s eventful and accessible, but thoughtfully written, all of which make it a good choice for readers of varying tastes. See it on Amazon or Book Depository .

Where the Crawdads Sing, Explained!

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65 comments

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well crafted review

Fantastic review! I’ve been wondering about this one and I think I’ll check it out :)

Thank you! Glad to hear it, and I hope you like it if you end up getting a chance to read it! :)

This sounds like a book I might enjoy, tossing another one on the TBR!

That’s awesome to hear, thanks for letting me know and thanks for reading!

What a beautifully written, helpfully compartmentalised review! Feeling very inspired. Sounds like an engaging read too x

Thank you so much and thanks for reading!

Wonderful, thorough review. You don’t see a lot of coming-of-age murder mysteries. I’m putting this on my TBR list. Thanks for the post.

Hey Rosi! Yes, I liked that it felt like a unique book and story, both in terms of the setting and the plot. Definitely not cookie cutter. Hope you love it if you get a chance to read it — it goes by quickly! Nice to hear from you as always, and cheers! :)

Jennifer, you are one of the best writers I have seen. I read your reviews because I love the way you talk about books. Your honesty is much appreciated and gives me insight into titles I may otherwise never pick up.

Hey Jen, that’s such a kind thing for you to say. I really appreciate your feedback and that you take the time to read my reviews! My goal in writing this blog has always been to help books find the right readers, so thank you for saying that. I genuinely value your encouragement, thanks again! :)

Nicely done review.

Hi Martie! Thank you very much and nice to hear from you again! :)

Melodrama irritates me, but the synopsis sounds so good that I need to read it. This book is high on my priority list. I’m happy it’s good. Great review!

Honestly, it bothered me a little at first, but I think there’s a lot of wonderful but unrealistic stories out there. If it didn’t all add up to something solid and interesting it would have bothered me more, but I think it came together in a way that made me feel like it was worth overlooking. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did if you get a chance to read it! :)

You’ve motivated me to put this book on my TBR!

Thank you for reading and visiting! Hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to read it!

I’ve been interested in this one but a bit wary since I really didn’t like the other Reese’s Book Club pick I’ve read. Glad you enjoyed it. Your review definitely makes it likely I’ll give it a go after all.

Hey, that’s great to hear — yeah I mean I guess she picks out one new-ish book a month which is actually kind of a lot so I suppose they can’t all be winners. I think this one is definitely one of her better recs though, hope you like it!

Beautiful review of a beautiful book! I enjoyed this, too. It took some patience with all that description, but in the end, it worked to create that sense of place you described.

Thank you for reading! I usually don’t have a ton of patience for unnecessary description (I’m always a little wary of books that are described by reviewers as “lyrical” since sometimes that translates into lots of lengthy descriptive passages) but I thought Owens did a good job of balancing out creating atmosphere and moving the plot forward — thanks for dropping by! :)

Sounds like an interesting book – even with the negative parts.

I really enjoyed it, thanks for reading! :)

wow, you give thorough reviews…

haha what can I say, I love talking about books! :)

too bad, my genre doesn’t fit… have a wonderful weekend

Good to know that this is more melodrama than a serious literary novel. I do like the sound of this slice of life book. Great review!

Thank you and thanks for reading! :)

Thanks for the balanced review! Will consider picking this up.

Glad to hear that, and thanks for reading!

I thought the book was wonderful. I loved all of it. It had a perfect ending.

glad to hear it — yeah I was really impressed by the ending as well! thanks for dropping by!

I will definitely have to pick this one up. You make it sound compelling. Thanks for the post.

Very interesting review. I’ve been split on a lot of her book club picks but I have noticed that almost all of them she has the movie rights for which makes me a little cynical about her choices in some cases :)

yeah, I can understand that. On one hand, I’m glad that the adaptations are giving authors a way to make some big dollars. On the other hand, it is kind of annoying when I read books that seem to be written in a way that feels like the’re prepackaged for hollywood though. So I have mixed feelings.

Fabulous review

Please read my first post

I subscribed to your blog just now because you had such a thorough review of this book. I am about halfway through the book at this point, and while I have enjoyed it, I have found, as you, there were missed opportunities for more development in some areas, and some events which seemed unreasonable. Overall, I am enjoying the book. Great job! I look forward to reading more of your reviews!

Hi Sandra, thank you so much for the thoughtful comment! Much appreciated. Thanks for reading! Even with those criticisms, I’m glad I read it. I hope you enjoy the rest of it as well!

I’ve read 33 novels so far in 2019 and this is my favorite. Loved it!

NIcely written review.

Terrific. Will help at my book club. Ty.

Thanks for the review. I am yet to read this one!

Thanks so much. I appreciate you time to share.

The focus on nature was refreshing in contrast to the sadness of Kya literally raising herself. Changing back and forth with the time frame was a bit distracting as was the poetry inserted here and there ( not especially good poetry) but as you near the end that is explained. I was more impressed with how Kya, in school just a day, could educate herself enough to write books about the plants and critters living in the marsh and become a well respected author. Then the trial about who killed the jerk Chase Andrews with a surprising end when she is found not guilty. Kya goes on to live a happy life with her original friend and first love Tate, but in the end he discovers she really did kill Chase. There were some positive things in her life but such a disfunctional family and so much hatred from most of the townspeople offset the real beauty of the marsh .

Consider listening to it. The reader’s soft. N. Carolina accent lends an authenticity to the flora and fauna descriptions.

This is the most balanced review I’ve read yet of this book. It sounds like it goes a bit off the rails but is overall worth the read. Thanks for the post!

Not great literature at all. Just a story. Delia needs to read more of the best HEMINGWAY, STEINBECK, CATHER and the other great authors to learn symbolism, conflict and the art of not telling but showing.

My feelings about the character Kya are that she really could be cast as a Native American. She has the instincts and abilities of a Native American woman. Reese Witherspoon and Delia Owens, maybe you can consider this as a facet of the character.

I am looking for some good solid books for my avid pre teen reader. Do think the scope of details would be ok for someone that young?

Hmmm, I think it’s a little iffy. There’s definitely talk about sex, sexual desires and at one point one of the characters gets kind of aggressive about it.

Great start but then descended into a melodrama with an eye on the prize of a television or film adaptation. It was so obvious and disappointing. Unconvincing after the very promising first chapters onwards. The premise was unlikely and my interest waned when the story turned into a murder mystery. It was obvious that Kya killed Chase. Who else would bother?

Thank you for an excellent review. Loved the book but also felt it dragged at points. The Ode to Nature and the child that nature nourished when people failed was spell-binding.

I think it was proven that there was no time for Kya to kill Chase

Did Kaya have her own children with Tate or were they just a flashback of her childhood

I hope the movie stands up. I remember waiting with great anticipation for “the Prince of tides” movie to come out and feared it would digress from the book. I was delighted to be wrong.

I loved this book but have struggled to understand the absence of Chase’s wife in the courtroom. Why isn’t she there to support justice for her husband, staring down Kya and acting bereaved?And why did she allow her husband to wear a necklace every day of his life, fashioned for him by another woman? Why wasn’t she a suspect in her husband’s murder, given that jealousy and vengeance could have been her motive? She had as much reason as Kya to hate Chase and to remove the all-significant necklace. Anyone else agree?

