“The marsh knows all about death, and doesn’t necessarily define it as a tragedy,” (Where the Crawdads Sing). Chase Andrews, the Barkley Cove town favorite, was murdered in the marshes of North Carolina. The town defined this as a tragedy, and immediately blamed Kya Clark, the rumored “Marsh Girl.” However, her perception agrees with the marsh and does not define it as a tragedy. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” a book and film written by Delia Owens, focuses on Kya Clark, a young girl raised in an abusive household. Early childhood abuse led to her mother leaving at a young age, then subsequently her siblings. After her abusive dad finally left a few years later, Kya was left alone to survive by herself, with nothing but mistrust and isolation from …show more content…
According to PubMed Central, “Research on parent-child attachment supports the prediction that fear of abandonment affects the development of a broad array of social relationships.” This idea, as further researched by PubMed Central, focuses on the idea that abandonment can cause deep-rooted relationship issues. This can be seen in the film as Kya is abandoned by her entire family, and then the first love interest she meets ends up leaving her too. After those two extreme cases of abandonment, Kya has issues with her next, she ends up finding a love interest that is similar to her father, which is the opposite of what Kya wanted in a man. This trauma continues to build up until it causes her to act out and murder Chase Andrews. While this claim has its truths, Kya Clark’s trauma isn’t what completely shaped her. Looking more positively, her trauma with abandonment was an extremely important part of the development of her character, but because of this trauma was how she became a part of the marsh. Therefore, this claim is a factor in Kya Clark's conflicts, but ultimately, the marsh is the source of the conflict and peace in her