Most of what she knew, she'd learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored, and protected her when no one else would.
Kya's family and community fail her by abusing and neglecting her. The one constant in Kya's life is the marsh, which she considers more like a friend and confidante than an ecosystem. Kya feeds herself using what she fishes and forages in the marsh, hides from predators (such as Chase and the police) in the marsh, and ultimately creates a career using her knowledge of the marsh.
“Unworthy boys make a lot of noise”
In her isolation, Kya learns to navigate interpersonal relationships using advice her mother gave her, such as the maxim "unworthy boys make a lot of noise." In this statement, Ma explains that boys and men who try too hard to impress women often do so to compensate for a flawed character. In her research, Kya learns that "lesser males" attempt to mate with females by being loud and flashy and she connects this pattern with the men in her life. She sees Chase's "fancy ski boat was the same as the pumped-up neck and outsized antlers of a buck deer in rut."
Ma's advice likely reflects her own marriage. She agreed to marry Pa after he "wined and dined" her using money he stole. Pa also promised to provide for his family and get a college education. However, Pa turned out to be an abusive alcoholic.
Here she was in jail. If those she'd loved, including Jodie and Tate, hadn't left her, she wouldn't be here. Leaning on someone leaves you on the ground.
In prison, Kya reflects on the life events that led to her arrest. Though Kya maintains a self-sufficient lifestyle and a sense of independence throughout the text, she finally recognizes that being abandoned not only hurt her; it altered her life's trajectory. Kya believes that if she had a support system growing up, she would not have become the "Marsh Girl" and would not have been so desperate for companionship that she became involved with Chase.
Saltwater marsh, some say, can eat a cement block for breakfast, and not even the sheriff's bunker-style office could keep it at bay.
This quotation foreshadows Kya's role in Chase's murder. Kya and the marsh are connected, often symbolizing one another throughout the text. Just as the marsh destroys Sheriff Ed Jackson's office, Kya's trial destroys the sheriff's career; after the trial, he is never re-elected.
"Ya need some girlfriends, hon,' cause they're furever. Without a vow. A clutch of women's the most tender, most tough place on Earth."
Just like Kya's mother, Mabel stresses the importance of female companionship and encourages Kya to make friends. In this quotation, Mabel emphasizes that female friendship is "without a vow," meaning that women become friends for life without the contract or promises expected in a marriage. Friendless, Kya clings to promises of marriage as assurance that she will not be abandoned, making her easy prey for men like Chase.
"She feels the pulse of life...because there are no layers between her and her planet."
In this quotation, Tate expresses awe for Kya's intimate relationship with the marsh as she looks through a microscope for the first time. Tate understands the marsh wildlife academically, but Kya, having lived with only the marsh for company, is part of the ecosystem. Though Tate once believed Kya was too "wild" to fit in the academic world, as the years pass, he better understands that Kya's wildness is a form of intimacy with nature.
Barkley Cove served its religion hard-boiled and deep-fried.
This quotation explains the interconnection between religion and respectability using the motif of southern cooking. Mrs. Teresa White, the wife of a Methodist preacher, frantically shoos Kya away from her daughter. Though her Christian beliefs command Mrs. White to accept outsiders and provide for the poor, Barkley Cove's brand of religion focuses on maintaining the appearance of decency and modesty. Religion is yet another divide between Kya and the town; because she does not attend church, many townsfolk mistrust her.
"It is time, at last, for us to be fair to the Marsh Girl."
In his closing statement, Tom Milton addresses the prejudices against Kya and how the town's failure to care for her resulted in her being accused of Chase's murder. Throughout the trial, Judge Sims refused to allow anyone to call Kya "The Marsh Girl"; Milton's invocation of the name is strategic. By calling Kya "The Marsh Girl," he shames Barkley Cove and forces the jury to contemplate how their biases will influence the verdict.
Nothing seemed too indecorous as long as the tick and the tock of life carried on. She knew this was not a dark side to Nature, just inventive ways to endure against all odds. Surely for humans there was more.
Kya observes nature without passing judgment. Having survived against all odds, she understands that living creatures do whatever it takes to protect themselves and reproduce. However, Kya grapples with her mother's choice to abandon her children and Chase and Tate's unreliable behavior. Since human beings enjoy and suffer through complex, emotional relationships, Kya reasons that not every choice a person makes is to ensure their survival.
“In another time and place, an old black man and a young white woman might have hugged. But not there, not then.”
Jumpin' and Kya develop a father-daughter relationship despite segregation and rampant racism in Barkley Cove. When Kya publishes her book, Jumpin' feels and behaves the way a father would by displaying a copy in the window of his store. Still, Kya and Jumpin' cannot fully enjoy their connection for fear of violence; even in her closest relationships, Kya is isolated.