I believe author wants reader to know who killed chase from early on. The phrase where the crawdads sings , essentially speaks to how nature will always try to ensure continuation of species. She was raised by nature.the references to female fire flies and praying mantis who kill males to continue survival of future generations. The mother fox who is injured who leaves her kits to die,so she can come day have future litters. Biggest disappointment in story line was that ” Tate” was not aware kya killed chase. She only received red hat after he attempted to rape her. It could only have been Tate or kya.

I found the book to be a quick read, and suspenseful until the last page. The characters were realistic and each one was well developed.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful review!!! this helps me to determine whether or not to read the book :) the movie was fantastic!

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Where the Crawdads Sing Reviews

it unfortunately runs the original story through the Hollywood machine, rendering it a surface-level and boilerplate experience that dilutes the emotional profundity of its source material. All the while being a borderline unbearable snooze fest.

Full Review | Nov 2, 2023

No doubt Alibar and Newman are just keeping as close as possible to the book. It is very much to their credit that they have committed so totally to giving the fans what they want without resorting to cheap fan service.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 31, 2023

Where the Crawdads Sing makes for a decent if generic coming-of-age story and a bland murder mystery.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 10, 2023

Try as it might, Where the Crawdads Sing amounts to nothing more than a shallow tale of otherness told through the lens of the prettiest, cleanest marsh girl you’ve ever seen.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2023

A solid interesting idea with a fantastic performance from Daisy really makes the film from being average!

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

The all-female team of director Olivia Newman, screenwriter Lucy Alibar, and producer Reese Witherspoon do a tremendous job of painting a seductive small-town feel to a mystery thriller that should be anything but that.

Sanitized of any elements that could make this a marshy murder, Where The Crawdads Sing is a return to the type of films one would find in the Nicholas Sparksesque cinematic universe.

With no reason to fear for her safety, the bulk of the film feels like a soap opera.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 3, 2023

Where the Crawdads Sing feels like a novel truly coming to life. The scripting, the dialogue, the scenery choices, the score, has it all of the pieces to make you feel its great pacing & progression. The story may be harsh but its all the more encouraging

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 1, 2023

An old-school murder mystery primarily told as a courtroom drama, the paperback adaptation entertains from start to finish.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Nov 13, 2022

The book might have been a phenomenon, however the film lacks “the grits” of the original text. Sadly Where The Crawdads Sing becomes bogged down in courtroom drama tropes to truly sing in its own right.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 13, 2022

…eventually settles for a fairly conventional Southern Gothic narrative with several plot points posted missing but a strong self-empowerment education message…

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 7, 2022

Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautifully haunting story of one girl's quiet resilience in a film that floats across multiple genres: thriller, romance and, ultimately, survival story.

Full Review | Oct 19, 2022

"Where the Crawdads Sing" is an imperfect but captivating drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 10, 2022

Mellifluous but never cheesy, the film seeks effective and healing tears for fans of this kind of fare, and treks through territory that isn't too minor. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Oct 3, 2022

The PG-13-ness of Where the Crawdads Sing buffs every rough edge off this story—the abuse, the abandonment, the betrayal, the sex, and even the alleged murder. It would be better off as trash.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 3, 2022

A coming-of-age story and murder mystery about a young naturalist living in the marshes who has to find out who she can truly trust.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 30, 2022

Daisy Edgar-Jones dominates this role, she has the gift of reflecting any feeling without practically raising an eyebrow. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 29, 2022

Where the Crawdads Sing isn’t terrible because it’s a romantic drama — it’s terrible because it’s terrible.

Full Review | Sep 29, 2022

Edgar-Jones’ easygoing allure isn’t enough to bind Where the Crawdads Sing together, though, leaving the film a generic, dull outing.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 27, 2022

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens review – in the swamps of North Carolina

This lush debut about an isolated girl who finds education and solace in nature is already a US bestseller

I n screen dramas, during a scene of sex or violence in a living room, the camera will often slyly reveal that a David Attenborough wildlife documentary is playing unwatched in the corner. The naturalist’s whispered observations about the tactics of the “male” or “female” comment ironically or ominously on the human interactions.

That trope is spectacularly extended in Where the Crawdads Sing , the debut novel by Delia Owens, an American wildlife scientist. It lands in Britain boosted by the cherished trinity of New York Times bestsellerdom, a frenzied foreign sales fight, and a film in development by Reese Witherspoon (her online book club picked the novel in September 2018).

The main storyline spans – in a date-jumbling, tension-building order –1952 to 1970, following Kya Clark between the ages of six and 25 as she grows up alone in a shack in the swamplands of North Carolina after being abandoned by her family. She learns from the wildlife around her, gaining tricks of camouflage to evade truant officers and acquiring hunting skills to feed herself and catch mussels and fish to sell to shopkeepers in the town beyond the creek.

As a human who knows only nature, all Kya’s reference points come from her surroundings – and her creator’s day job. Her observation that mother animals and birds always return to their young leads her poignantly to believe that her childhood solitude will be temporary. When, as a teenager, she starts to attract attention from two townie boys, kind working-class Tate and arrogant posh boy Chase, her dating rituals are drawn from observing the sex life of fireflies. She also, crucially, observes the dangers of predation in the wild.

Among the many modern phenomena of which isolated Kya has no inkling is the vast popularity of crime fiction. But Owens knows the tricks of the genre, beginning the novel with a prologue set in 1969 in which a young man has died suspiciously in the swamp. The rest of the book cuts between the investigation, in which bigoted witnesses incriminate the “swamp girl”, and flashbacks to Kya’s youth and young adulthood, as local suspicion grows that makes the white people dislike her almost as much as they do the residents of the area known, in the prejudiced term of the time, as Colored Town.

Appreciating the fictional limitations of a feral recluse with no vocabulary or life skills, Owens provides tutors for Kya. As a result, the tone of the central section sometimes feels like YA, as Kya is instructed by a wise African American woman (one of the supporting characters who flirt with virtuous cliche) in the mysteries of men and menstruation.

But soon the narrative is satisfyingly reclaimed for older adults when at the local library Kya reads an article entitled “Sneaky Fuckers” in a science journal, which describes deceitful mating strategies. These include undersized bullfrogs who hang out with the alpha males with a view to picking up spare females, and the male damselfly, to whom God or Darwin has given a useful scoop that removes the sperm of a prior impregnator to clear the passage for his own.

As with those Attenborough clips in screen fiction, these anecdotes hover as metaphors for the behaviour of males in the story, and will allow the director of the eventual film to have fun with pointed cutaways. The divided timeline – a standard cinematic structure – will also help the screenwriter. And somewhere in stage schools now are the actors who, playing the young and older Kya, should have a shot at Oscars.

