Turn the Page discussion

Chap 4-14 Investigation--Red Fibers

After Pa and Jodie leave, Kya becomes close with Jumpin' and Mabel. Why do you think that they are drawn to her?
What influence do they have on the way that Kya sees the world?

Kya spends one day at school--leaving, ready and eager to learn and then returning, defeated and distraught. How do you think Kya's decision to stay out of school effects her life--education, physical wellbeing, socialization, etc.? Do you think she would have had a different life had she stayed in school?

Now that you've come to understand Kya's life in the marsh, alone, why do you think that everyone left--Ma, Jodie, all her siblings? How do you feel about this? Is a marsh mother enough?

The feeling of touch and Kya's reaction to it is a certain effect of her isolation. She's afraid to be touched and yet desperately longing for touch. Contact. Verbal touch, physical touch, intellectual touch. To reach out and grasp hold of some part of someone is too risky, but to let someone touch her, the fear is more plausibly a need. That's where Tate comes in. He touches her mind and skin.

Tate is a good kid in my opinion. A good kid stuck in the position of great choice: grow up too soon or easy his way into a life, go to college, start a career, step outside of life in the marsh.

Jumpin' and Mabel tug at my heart. They are actual god-sends to Kya. They give her the first introduction into normalcy. They give her clothes, food, and they consistently care. I find this all to be very interesting. Clearly, Jumpin' and Mabel and all the black folks in this novel are treated poorly. They are regarded as less than human, and yet they are the ones that give little Kya the first real chance at feeling, developing, and being a human. I think this a fine example of life lessons to learn. You can gain something from just about anyone--people you have nothing in common with--and all it takes to get started is knowing one simple fact: we are all humans and we all need to be cared for.

Kya's life in the marsh is a lot of things. It's sad and lonely. It's magical and wonderous. It's dangerous. It's challenging. It's consumptive, enriching, and devouring. To ask if the marsh is a mother enough is to question directly whether Kya's intellect and self-awareness is stronger than her need to be innately cared for, to be unconditionally loved by something that resembles her. That would be a leap to make for any person in any environment. While the marsh is home to Kya, it can't replace family, people, most particularly a mother--her mother. A part of me hopes that this is the reason for Kya's family leaving. I hope that their abandonment is a message to Kya to grow up, to get out, and to find a family--either in them or in another family altogether. However, that is a stretch. It is just wildly unfair that childhood be robbed of her and her development stunted by the catalyzed biological reactions to being left entirely alone by the individuals in life that are supposed to love you no matter what.