Where the Crawdads Sing

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens tells the life story of Kya from girlhood to the end of her life. Owens structures the story of Kya’s life using several conventionally important rites of passage in female coming of age narratives. In the novel, significant traumas deform these events, leading to Kya’s unusual adulthood.

Traditionally, rites of passage for female characters include falling in love, making love for the first time, getting her first period, establishing friendships with other women, and establishing an adult identity while coping with gendered expectations. Kya achieves some of these milestones but generally in ways that emphasize her difference and isolation from other women.

Kya falls in love with Tate Walker, but has no guidance about this experience. Her mother’s abandonment of the family after a violent attack from Kya’s father, the central traumatic event of her life, has left Kya to understand love on her own. She draws conclusions about it by watching animal life in the marsh, reading her mother’s old books and, later, biology textbooks.

Kya’s understanding of sexual intercourse also comes from watching animals mate, so she has a limited idea of sex as an important physical act associated with romantic love. She splits physical desire from emotional connection: She has a deep emotional connection with Tate but does not have sex with him, and conversely, she has an entirely physical connection with Chase that results in unpleasant, emotionally unsatisfying sex.

Another key rite of passage is the first menstrual period. Cultural messages about this biological marker of adulthood reinforce notions of gender identity that are prevalent in the culture. Kya has her own expectations about her menses. She wants to learn about it from an adult woman, but when her period comes, she has to turn to men—Tate and then Jumpin’—to understand what is happening to her body and to secure basic hygiene information. She eventually talks with Mabel, a surrogate mother figure, but still feels a deep sense of shame because she lacks a mother who can shepherd her through this rite.

Establishing significant friendships with other girls and women is another important rite of passage in coming of age novels with young female protagonists. Kya’s mother has told her about the importance of female friendships, which trump friendships with men and are essential to the wellbeing of women. However, Kya’s isolation in the marsh and the absence of her mother has left her with no models for how one forges such friendships.

Kya tries to learn this important social skill by observing the town girls socializing with Chase Andrews in much the same way she observes animals interacting in the wild. When she interacts with other girls and women, their prejudice against her forecloses any chance to establish lasting social connections.

As a result, Kya’s socialization occurs in concert with men and boys, so when she does come of age, her identity has little in common with traditional notions of femininity. Kya’s solitary life makes her a physically strong, capable, and self-reliant woman. Her knowledge of the marsh allows her to avoid the economic pressures that frequently force girls and women to depend upon men for survival. Her scientific acumen and talent as an artist eventually allow her to secure financial security on her own terms with some assistance from Tate.

Kya’s non-adherence to gendered norms for women is dangerous because it serves as a powerful challenge to male characters, generally written as patriarchal products of their time. Both Chase and the legal system are intent on putting Kya in her place because she violates gender codes; the consequences very nearly include her death.

Kya grows into her identity a remarkable woman—Catherine Danielle Clark, artist and scientist, with the books to prove it. She has an egalitarian marriage to Tate, as shown in the arrangement of their home which features dedicated workspaces for both partners since the work of each person is equally valued and important.