She is a vivid and original character. At times, her survival in isolation comes close to superheroism, but Owens convincingly depicts the instincts and calculations that get Kya into and out of difficulties. Without too much sentimentality, there is a strong emotional line in her desire to have a “shred of family”. The potential soppiness of a coming-of-age romance is also offset by the possibility that Kya is a murderer, although Owens has studied the big beasts of crime fiction sufficiently to leave room for doubt and surprises.

The storylines involving social competition and violent death feel like a reworking, from a young female perspective, of Theodore Dreiser ’s classic 1925 melodrama An American Tragedy . Like Dreiser, Owens combines high tension with precise detail about how people dress, sound, live and eat – the case studies in her book are both human and natural.

Surprise bestsellers are often works that chime with the times. Though set in the 1950s and 60s, Where the Crawdads Sing is, in its treatment of racial and social division and the fragile complex-ities of nature, obviously relevant to contemporary politics and ecology. But these themes will reach a huge audience though the writer’s old-fashioned talents for compelling character, plotting and landscape description.

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Where the Crawdads Sing

By delia owens, where the crawdads sing essay questions.

Who is Amanda Hamilton, and what role does her poetry play in Kya's journey?

Amanda Hamilton is first introduced in Chapter 22 as the author of a poem published in the local newspaper. Throughout the text, Kya often recites excerpts of Amanda Hamilton's poems to herself during emotionally charged moments. These poems help Kya articulate her feelings and organize her thoughts. For example, to muster the courage to "let go" of Chase, Kya recites an Amanda Hamilton poem, and when she learns of plans to develop the marsh, she recites a verse about respecting nature. In the book’s closing chapter, Tate discovers that Amanda Hamilton is Kya's pen name and that publishing her poems was her way of being heard.

How does the marsh connect Kya and Tate, and how does it separate them?

Kya and Tate first officially meet when Kya, newly abandoned, gets lost boating on the marsh. Tate leads Kya home, and Kya is drawn to the ease with which he navigates the marsh, which she considers "all the family" she has left. When Kya and Tate are teenagers, they court by leaving feathers for one another, gifts that reflect a love of wildlife. Tate admires Kya's emotional connection to nature and encourages her to become a wildlife writer. However, being alone in the marsh makes Kya mistrustful and skittish, "like a spotted fawn." After witnessing Kya hide, animal-like, from a fisherman, Tate believes that the marsh has made her too wild to fit in with the academic world he longs to join.

How does literacy change and define Kya's life?

Abandoned at age six, Kya does not learn to read until she is fourteen. Tate teaches Kya to read, and they bond over poetry and life sciences, an experience that builds the foundation for their lifelong relationship. Once Kya becomes literate, she spends her free time reading about biology, expanding her understanding of the world and her marsh. Reading helps Kya transition from a life focused on survival to a creative existence. She writes poems that help her understand the world and documents the wildlife around her, leading to a career as a writer.

How does Kya's definition of family evolve throughout her life?

When Kya's family first abandons her, she yearns to recreate her few positive domestic memories, wishing her biological family would return. However, as Kya settles into her isolation, "the marsh became her mother," and she develops relationships with wildlife, such as feeding the gulls daily. When Kya first begins her relationship with Tate, she catches a glimpse of what it means to be loved, and that relationship becomes her whole world. After Tate abandons Kya, she grasps for scraps of affection from Chase. Though she has been mistreated by the Andrews family her entire life, Kya still wants to integrate into their social sphere, as she clings to the dream of a stable nuclear family.

After Kya's trial, she appreciates and enjoys the family she created. Jumpin' and Mabel serve as surrogate parents, and though Kya doesn't officially marry Tate, their relationship is permanent and sacred. Kya does not have children but enjoys spending time with her brother and his children, all within the comfort of the marsh, her ever-present family.

How does Chase take advantage of Kya's isolation?

When Kya is nineteen, she is physically and socially isolated. Having minimal experience with people, let alone romantic partners, Kya is willing to look past Chase's shortcomings to secure his companionship. Chase persists in trying to seduce Kya even after she rejects his advances, knowing she has no one else to turn to. To convince Kya to sleep with him, Chase talks about marriage and a future together in certain terms, knowing Kya craves stability and lifelong commitments since she was abandoned as a child. When Kya tries to integrate herself into Chase's life by meeting his family, Chase refuses, pretending that he is concerned she will be overwhelmed during a family gathering.

Where the Crawdads Sing Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Where the Crawdads Sing is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How did Delia Owens use colloquial diction

The author uses the Southern diction and accents that were common in the rural south of the United States,

“What d'ya mean, where the crawdads sing? Ma used to say that." Kya remembered Ma always encouraging her to explore the marsh: "Go as far...

Based on the excerpts from ode on a Grecian urn and facing it a reader can assume that over time there has been a trend for poetry to become

I might consider:

A- less rigid in structure

Who currently has the power in the story? The protagonist? How do you?

Power over?

Study Guide for Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing study guide contains a biography of Delia Owens, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Where the Crawdads Sing
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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Novel — “Where The Crawdads Sing”: Analyzing Societal Issues and Human Resilience

"Where The Crawdads Sing": Analyzing Societal Issues and Human Resilience

• Categories: Book Review Novel Resilience

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Table of contents

Introduction, summary of the novel, character analysis, themes and symbolism, societal critique and commentary, a. kya clark, b. supporting characters, a. isolation and loneliness, b. nature and the marsh as a symbol, a. social injustices and prejudices, b. gender roles and expectations.

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Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia owens, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Survival, Necessity, and Violence

In Where the Crawdads Sing , a novel about a young girl growing up alone in the marshlands of North Carolina, Delia Owens frames survival as an innately human skill that arises out of necessity. When Kya is a child, her mother leaves home, and her older siblings follow their mother’s lead, escaping the dilapidated shack Kya’s family owns in a remote section of the marsh. This decision to leave is in and of itself…

Independence vs. Human Connection

Because Where the Crawdads Sing is largely about abandonment, Delia Owens considers the importance of developing a sense of independence. Kya is only seven years old when her last family member deserts her, leaving her alone in isolated marshlands. Left to her own devices, she cultivates a form of self-sufficiency that helps her thrive by on her own. One facet of this self-sufficiency is an unyielding sense of independence that makes her distrustful of others…

Education, Coming of Age, and Adulthood

In Where the Crawdads Sing , Delia Owens presents the process of growing up as an accumulation of knowledge and experience. Although Kya doesn’t attend school, she stitches together an understanding of the world, one that isn’t confined to textbooks, classrooms, or standard courses of study. In fact, her alternative education is more holistic than it would be if she went to school, and her intellectual growth ultimately charts her path from childhood to adulthood…

Prejudice, Intolerance, and Acceptance

Delia Owens sets Where the Crawdads Sing against a backdrop of prejudice and intolerance. This is perhaps best illustrated by the social stratification of the area in which Kya grows up, a place in North Carolina divided not only by race, but by class, too. Although Kya—who’s white—doesn’t face racial discrimination like her African American friends, Jumpin’ and his wife, Mabel , she experiences unfair judgment based on her socioeconomic status, receiving harsh treatment from…

Where the Crawdads Sing

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 4

Part 1, Chapters 5-14

Part 1, Chapters 15-21

Part 2, Chapters 22-30

Part 2, Chapters 31-37

Part 2, Chapters 38-46

Part 2, Chapters 47-57

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Where the Crawdads Sing is the debut novel of Delia Owens. Published in 2018 by Putnam, her novel is a New York Times bestseller and a selection of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club. Set in the marshes of coastal North Carolina from the 1940s to the 2000s, the novel is Southern literary fiction that tells the story of Kya, a little girl who comes of age alone after her family abandons her. 

