Where The Crawdads Sing Ending Explained: Who Murdered Chase?

Where The Crawdads Sing Ending Explained? A murder mystery/romance with symbolism, “Where the Crawdads Sing” was published in 2018 by biologist and author Delia Owens, who drew on her extensive knowledge of ecology and animal behavior to write the novel. Over 15 million copies of the story were sold, making it a massive success (per Rolling Stone).

Owens’ lyrical descriptions of the North Carolina marsh have now been translated into a lush visual experience and sweeping cinematic journey in a film adaptation directed by Olivia Newman and written by Lucy Alibar. The film, like the book, ends in a whirlwind of questions due to its abundance of symbolism, vacuousness, and the constant whispers of things left unsaid.

Throughout “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the story of “The Marsh Girl,” Kya, transforms from a chronicle of her resilience in the face of decades’ worth of tragedies and varying traumas into a riveting murder mystery with Kya’s very life on the line. Although Kya is forgiven at the end of the film and appears to have a happy future with her true love Tate, the film makes it clear that things aren’t what they seem to be for those who pay attention.

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The events of Where the Crawdads Sing, both Kya’s story and the investigation into the murder, come to a satisfying conclusion. There are some questions left unanswered by the film’s climax, such as why Kya is obsessed with feathers and how she killed Chase (since this is never shown on screen). The story’s conclusion and its themes’ more profound significance are revealed here.

Explaining The Ending Of “Where The Crawdads Sing”

Many viewers were shocked by the surprising conclusion of Where the Crawdads Sing. Kya is acquitted of murder charges and granted freedom at the movie’s end (and the book). People in the town realize that the ‘Marsh Girl’ was framed in this case because she was an easy target for the townspeople’s animosity. The prosecution’s case was weak, and Kya had to be innocent.

We then flash forward to the future, where we see that Kya and Tate spent their golden years together at her Marsh home before Kya’s untimely death in her sixties. But the question of who killed Chase remained unanswered. He also lost the shell necklace that Kya had given him. After that, the truth is exposed…

Who Was Responsible For Killing Chase At The End Of “Where The Crawdads Sing?”

After Kya passes away, Tate searches their Marsh home and finds Chase’s missing shell necklace along with some of Kya’s poems. A poem titled “The Firefly” reveals that Kya murdered Chase. The poem makes it clear that Kya murdered Chase by pushing him off the tower after she had lured him there.

For example, “Luring him was as easy” is the poem’s first line. It continues, “The last step, a trap./ Down, down he falls,/ His eyes still holding mine/ Until they see another world.” After reading the poem, Tate realized he would find the shell necklace in the box.

He checked the window to make sure no one was coming down the lane, the book says (not that anyone would, of course). Of course, I want to make sure. After that, he ripped open the tin, expecting to find what he had expected. The cotton contained the shell necklace Chase had worn the night he passed away.

Kya Is Now Like Her Dad

The ability to make every character in “Where the Crawdads Sing” seem like a natural person is one of the book’s and movie’s most outstanding achievements. Its worst characters, like Chase, who is manipulative and abusive, still have redeeming qualities.

Despite his cruel treatment of Kya, Chase will never take off the shell necklace she made for him, not even after they break up. Kya’s father, Pa, is another despicable character who reveals surprising nuance. Kya ends up becoming like Pa in several significant ways.

Kya’s first antagonist is her father, Pa, who beats her and her family to the point where they run away from him (and, by extension, from Kya) out of fear. He is uncaring, unyielding, and seemingly emotionless throughout Kya’s childhood and eventually abandons her.

But Pa is a survivor through and through, having made it through both World War II and life in the harsh Marsh, and it is this skill that he teaches Kya and on which she relies so heavily. The lessons of skepticism, isolation and stoic determination that Kya learned from her father helped her get through being abandoned by Tate, abused by Chase, ridiculed by the townspeople, and even imprisoned.

Who Is Kay?

Kya’s extraordinary resilience in the face of adversity is a reflection not only of her father but also of the wide variety of organisms she has studied in her amateur biology career. One central idea in “Where the Crawdads Sing” is that the same underlying patterns govern the human and natural worlds.

Many of these connections are self-evident to Kya, who is curious and fiercely perceptive; she frequently uses ecological and ethological terminology to describe her enemies and lovers (who are often the same). Even in her final days, Kya may miss a few of these connections.

Kya’s initial interest in the marsh animals is split between bivalves and birds. She can’t help but fantasize about the liberating feeling of flight and can’t stop thinking about how important it is to build a strong defense and retreat from the world. When she’s young, she hides inside her protective shell and doesn’t emerge until she feels genuine affection for Tate.

However, by the end of the story, she figures out how to be both. Before the murder, insects had become her obsessive interest because they are the only taxa in history with both hard exoskeletons and the ability to fly. Kya discovers how to adapt to insect life, combining qualities that have served her well as a bivalve and a bird.

Have The Courts Found Kya Guilty In The Death Of Chase?

Have The Courts Found Kya Guilty In The Death Of Chase?

Even though Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) was widely reviled in her community, she was represented by competent legal counsel. During Kya’s trial, Tom Milton (David Strathairn) argued that she had been the target of prejudice her whole life.

Further, Kya was absent the night Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) was murdered. She would have had to take the night bus back to his house if she wanted to kill him. This seemed highly unlikely, as neither of the bus drivers could recall ever seeing anyone who looked like Kya.

When all was said and done, the jury agreed with Tom. After a trial, a jury found Kya not guilty of murdering Chase, and she was released from jail.

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