The Marsh Girl

 Disclaimer: This had to republished in order for the link to be copied but originally submitted when the first link was posted in the Blog #3 discussion. 

 

       When reading books I tend to make assumptions. Assumptions that affect my judgement in way that can blind me to complexity. I would like to say that sometimes my presumptuous nature can help but in maybe that’s just my own ego. “Where The Crawdads Sing” is a surprise for sure, in all honesty I throughly believed that this book would be a romance novel nothing more nothing less. Yet the characters show complexity, the setting is THE story instead of it being simply a backdrop. This novel is less about romance but more about how we react to the world around us. The protagonist is somehow able to compartmentalize both the  

leaving of her entire family and the abusive relationship with her father. Such strength of mind is seldom seen but is probably central to who Kya is. Kya depends on the marsh for her survival and it is her place of refuge, her home. This is somewhat of a cliche in some of the books I have read, the protagonist suffers significant trauma as a child and their only escape is their natural landscape. Though characters often don’t depend on their surroundings for their lives in these cases. Kya is ridiculed for living apart from everyone else, called “marsh girl” in a derogatory way because of her clothes and haggard appearance. 

      Though I think it is actually a compliment to Kya, she who suffered through absurdly tough circumstances and still emerged as unbroken. The marsh is the reason for her survival to such an extent that it becomes almost as though it is her nation. A persons nationality is usually a significant part of their identity, just like how a citizen of America is referred to as American. “The Marsh Girl” is a such a simple title but it is able to aptly describe Kya, she is just as much apart of the marsh as the marsh is apart of her. Anyway I thought that was an interesting tidbit about something I noticed about this surprisingly complex novel. You could say that this blog post was essentially an appreciation for this novel and an actual reminder to not judge a book by its cover (as cliche as it is). 

      I think that assumptions can be used to generalize something or someone. Maybe it’s because we are lazy or we don’t want to consider other possibilities, such as the truth. No one can be considered good or evil, they simply are. The world is not black and white, it is gray. Labels only seek to reduce an individual to a couple negative or positive characteristic’s. A “jock” can be a football player and 3-time Math Olympiad champion. Nothing is as it seems, everything is complex and different. Though whether we think objectively and subjectively remains with those who judge. It’s an interesting idea that deserves to be discussed more.