In Part 1: “The Marsh,” two boys discover the body of hometown hero Chase Edwards in the marshes on the outskirts of Barkley Cove, North Carolina, in 1969. Suspicion immediately falls on “the Marsh Girl,” or Catherine “Kya” Clark, a reclusive young woman who has lived in the marsh alone since her family abandoned her.

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In a flashback, we learn how Kya came to be the Marsh Girl. In 1952, Marie Jacques Clark, Kya’s mother, leaves the family to escape the physical and verbal abuse of Jake Clark, Kya’s father. Jake disappears in 1956, leaving Kya to fend for herself. During this period in her life, Kya befriends and later falls in love with Tate Walker , a boy who also loves the marsh. Their romance continues until Tate abandons Kya for college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Part 2: “The Swamp,” opens in 1965, when Kya is a beautiful nineteen-year-old. Kya is receptive when Chase, then a star football player, notices her and aggressively pursues her. She makes him a shell necklace that he constantly wears, and the two begin dating after Chase promises to wait until Kya is ready to have sex with him. In 1966, Kya takes her first trip out of town when Chase drives her to Asheville. They stay in a motel. That night, they have sex for the first time, after which Chase disappears for a few weeks. Kya’s relationship with Chase ends when she finds out he is engaged to be married to another woman.

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Tate contacts Kya and attempts to apologize to her, but she refuses to accept the apology. She does allow Tate to take several of her drawings to a publisher, who publishes them as a book in 1968, allowing Kya to buy her family’s land with her royalties.

The novel returns to the present, when the sheriff and the deputy begin closing in on Kya as Chase’s murderer. They have found clues and received information from the townspeople about a relationship between the two. When they discover that Chase assaulted Kya, they arrest her, believing she killed him out of revenge.

Kya is tried for Chase’s murder. She refuses to plea bargain for a lesser sentence than the death penalty, even though the prejudice in the town against people from the marsh is so prevalent. Kya does have an alibi—she took the bus to Greenville, North Carolina, to meet with her editor about another book—which puts her outside of town the night Chase was murdered. The fact that many townspeople saw her get on the bus and return, along with the prosecution’s shoddy evidence, convinces the jury to acquit her.

Kya eventually marries Tate. They live a long, peaceful life together on the marsh until Kya dies when she is 64. After her death, Tate discovers a cache of poems written by “A.H.,” who turns out to be Kya. One of the poems is a description of Kya murdering Chase. Tate burns the poems.

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The Debut Novel That Rules the Best-Seller List

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By Tina Jordan

• March 29, 2019

Shortly after Delia Owens’s “ Where the Crawdads Sing ” was published last Aug. 14, Reese Witherspoon picked it as a selection for her Hello Sunshine book club , telling The Times she “loved every page of it.” It was a lucky break. The debut novel — which had a solid first printing of 27,500 — landed at No. 9 on the paper’s best-seller list on Sept. 16.

Then the book, about a young girl surviving alone in a coastal North Carolina marsh, did something unusual. Instead of lingering at the bottom of the list for a few weeks before slipping off altogether, as a small novel might be expected to do, “Where the Crawdads Sing” started to climb — and climb, and climb — finally reaching No. 1 on Jan. 20, which is where you can still find it today. It has now been on the list for 29 weeks.

So what happened? How has a small literary novel flourished while hyped books by big-name authors have flashed on and off the list? “Reese’s pick skyrocketed awareness,” says Alexis Welby, the publicity director of Putnam, “and the word-of-mouth just continued to grow from there.” Readers, she says, “just have to push the book into the hands of others so they can talk about it.” It’s now been rated over 125,000 times on Goodreads and has a 5-star rating on Amazon, where it’s been reviewed more than 7,400 times.

In December, the novel got another nice shot of publicity when Fox 2000 acquired it for film and tapped Witherspoon to produce.

On March 4, Owens announced on her website that a million books had been sold. That number has since reached 1.5 million across all formats (e-book, audio and so on). The March spike, Welby says, had a lot to do with a “CBS Sunday Morning” profile of Owens that aired on March 17: “It had a huge effect on sales and finding new readers and awareness for Delia and the book.”

“‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ is about loneliness,” Owens recently wrote on her website. “I have lived an isolated and lonely life, but from the moment my incredible readers picked up the book, I have not felt alone again.”

That’s partly because she’s spent so much time traveling around the country these last few months meeting her fans. Putnam has sent Owens out on multiple publicity tours — three so far, with a fourth and fifth scheduled. One thing that’s not scheduled yet is the book’s paperback publication. Since “Where the Crawdad Sings” is still selling so briskly in hardcover, there’s no need to plan for a paperback edition just yet.

Follow Tina Jordan on Twitter: @TinaJordanNYT

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‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ Delves Into the Harmful Impacts Prejudice Has on Society

If the recent trailer for “Where the Crawdads Sing” is any indication, viewers are in for a treat this July. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the bestselling novel written by Delia Owens, was published in 2018. The novel was commended for its beautiful descriptions of nature, exciting plot and profound messages about prejudice and the people society labels as outsiders. Set in North Carolina, “Where the Crawdads Sing” follows the life of Kya, a girl who grew up in the marsh on her own. Her mother abandoned her family when she was six and all her older siblings left, leaving her at home with their abusive, alcoholic father.

One day, her father goes out, but never comes back, leaving Kya on her own to fend for herself. Kya becomes self-sufficient, learning to get food, money and gas for her boat with help from the kind gas station owner and his wife. As the years go by, Kya is involved in two brief relationships — one with Tate Walker, a former friend of her brother, and another with Chase Andrews, the town’s player. The conflict of the novel arises when Chase turns up dead under a fire tower.

The police rule his death a homicide on account of the lack of footprints or fingerprints by the tower. Several discoveries are made by the police — the necklace Chase wore the night before is missing, there are red wool fibers from Kya’s hat found on his jacket and Kya was seen speeding her boat toward the tower on the night of his death — and Kya is arrested for Chase’s murder. A trial ensues, highlighting just how much ostracization from society can harm someone and how big of a role prejudice plays in the justice system.

All her life, Kya was alienated and hurt by the people from her town. She was dubbed “the marsh girl,” viewed as strange and less-than for living on the outskirts of society with no means to build a similar lifestyle as everyone else. When she was forced to attend school as a child, the other children laughed at her, causing her to hide and never return. The adults even looked down at her rather than give her any help or show compassion for a girl abandoned by her entire family. Chase, true to his reputation, pursued Kya for his own entertainment by seducing her and promising to marry her, only for Kya to discover his engagement to someone else. Kya was made even more vulnerable to Chase’s strategic charm after being left by Tate, the boy who had taught her to read and write and who she had come to fall in love with.

