Where the Crawdads Sing

Crawdads is American slang for crayfish. Obviously the crayfish/crawdads DO NOT SING. The enigma begins here.

After a longish gap I am turning to a film review as the topic for this month’s blog. Serendipitously, while channel surfing, I landed on Netflix where this movie is showing. Netflix categorized it in 6 genres: Drama; Romantic Movies; Mystery; Courtroom Movie; Social Issue Drama & Movie based on a book. Just looking at the list, I decided to spend 2 hours to check this out.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a 2018 coming-of-age murder mystery novel by American zoologist Delia Owens. It topped NYT Fiction Best sellers of 2019 and of 2020 for a combined 32 non-consecutive weeks. No surprise that the novel by 2022 has spent 150 weeks on the best seller list. By April 2023 the book had sold over 18 million copies. The film adaptation released in July 2022. (Trivia: Reese Witherspoon is the Producer). The movie is a lyrical composition in the finest tradition of story telling. The North Carolina Marshes are as much a character in the story as are the human protagonists.

The story follows two timelines that slowly intertwine. The first timeline describes the life & adventures of a young girl named Kya as she grows up isolated in the marshes of Carolina. The second timeline follows an investigation into the apparent murder of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity of Barkley Cove, North Carolina.

The film begins with a flight of a majestic bird, languidly flying over the water, trees and swamps. The voice-over introduces us to this important character in the story we are about to see. ” The Marsh is not a Swamp. Marsh is a space of light. Grass grows in the water & the Water flows into the Sky. Then within the Marsh, here and there, the true Swamp”. Birds of different kind, Water, Flora & Fauna, Sky, Light, Land and the Sea. The interplay of all these forms a lyrical backdrop to our story.

Upfront the narrator warns us, “A Swamp knows all about Death & does not necessarily define it as Tragedy. Certainly not a Sin”. Ominous introduction to what we are about to experience. Everything happens in the Marsh & the Marsh is always enveloping us.

2 youngsters find the body of Chase Andrews near the Watchtower. Coroner gives cause of death as “Sudden impact from a 63 foot drop” There are no footprints, fingerprints or any other marks either on Chase or on the Watchtower hatch which is open on the top floor. Accidental fall? or Murder? The police blame and arrest Kya, the “Marsh Girl”. Earlier Kya has had a public falling out with Chase and people have seen her angrily telling Chase: “Leave me alone or I will Kill you” Did she kill Chase ? or was it an accident? Kya has a solid alibi as she was out of Barkley Cove when Chase died. But the prejudice of the villagers is already holding her guilty. The Court case to determine whether Kya is guilty is the story line.

That Prejudice against Kya is the Social Interest part of the plot. Kya is abandoned by her mother in the Marshes as she is fed up with physical abuse & alcoholism of her husband. One day she just walks off. One by one, 4 of Kya’s siblings, fed up with violence & abuse, leave the house & Kya is left all alone with her father. Her father teaches her to be wary of all people & Kya grows up scared. Her one effort to go to the village school, ends with children & the Chaplain’s wife jeering and insulting Kya because of her clothes & physical disarray. ” Kya withdraws to her peaceful & accepting Marsh where she can be herself. We all have seen social prejudice & how hurting it can be. For a lonely Kya, it is devastating. This strand of the story is touching and inspiring. Fighting this, Kya learns to read & write. Being a gifted naturalist, Kya develops her hobby & writes books on the marshes & the birds & insects & flora & fauna of the Swamp. While there is freedom & isolation, as Kya learns to her disadvantage people forget about the creature who lives in a shell.

Being so lonely, Kya is vulnerable. when Tate shows sympathy and helps her she quickly falls head over heels in love with him. First time, Kya’s tightness in her heart is lifted & she feels something other than fear for a fellow human. However Tate moves on to college & feels Kya being so free-natured would not be able to live in a city, & so does not stay in touch. For Kya this is another “abandonment” after her entire family left her. On a rebound he links up with Chase Andrews whose interest in Kya is superficial. Leads to a falling out between them & then the angry Kya’s very public outburst which goes against her when Chase is found dead.

The whole village’s thinking of Kya as a “marsh hen,” “Swamp rat” culminates in the village sentiment,” We all know she is guilty”. Only her lawyer Mr Milton believes that she is being damned just for being different from others. ( Sotto Voce: Sounds familiar? The weight we all have carried for being different!!). Except for her public threat, there is little hard evidence against Kya. Her lawyer wants to put her on the stand so that the Jury can see her soft nature. But Kya refuses very passionately. As Kya puts it, nature invents ways to endure against all odds.. When Milton talks of putting her on the stand Kya reply is very basic,” People have Left me, Laughed at me, Harassed me, Attacked me, Judged me, now I will not beg for my life. They can make their decision but they are not judging me, they are judging themselves” Milton’s plea to the jury : Not to go by labels & rejection of all that is different from us must end. This applies to each one of us. Milton’s appeal” It is time to be fair to the Marsh Girl” results in a verdict of Not Guilty for Kya. We all can learn to be fair to all that is different in our lives too.

The biggest learning point for me in the film was Kya’s explanation about insects who kill their mates,” Every creature does what it must to survive. And sometimes for the prey to live, the predator must die.“

Do watch the movie to find out: Accident? or Murder? Good use of 2 hours of your life.

To end, the title. Kya remembers her Ma encouraging her to explore the marsh: “Go as far as you can—way out yonder where the crawdads sing.” it means “far in the bush where creatures are wild, still behaving like creatures”. Where the Crawdads Sing.

So, will you come with me? let us go deep into the woods far from other people: vikas.