Appearance Vs. Reality In 'Where The Crawdads'

Bitsy Meyer

O’Brien

Beasts of British Literature

18 April 2023

Human behavior will never change, no matter if the individual is treated like royalty and loved by thousands, or lives in a swamp and is feared by her own community. Kya Clark grew up in the marsh with her family until they all left one by one, leaving her alone to survive by herself living off of money she earned selling muscles to the local shop clerk. One day however, she is convicted of the Murder of Chase Andrews, an old boyfriend, as he was found dead with a fearful countenance. The novel follows Kya’s story of how she became a strong, gifted individual through love, and the many creatures of the marsh. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark’s father was tragically murdered by his

The theme of Appearance versus reality is seen in Where the Crawdads Sing when Kya Clark is labeled “swamp trash” and other discriminating names by her own community due to where she lives and the different lifestyle she had no choice to pursue. While Kya was away from home walking to the local shop, a group of boys on bikes nearly collided with her. She was a little girl without proper shoes, wearing clothing too short for her legs and too young for her age. The boy’s mother reprimanded them, after they claimed they did not see her, when she exclaimed “‘Never mind her. You ain’t go blamin’ yo’ sins on somebody else, not even swamp trash’” (Owens 18). Even though Kya was just a little girl at the time of this conflict, she knew she was different from others, and had to stay out of their way to avoid their hurtful words. The locals of Barkley Cove did not know her situation, but made rude judgments based on her physical appearance. Meanwhile, Prince Hamlet intentionally changes his entire temperament to convince all of Denmark he has gone mad. Because Hamlet was confronted by the ghostly apparition of his father urging him to avenge his death by killing Claudius, his plan was to act insane to get that information out of him. The only people who know his plan are Marcellus and Horacio, he carefully explains “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on)...” (1.5 190-193). This plan does work, and he does fool his family and close friends into believing his enmity over the death of his father. His next step was to kill the king. However, this plan backfires, and Hamlet does not follow through with the murder because Claudius was praying. The royal family never finds out that his behavior was all an act, but as a consequence, the leading events go wrong and the whole family ends up dead all at each other's