Before his abrupt departure for college, Tate had a brief relationship with Kya. But upon his return from school, Tate felt uncomfortable with the notable difference between the people in his ordered world and Kya. He leaves, causing Kya permanent emotional damage, and she is subsequently unable to trust anyone or have any normal relationships. Rather than finally acknowledging what they’ve done to her, the town becomes convinced she murdered Chase, and prejudice turns into a witch hunt.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” highlights the ways in which people, functioning as a community, can damage others who are already disadvantaged. Shortly before Chase’s death, two men see him and Kya arguing. The fight quickly turns physical, and Kya manages to get away but doesn’t report the abuse; despite the witnesses, she fears the town will frame it as her fault. In addition, the sheriff traps her and puts her in jail without bail for two months. What’s more, the evidence against Kya, as her lawyer argues at the trial, is purely circumstantial. The townspeople’s prejudice against the girl who grew up in the marsh reaches the point where Kya was made to be a scapegoat for what very well could have been an accident.

The trailer for “Where the Crawdads Sing” indicates that the film will be thrilling, profound and remain true to the novel. The film is directed by Olivia Newman and produced by Reese Witherspoon , who previously expressed her love for the novel and chose it as her book club ’s pick back in September 2018, pushing it to the top of the bestsellers list. In June, she visited the movie set, posting on Instagram , “What an incredible day visiting the set of #WheretheCrawdadsSing for the first time. This story has such a special place in my heart and to see it all come to life is true MOVIE MAGIC! Between the stunning location, detailed set design and amazing cast & crew, I think I said ‘WOW’ 579 times. It truly brought tears to my eyes.”

Viewers will also hear snippets of the original song “Carolina,” written by Taylor Swift . Swift posted on Instagram , “Where the Crawdads Sing is a book I got absolutely lost in when I read it years ago. As soon as I heard there was a film in the works… I knew I wanted to be a part of it from the musical side… I wanted to create something haunting and ethereal to match this mesmerizing story.” So far, “Carolina” sounds unlike anything else heard from Swift before, but shares a similar wistfulness as “My Tears Ricochet” as well as the tortured quality of “Safe & Sound.”

Swift wrote “Safe & Sound” for “The Hunger Games,” another story of survival and determination that features a strong female protagonist. Swift is no stranger to the film industry, having not only written music for movie soundtracks but also starred in them as well. Her promotion of “Where the Crawdads Sing” has generated even more excitement for the film, alongside fans of Witherspoon and the supporting cast — Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya (“Normal People” ), Taylor John Smith as Tate Walker (“Sharp Objects” ) and Harris Dickinson as Chase Andrews (“The Darkest Minds” ). Overall, come June, “Where the Crawdads Sing” will be a must-watch.

• book to film
• reese witherspoon
• Taylor Swift
• Where the Crawdads Sing

Debbie Aspromonti, Hofstra University

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Debbie is a senior Literatures in English major at Hofstra University. She loves to write and is passionate about books, Broadway musicals, social issues and the law.

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Where the Crawdads Sings Theme Analysis Essay

“Where the Crawdads Sings”, what a name for such a novel that shows us that the way we choose to live can change our lives. The novel “Where The Crawdads Sing”, by Delia Owens, is about a little girl named Kya who lives alone in the North Carolina marsh because everyone in her life keeps leaving her. She fights to survive by finding the necessities to live, though she has a lack of human connection. She does have the help of a married couple, Jumpin and Mabel but has to put up with the prejudice of the townspeople and become more tolerant of others to get to a point where she can accept others. In life, no one is treated equally but being intolerant limits you, and the sooner you accept this the more you will grow as a person.

The marsh people all have to deal with the prejudices of the townspeople. Kya had to deal with a lot of prejudices to the point where she wouldn’t go to school other than the first day. First, the teacher asked her to spell out the word dog, but Kya spelled out G-O-D and the whole class laughed at her making her self-conscious. Kya didn't talk to anyone all-day then finally at the end of the day when getting dropped off, the girls from lunch called out, “Where ya been, marsh hen? Where’s yo’ hat, swamp rat?” (page26). After that Kya never went back to school; she avoided the Truant officer until she stopped coming. This caused Kya to not get an education in tell Tate came along and taught her himself. Though Kya dealt with prejudice she also saw it when Jumpin was getting attacked by some towns, boys. They said “Jest an ol’ nigger walkin’ to town. Watch out, nigger-boy, don’t fall down,” they taunted Jumpin’, who kept his eyes on his toes. One of the boys reached down, picked up a stone, and slung it at Jumpin’s back,” (page 71). This made Kya extremely mad unlike when prejudices happened to her. Kya surprise attacked the boys that had thrown the stones at Jumpin. Then again at Kya's trial, Mrs white was openly prejudiced against Kya in court and in the past when she went to a dinner in town with her pa. “Mrs. White, who had told her daughter that Kya was dirty, now sat on the jury,” (page 170). Not only was Mrs. White biased, but it became clear that most of the Jurors had prejudices against Kya. Jumpin and Maybel were also faced with prejudices when they sat down in the stand meant for “white only”.  In conclusion, the prejudices of the townspeople outcast the marsh people.

Kya showed intolerance of the townspeople for their prejudice. We first get to see this when Kya attacked boys with a sack of jam jars because they were calling  Jumpin slurs and throwing rocks at him. “She twisted the cloth bag with the jam so that it was wrung tight and knotted against the jars. As the boys drew even with the thicket, she swung the heavy bag and whacked the closest one hard across the back of his head,” (Page 71). Kya’s lack of intolerance could have caused her to accidentally kill that boy but luckily she did not. That could have easily ruined the rest of her life. Also, Kya's attorney, Tom, Made it clear that Kya, a woman, has defended herself against a strong man not referred to as anything else. ​​“So, isn’t it possible that when Miss Clark kicked Mr. Andrews she was defending herself—a woman alone in the woods—against a very strong, athletic man? A former quarterback, who had attacked her?” (page 176). Tom was not having any of the jurors’ intolerance toward Kya and he tried his best to make it clear that Kya was a woman defending herself. Not only Tom, but the judge also made it clear that he had no tolerance in the courtroom for prejudices. “The judge told him to announce that anybody of any color or creed could sit anywhere they wanted in his courtroom, and if somebody didn’t like it, they were free to leave. In fact, he’d make sure they did,” (page 191). “Judge Sims leaned toward the witness. ‘Mr. Horn, the defendant’s name is Miss Clark. Do not refer to her by any other name’,” (page 175). Kya becomes more tolerant of the prejudices as she grows as a person, starting to spread her wings more and become more of a successful person. 

