Where the Crawdads Sing

Tate Walker is the son of a shrimper in the town of Barkley Cove. Despite his town origins, Tate spends most of his time on the marsh; he thus serves as a bridge between Kya and the rest of the world. Tate’s functions as a love interest and a mentor for Kya; his frequent presence in Kya’s life is one of the reasons that she survives into adulthood.

Tate is a quiet, thoughtful person who shows his compassion by looking out for Kya, teaching her to read once he realizes she is illiterate, and keeping his sexual urges in check when she is not ready for sex. Without an ulterior motive, he introduces Kya to college-level textbooks and connects her to a publisher once he realizes the importance of her illustrations of marsh life. Nevertheless, it takes him some time to abandon all the preconceived notions about Kya that he has learned from other townspeople: He breaks off their relationship during college because he does not believe an unsocialized person like Kya can fit into life outside of the marsh.

Tate stands by Kya when she is accused of murder, spends the rest of his life with her after her acquittal, and protects her reputation after her death by burning the evidence proving her guilt. In the end, Tate grows into a loyal and protective man.

Jumpin’ is one of two African-American characters whose generosity allows Kya to survive after her family abandons her. Jumpin’s life is circumscribed by the social and physical boundaries of the racially segregated South of the 1950s and 1960s. While he is kind to Kya and feels a sense of paternal protectiveness toward her, he is unable to demonstrate these feelings publicly because doing so would violate the racial mores of the town.

In keeping with the historical setting, his acts of defiance are smaller ones like helping Kya to evade social services. One of his last rebellious acts is to enter the white section of the courtroom to support Kya. Jumpin’ is a static character whose motivations external to his relationship with Kya are not developed. Instead, he serves primarily to establish that Kya is a fellow outsider when it comes to the racial and class hierarchies of the town.

Jake Clark is Kya’s father. The son of a land-rich Asheville family ruined by the Great Depression, Jake is defined by his drunken brutality, his paranoia, his cowardice during World War II, and his unwillingness to serve as a nurturing, loving figure for his wife and children.

Jake’s has a devastating effect on Kya both directly and indirectly. He assaults his wife and son, which leads his wife to abandon the family—one of the many traumas a young Kya, must endure. In a positive moment, he teaches her to fish, but his subsequent actions immediately negate this small act of kindness: he refuses to allow his wife to take the children after she leaves, threatens to kill them if she ever makes contact with the family again, and then abandons Kya completely. Jake is a character with few redeeming traits.

Marie Jacques Clark is Kya’s mother. Marie’s character arc is a tragic one: she starts out as a pretty, sparkling debutante whose one great error was falling in love with the wrong man. She was a loving mother toward her children, full of homespun wisdom about the importance of female friendship. Despite loving them, she was not able to protect herself and her children from the violence of her husband.

Ma was also an amateur artist who idealized her life in paintings designed to cover over the horror of the abuse she and her children suffered. The novel implies that Kya inherits her artistic talent from her mother.

Chase Andrews is the handsome son of wealthy storeowners in Barkley Cove. He begins the novel as a boy who has all the advantages life has to offer, becomes a star football player in college, and grows into an arrogant, entitled man who believes women are objects for his use.

A character with few redeeming traits, Chase serves as a foil to Tate. Like Tate, he is a constant figure in Kya’s life, but one who abuses and abandons her. Chase’s violent assault of Kya convinces her that she has no choice other than to kill him. Unraveling the mystery of his murder is a key driver of the plot.

Ed Jackson is the sheriff of the small town of Barkley Cove. A product of his time and place, the sheriff has typically sexist and classist beliefs. Uncomfortable on the marshes, but under pressure to solve the mystery of Chase’s murder, the sheriff engages in logical leaps and sloppy police work during his investigation. His ineptitude on the stand is one of the major reasons the jury acquits Kya.

One of the central ironies of the novel is that the sheriff’s theory of the crime is correct, but the town’s growing sympathy for Kya at the end of the novel makes him lose his re-election.

Mabel is Jumpin’s wife. Like Jumpin’, she is a sympathetic figure who supports Kya after her family abandons her. She solicits donations from her church to clothe Kya, and she helps Kya understand her menstrual period. With her husband, she reflects the goodness and generosity of the African-American community despite the racism of the town.

The mother of Chase Andrews, Patti Love is a representative figure for middle-class, Southern womanhood of the 1950s and 1960s. A flat, static character, she is a close-minded person who is primarily motivated by a desire to preserve appearances and maintain social hierarchies. Her testimony about Chase’s missing shell necklace ensures that the sheriff identifies Kya as a suspect. 

Pearl Stone, nicknamed Alwayswearspearls by Kya, is one of the town girls Kya encounters on the beach. Pearl sees Kya as lesser because Kya lives on the marsh and is poor and white. Chase ultimately marries Pearl despite promising marriage to Kya.

Robert Foster is Kya’s editor. He appears in the novel briefly during Kya’s trial to confirm her alibi and to serve as a character witness for her.

Tom Milton is Kya’s court-appointed attorney during her murder trial. His skillful defense cross-examinations and eloquent closing statement highlight the way prejudice caused the town to exclude Kya.