Female from Marsh: Metaphors, Symbolisms, and Ironies in Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Abstract

This research aims to determine how Delia Owens constructs meaning in the novel Where the Crawdads Sing through intrinsic elements such as metaphor, symbolism, and irony. Using the New Criticism approach, the analysis is conducted by focusing on the structure of the text, without involving external contexts such as the author's biography or reader responses. The results of the analysis show that Owens consistently uses metaphors from the animal world, such as female praying mantises and female fireflies to represent the power and agency of female creatures in nature. Natural symbolism, including swamps, bird feathers, and waterways, strengthens the structure of meaning and forms interconnected narrative patterns. Irony arises when the power of women that is depicted as dominant in the natural world is considered deviant in human society in the text. These three elements support each other and create organic unity, namely the unity of meaning that is formed structurally in the text. This article shows that through a close reading of formal elements, readers can find social criticism implied in the narrative structure of the novel.