As Kya became more accepting of others, her life got better. Kya didn't understand at the time that Jumpin was showing tolerance when some town boys say, “Here comes a nigger walkin’ to Nigger Town.” Kya looked down the path, and there, walking home for the evening, was Jumpin’. Quite close, he had surely heard the boys, but he simply dropped his head, stepped into the woods to give them a berth, and moved on,” (page70). But Jumpin showed more tolerance than most people and was a great example for Kya and helped her see that violence isn't the answer when she looks back on it. Once Jodie came back Kya was very hesitant to let him back into her life. Despite that, she did listen to what he had to say Jodie told her that their mother had died Kya 

Said how her mother was already dead to her. But now being told how she was dead bothered her. After him staying there for three days of talking and telling her stories of their past, they told each other what happened after he left. As he left, he passed her slip of paper with his address and phone number. Then, “She choked on her own throat as he pulled her to him, and finally, after a lifetime, she sagged against him and wept. “I never thought I’d see you again. I thought you were gone forever.” “I’ll always be here, I promise. Whenever I move, I’ll send my new address. If you ever need me, you write or call, you hear?” ( page 157). Finally, she had accepted him back into her life and now has another person to lean on if she needs it. Tate tells Kya how he wanted to restart their relationship but Kya wasn't ready. Then in the next chapter Kya’s brother, Jodie was talking with Kya she mentions how Tate was her first love and that he reasonably told her he still loves her but she said she could never trust Tate again. Jodie tries to persuade her to give him another chance. Kya and Tate begin to start their friendship again when Kya goes to jail waiting for her trial Tate visits Kya whenever he can, giving her books and feeding the gulls for her and going to the trial. Kya got more opportunities once she became more accepting of others and got help when needed, leading to a fuller life.

Lifes no one is treated equally, those who are intolerant to others' lives unfairly won't progress as much as those you have learned to accept and move past them. The marsh people always have dealt with the prejudices from others but when Kya was intolerant to it, all it did was stop her from growing. As she learned to accept this she opened new doors. Everyone's life can be improved if they choose to learn from this theme. There will always be prejudiced people and the more time you spend being intolerant of others the less time you have to grow as a person. I'm not saying that prejudices are fine; I’m just saying that we as a society should choose to focus our attention on improving ourselves.

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Literary Analysis Essay on Where the Crawdads Sing

Introduction.

Delia Owens tells the story of Kya, a free-spirited and often misunderstood girl, in her debut novel Where the Crawdads Sing. The book tells the story of Kya as she struggles to survive in the marshes of North Carolina amidst numerous challenges. She is abandoned by her mother, who takes her youngest siblings away with her and is neglected by her father, who spends much of his time drunk. Kya learns to fish from her father and makes the marshland her second home and place of comfort. A few years later, her father also departs and leaves her to fend for herself, which she does, learning to farm around the marshes and trade the little she makes for other things she needs. She meets and befriends Tate, who teaches her to read and write but leaves unceremoniously for college, a fact that hurts Kya. While Tate is away, Kya meets Chase, and a romantic relationship develops between them despite Chase attempting to have sex with her and Kya refusing. Tate returns a few years later from college to find Kya having collected and recorded plenty of samples of seashells and tries to convince her to publish her work. He also advises her against Chase, and though he uses Chase's ill-treatment of women as a precedent, it becomes evident that he is trying to rekindle their relationship. Soon, however, Kya finds this out on her own, as she spots Chase with another woman in his arms. Their relationship ends at that point.

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Kya endures numerous challenges from the abandonment of her parents and Tate to the promiscuous ways of Chase. He goes even further and attempts to rape her when she calls off the relationship. This prompts her to defend herself to extents whose possibilities are not made apparent in the onset but become inevitable in retrospect. After chase winds up dead, the wild mannered Kya becomes the prime suspect. The trial that ensues sees her labeled by many, such as the prosecutor, as a wild marsh girl that is half wolf among many other stereotypical sentiments that the community at giant bears for the girl. Her lawyer manages to convince the jury to abandon the stereotypes and view her as the product of not only her parents' abandonment but also the community's neglect. This opens up the way for her acquittal and catharsis between her and Tate. However, in the end, it is discovered that Kya was involved in the murder of Chase as revenge for the hurts he inflicted upon her, both physical and emotional. The purpose of this study is to understand the various characters that influence Kya’s life both as allies and as obstacles to her survival. It also sheds light on the various actions they take for or against her and how they influence the eventual course of her life. All these attempts to vindicate Kya as the hero of her story, who takes charge of her life and destiny even amidst numerous challenges around her.

Chase does not take the break up kindly and tries to rape Kya in return, which prompts her to hit him in the groin and scream at him that she will kill him- something that a nearby fisherman hears. This statement is used against her in a trial by Eric, the state prosecutor, who centers the case around these words and the fact that she was a 'swamp girl.' Kya's attorney, Tom Milton, refutes this claim as the state's case was based solely on the lack of evidence. Kya is thus acquitted of the charges. This opens up the way for Tate, who was a constant supporting figure throughout the trial, to get back with Kya with the help of Jodie, Kya's brother. Years later, Kya dies, and, in her belongings, Tate finds a poem that reveals Kya lured Chase to the fire tower and tricked him into falling an open hatch to his death. These are the events that lead to Kya's jailing, indicative of the perception of the community surrounding Kya towards her. The lawyer uses her life in the marsh to justify that any footprints did not surround Chase's body and that only an expert marsh girl would be that careful to do that. He additionally banks on the stereotypes that the jury and the community at the towering bear for her wild nature, painting it as the pretext to criminal behavior, further alluding to Kya's complicity and subsequent guilt.

Different characters influence Kya's life differently, and these influences affect the eventual path of her life. While some of the characters, like the prosecutor as mentioned earlier seek to tarnish her image further in a bid to further themselves thus harming her, others align with her and look out for her well-being, shaping her compassionate side and enabling her to walk through the many hardships she encounters in her life. Some of these characters include Jumpin' and his wife. These two accept fish and mussels from her knowing full well that they may not sell, but they do not do it out of the desire for profit but somewhat out of compassion for the poor lonely girl. They understand that she would have a hard time selling the fish compounding her troubles, and she would not take their charity. Mabel, Jumpin’s wife, devises a scheme to give Kya some clothes and a few supplies under the pretext that someone agreed to barter her fish with the commodities. She understands that Kya's nature would not permit her to take help while she could fend for herself, but she and her husband remain determined to help the girl as she has no one to look out for her. They could easily have ignored her plight and went about their business to make a profit and keep their clothes and supplies, but instead, they opt to help the lonely marsh girl in the act of unwarranted kindness.

Another ally in her life is Tate, who is clearly and obviously in love with her. Tate has been in Kya's life since childhood, and after her parents and siblings left, he helped her find her home. A series of hidden gifts are left at a stump for Kya as Tate attempts to build deliberate contact. The boy also teaches her how to read and write ad regularly brings her books in an attempt to spend more time with her, and this way, their relationship grows and becomes romantic. However, Tate refrains from sexual intimacy with Kya as she is still too young, and he does not take advantage of her age or apparent ignorance. When Kya is accused of murder, the trial drags on for a few months, during which time Tate sticks to Kya's side, always offering support to her. Even Tate's biggest regret is that he thought Kya might not fit into the kind of life he was trying to build because of her unkempt nature, but he gets over this hurdle, and they end up living together.

