Previous
Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Where the Crawdads Sing, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival, Necessity, and Violence
Independence vs. Human Connection
Education, Coming of Age, and Adulthood
Prejudice, Intolerance, and Acceptance
Summary
Analysis
Ed and Joe return to the fire tower and conduct another thorough search of the surrounding marshlands. Whenever Joe thinks he sees something in the mud that might be out of the ordinary, though, it soon becomes clear that it’s just an odd pattern created by animal tracks or blowing grass. They even visit some nearby sandbars, but this proves useless because sand and shells are even better at keeping secrets than mud.
As Ed and Joe continue their search to find out who murdered Chase Andrews, it becomes clear that whoever did the deed is quite good at covering their tracks. This, in a way, is a form of self-preservation, since a murder conviction can lead to the death penalty. In turn, the culprit’s ability to escape undetected is actually a means of survival.
Themes
