Examples Of Prejudice In Where The Strawdads Sing

Prejudice is a form of negative preconception or attitude towards certain individuals or groups of people who embody traits that other people may not idealize. Common features of prejudice are having negative feelings and holding stereotyped beliefs about members of a group, as well as a tendency to discriminate against them. In society, we often see prejudices based on characteristics like race, sex, religion, culture, and a plethora of other traits. In the novel, Where The Crawdads Sing, the main character, Kya, known by everyone as the Marsh Girl, receives prejudice from society due to her socioeconomic status and living conditions, which causes her to face many hardships and work extremely hard to get things other people take for granted.

Quickly Kya slips back into her shack, and as the boys get closer, one hollers, “Here we come, Marsh Girl” (91). As the boys reach the exterior of her shack, another one yells out, “Show us yo’ teeth! Show us yo’ swamp grass! (91). Laughter erupts between the boys, as they all collectively bang on the door, and run away hollering with relief that they survived the marsh girl. The group of boys not only treat Kya poorly with their harassment, but they also make it a point to go out of their way to her home just in order to ridicule her. As a result of these boys' actions, Kya feels deep shame in herself and further isolates herself from others her age, and society

In chapter 47, sheriff Ed Jackson is brought in for questioning, in regards to the evidence they detained Kya with. Eric Chastain firstly asks what led the sheriff to believe that Chase had not fallen from the tower by accident, to which he responds with, “I noticed there weren’t any footprints around Chase’s body” (304). Eric Chastain then says, “Isn’t it also true, Sheriff, that there were no fingerprints and no vehicle tracks at the scene?” (304)., to which the sheriff agrees. Eric helps prove that the circumstances in which Kya was arrested and tried for were unreasonable and inaccurate. There was no solid evidence that Kya was even at the tower, which only helps prove the point that was only put into this situation because of the prejudice she received. If Kya were a normal member of society, Ed Jackson would not have jumped to Kya as being the immediate suspect. It only conveys that the prejudice Kya receives excludes and antagonizes her within the hierarchy of