Kya's brother is of particular importance to her as Jodie comforted her after Ma left them. Besides, Jodie taught Kya many of the skills she uses to survive and fend for herself in the marsh. Kya is fondly seen to remember Jodie and often even after he left for New Orleans to follow their mother. Even his lies to Kya are made in an attempt to comfort his little sister as he knew that Ma ran away from their father's violent and abusive ways. “Jodie wasn’t nearly as sure as he sounded, but said it for Kya” (Owens, 3). Despite eventually abandoning her too, Jodie returns as an adult to support his sister during her trial and apologizes to her for leaving. During the trial, Jodie becomes one of the few remaining sources of hope for Kya in an environment that was against her. He also helps Kya to finally reconcile with Tate and her romantic feelings for him, convincing her that they are in love and should be together.

Tom Milton, Kya's lawyer, is a retired attorney who gets out of retirement to defend her. He does not do this out of a desire for profit or recognition but rather because he has known Kya a long time and understands her plight. This is the case he makes during the trial by beseeching the jury to abandon all misconceptions about the girl because they are wrong. He instead describes Kya’s life and the actions of the community around her that shaped her wild mannerisms; her parents abandoning her and most of the people around her paying little attention to her plight save for a few, like Jumpin' and Mabel. These, he describes, are the circumstances that made her the way she is, but do not amount to evidence of a murder suspect on their own. The lack of any direct evidence proving her complicity, therefore, undo the case, leading to her acquittal.

Other characters in the story, however, are not as positively constructive as the aforementioned to the development of Kya's personality and even actively work to destroy her. Chase, the confident and handsome former quarterback who kindles a romantic relationship with Kya after Tate's departure, ends up scarring Kya throughout her life. This determines the eventual fate of the plot. First, he attempts to have sex with Kya shortly after they met, clearly indicating that he was in the relationship only as a result of superficial physical attraction rather than fostering a wholesome relationship, unlike Tate. He disregards Kya's interest, or lack thereof, and attempts to force his will upon her, and even after he apologizes for this mistake, it is not long before he repeats the same mistake. When Tate returns, he warns Kya against Chase, and this is proven correct when Kya spots Chase with another woman even after promising her numerous times to marry her and take her to his parents.

Additionally, when Kya ends their relationship abruptly, Chase corners her and attempts to rape her, forcing her to hit him and threaten him, even exacting the terms of the threat eventually. It is thus clear that Chase has no good intentions towards Kya and is only with her out of a nigh lustful desire for her 'wild' ways; a fact he admits is the reason for his attraction towards her. In the end, Kya is vindicated for killing him since he mostly let his lust lure him to his death as Kya merely guided him and lured him with fake promises as an act of revenge.

It is easy to justify Kya's parents' plight, especially her mother, and their reasons to abandon her. Ma was running from an abusive marriage and facing uncertain times ahead of her, could not take all her children with her. Thus, she only took the younger ones. Additionally, Kya had started developing a cordial relationship with her father shortly before the letter he receives from Ma, which sends him in a fit of rage and ultimately leads to Kya's total abandonment. However, due to their actions, they subject Kya to endless misery, loneliness, and hardship, forcing her to depend on herself and the goodwill of a few friends and neighbors such as Jumpin'. Although she eventually discovers that Ma was mentally unstable and hellbent on salvaging her life from her violent drunkard of a husband, the scars of the abandonment remain etched deep in her heart and influence her adult life where she remains emotionally guarded.

On the other hand, Pa was violent and drunk, with a multitude of issues such as anger management. It is for this reason that Ma is forced to run away and abandon her children. Additionally, after her mother's departure, Kya is neglected by her father, and it is at this point that Jodie steps in as Kya's immediate and closest sibling to help her cope with their predicament. Shortly after, their father abandons them also, further aggravating the wounds of their abandonment and compounding their grief and suffering.

During the trial, Eric, the state prosecutor, mounts a strong case against Kya, believing her to be Chase's murderer. Ironically, this entire case is based on the sole fact that there is no real evidence pointing to Kya's complicity in Chase's murder. The prosecution was operating under the pretext that there were no footprints around Chase's body in the mud, suggesting that they had been wiped away, probably by an expert. Being a "mysterious marsh girl," Kya became the primary suspect, and Eric proceeded to tap into the imaginative fear...

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‘Where The Crawdads Sing’ ending explained: Is Kya found guilty?

The 2022 murder mystery stars Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones

The 2022 murder mystery Where The Crawdads Sing lands on Netflix this week, but what happens to lead character Kya in the end?

The film was based on the massively successful 2018 novel by Delia Owens, and stars Normal People ’s Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, a young woman living on her own in rural North Carolina, who is accused of murdering local man Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson).

Adapted for the screen by Lucy Alibar ( Beasts of the Southern Wild ) and directed by Olivia Newman ( First Match ), the film also boasts ‘Carolina’, an original song written and recorded for the film by Taylor Swift .

Speaking about her relationship with the film, Swift said: “ Where The Crawdads Sing  is a book I got absolutely lost in when I read it years ago. As soon as I heard there was a film in the works starring the incredible Daisy Edgar Jones and produced by the brilliant Reese Witherspoon , I knew I wanted to be a part of it from the musical side.

“I wrote the song ‘Carolina’ alone and asked my friend Aaron Dessner to produce it. I wanted to create something haunting and ethereal to match this mesmerising story.”

In a two-star review of the film , NME wrote: “ Where the Crawdads Sing  is often laughable, but Newman doesn’t present the material with the kind of panache that could complete its transformation into a trash classic. Like its heroine, it’s too skittish to embrace its inner wildness – a wannabe naturalist that insists on covering up.”

Is Kya found guilty in Where The Crawdads Sing ?

Recommended.

When Kya’s former partner Chase is found dead in a nearby marsh, Kya is charged with his murder and is immediately assumed to be guilty by the suspicious townspeople.

Kya had previously left Chase for Tate, a previous lover that had re-entered her life. Upon learning that Kya had left him, Chase attempts to rape Kya, but she fights him off, vowing to kill him if he does not leave her in peace.

The prosecutors speculate that Kya lured Chase to a bell tower and pushed him to his death, but the jury find her not guilty due to insufficient evidence.

What happens to Kya?

Kya and Tate spend the rest of their lives together, with Kya successfully publishing her own illustrated nature books.

We see an elderly Kya in a boat on the swamp, reminiscing about her childhood and her missing mother. Tate later finds Kya lying dead in the boat in the docks.

As he begins to box up her possessions, Tate finds Chase’s shell necklace that was missing from his recovered body, alongside Kya’s drawing of Chase, and a passage that says, “to protect the prey, sometimes the predator has to be killed”. Tate throws the shell into the marsh.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ on Hulu, a Period Melodrama That’s Based On The Best-Selling Novel

Where to stream:.

• Where the Crawdads Sing

New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: ‘Pretty Little Liars: Summer School’ on Max + More

7 movies like ‘where the crawdads sing’, where was ‘where the crawdads sing’ filmed top filming locations.

