The Trauma of Abandonment Flashcards
Why is Kya skittish and mistrustful of other humans?
Because she is repeatedly abandoned by the people she loves, Kyn is skittish and mistrustful of other humans.
What does Kya struggle to understand and heal from throughout her life?
Throughout her life, she struggles to understand and heal from this chronic abandonment.
One of her earliest memories is watching her mother leave when she’s six, and Kya spends much of the next two decades longing for her mother, wondering where she went, and feeling heartbroken that her mother left her.
One of her earliest memories is watching her mother leave when she’s six, and Kya spends much of the next two decades longing for her mother, wondering where she went, and feeling heartbroken that her mother left her.
Soon after her mother leaves, Kya looks to the fox to try to understand her mother’s behavior and finds comfort in nature’s rhythms and familiar creatures in her absence.
Soon after her mother leaves, Kya looks to the fox to try to understand her mother’s behavior and finds comfort in nature’s rhythms and familiar creatures in her absence.
This foreshadows a lifelong relationship with nature that is born out of her family leaving her. She trusts the wilderness more than she trusts other people.
What does Kya trust before all else?
She trusts the wilderness more than she trusts other people
Who did Kya try to connect to when she was only a young child? How did it end?
Though she works hard to connect with her abusive, inconsistent, destructive father Pa eventually leaves her, too.
Though she works hard to connect with her abusive, inconsistent, destructive father Pa eventually leaves her, too.
What does this set Kya up for in order to establish connections?
This sets Kya up for a lifetime of betraying herself in order to establish connections with inconsistent men
Kya attempts on many occasions to establish a connection with inconsistent men. What does she learn from this?
It takes her most of her life to learn to love a man without losing herself to him.
What piece of advice did Jodie give to Kya before he, too, abandons her? Does she heed this advice? explain your answer.
When her brother Jodie leaves her, he cautions Kya to hide from people who come looking for her in the marsh.
From that point forward, Kya becomes as skilled as a fox at hiding in the marsh, and she eludes everyone who approaches her: her father, the truant officers, and Tate.
Kya is a very mistrusting character who even hides from a person who has been good to her. Who is this?
Mistrustful of other humans who leave and hurt her, she hides even from the boy who has shown her every kindness.
Mistrustful of other humans who leave and hurt her, she hides even from the boy who has shown her every kindness. Is Kya’s fear wrongly placed/is it rash?
This fear turns out to be well-founded when Tate, too, abandons her, in part because she is so skittish and feral after a lifetime of being left alone.
Why does Tate abandon Kya?
He succumbs to the narrow-minded and discriminatory views of the townspeople: she is so skittish and feral after a lifetime of being left alone.
Tate’s leaving confirmed something in Kya’s mind which takes her nearly a decade to recover from. What is it?
This confirms her suspicions that everyone she loves will leave her, and it takes nearly a decade for her to trust Tate again.