Now available on Hulu (in addition to rental or purchase on VOD services like Prime Video ), Where the Crawdads Sing was a rock-solid late-pandemic box office hit, grossing $122 million worldwide, proving that medium-budget Movies For Adults may still have life beyond streaming. It helps that it’s based on Delia Owens’ bestselling novel – 15 million copies sold – set in the East Coast swamplands, where a local creep turns up dead, and all fingers point at the local loner woman, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones (who’s having quite the year, considering we’ve already seen her in the horror-comedy Fresh and prestige-TV series Under the Banner of Heaven ). But will the film offer anything to audiences who haven’t already been wooed by the book’s pageturner charms?

WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: BACKLEY COVE, NORTH CAROLINA, 1969. It’s a wild place. Swampy. Humid. Remote. Beautiful. Two boys spot something – a body. A man. Dead. In the mud. At the foot of a rickety old fire tower. Near where the Marsh Girl lives. The Marsh Girl, real name Kya Clark (Edgar-Jones). We hear her voice via narration: “A swamp knows all about death,” stuff like that. She lives way out here all by herself. The townsfolk snicker at her. Bet the weirdo in the woods did it. Who else would do it? The cops investigate the death, and their comments telegraph all sorts of things. Of the dead man: “Best quarterback this town ever had.” They visit Kya’s house, see her collections of feathers and wildlife drawings: “She a scientist, or a witch?” Are they cops, or just a-holes?

They haul Kya in. She speaks barely a word. A kind man visits her cell. A lawyer, Tom Milton (David Strathairn). He says he’ll help her. Flashback: 1953. Kya (Jojo Regina) is maybe eight, nine years old. Her Paw (Garret Dillahunt) is a horrible, horrible man who viciously beats her, her mother and her gaggle of siblings. Everyone leaves, and she’s stuck with boozing, miserable Paw, treading tenderly until he leaves too. She’s resilient, though. Fends for herself. Finds a knife, harvests mussels, sells them to the local shopkeeps, Jumpin’ (Sterling Macer Jr.) and Mabel (Michael Hyatt). They’re warm, kind. Mabel suggests that Kya try school. She does. She’s shunned and ridiculed. She never goes back. She has no shoes or clean clothes. Does she have running water? Don’t think so. Will anyone in this plot do the right thing or the logical thing?

No, because if they did, the plot wouldn’t happen like its creators want it to. There’s a scene in which a man from Social Services asks Mabel and Jumpin’ about Kya, and they fib a little until he leaves. They deduce that a group home would just be worse for an eight-year-old with no shoes or supervision or education living all alone out in the marsh and shucking mussels to survive. I’m not so sure about that, but will concede that it’s a tough call. Mabel finds her a pair of shoes, though. Now we go back to adult Kya in the jail cell. Does she want to plea bargain? No frickin’ way. And then it’s back to 1962, when she’s in her late teens and meets the nicest guy, Tate (Taylor John Smith). They love watching the wildlife; they exchange feathers they find and smoosh lips amidst a swirl of falling fall leaves. He teaches her to read and write and they fall in love and he’s gentle, so gentle, but then he leaves too, for college, and reneges on a promise. Heart. Broken.

Forth we go, to scenes in a courtroom where Kind Lawyer Tom pokes holes in the prosecution’s case while sadfaced Kya doodles birds in a notebook. Then we’re back to 1968 – we’re catching up, see. She meets Chase (Harris Dickinson). We know who Chase is – he’s the best football guy ever in Backley Cove. Dunno about this guy, though. A little crass, but plays a mean harmonica. Tate was nearly perfect; Chase is decidedly imperfect. But as Kya narrates, “I was no longer lonely, and that seemed like enough.” Seem like too much to anyone else? We know a shitbird when we see one, don’t we?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Crawdads doesn’t stir up the mystical vibes of the Deep South like Mud does, but it kinda tries. It’s also like The Notebook if its modest charms had been chomped off by a swamp gator.

Performance Worth Watching: Anybody buying Edgar-Jones as a semi-feral woman living in a secluded swamp shack? She plays the character like the school wallflower from an ’80s teen sex comedy who’s targeted by the mean jock and rescued by the nice guy, but with a little more mud between her toes. That leaves us highlighting Strathairn, who enjoys a couple earnest moments despite the screenplay doing him no favors.

Memorable Dialogue: Kya: “I know feathers. The other girls don’t know feathers.”

Sex and Skin: A couple light PG-13 sex scenes; a pretty heavy PG-13 incident of sexual assault.

Our Take: Burning question: Do crawdads – or to be non-colloquial about it, crayfish – make noise? The internet says they have an appendage, a scaphognathite, through which they make little clicky-bubbly noises. No singing, no humming, nary a note. But I’m being literal, and “where the crawdads sing” is a metaphor for Kya’s place of refuge, where she’ll escape cruel, violent men. Digging deeper into this awkward look-at-me-I’m-LITERARY device only makes these shallow waters muddier: Is where the crawdads sing an actual physical place somewhere deep in the marsh where all of Kya’s beloved birds and bugs live? A place within the mind of psychological safety or strength? Is it where she might allegedly murder one of those cruel men? Or is “where the crawdads sing” an attempt to fish a capital-S Symbol from the muck of half-considered faux-belletristic narrative swampland? (Be thankful: It could’ve been called Where the Humpbacks Hump .)

I’m trying here, I really am. But there’s not much substance to this quasi-Gothic melodrama beyond vague squeakings about the cruelties of 20th-century American civilization. Toxic masculinity is a big one: Buncha creeps out there! Outsiderdom is another: Gossips and namecallers suck! There’s vaguely something about the ugly racial dynamics of the era: Mabel and Jumpin’ are Black, and they’re outsiders too! Women have to be strong: Look at Kya, she’s very strong! She also somehow knows how to apply makeup despite being isolated from society for a decade-and-a-half. Must’ve learned that off-screen, in between all those narrative time-hops. Maybe from Mabel, who’s like a mother to her, sort of, or at least it’s almost implied, or the movie wants it to be implied, but doesn’t try too hard to imply it, because there’s too much plot to work through.

Speaking of plot, Crawdads is a three-headed monster: Whodunit, romance, and courtroom drama. The first unfolds like a well-worn routine, not a suspenseful nailbiter. The second is Hallmarked schmaltz. The third is toothless and simplistic. Director Olivia Newman is all too comfortable with cliches: The cops find some fibers on the body matching a hat found in Kya’s house. Kya and Tate mash on the beach as the waves wash over them. The courtroom gallery gasps with every revelation. We roll our eyes and maybe even guffaw at some of this junk, all of it corny, melodramatic and vaguely maudlin. Yet we see it through to the end, not because we’re invested in the characters and their well-being, but just to see what happens, to see if the conclusion as unconvincing as every scene that came before it. And lo, it is. The crawdads are in misery here. They don’t sing, they just screech in pain.

Our Call: Beneath the marsh muck the crawdads click-bubble through their scaphognathites an instinctive and urgent primal message sourced from deep within their DNA: SKIP IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com .

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