“Swamplandia! had been under siege from several enemy forces, natural and corporate, for most of my short lifetime. We islanders worried about the menace of the melaleuca woods, the melaleuca, or paperbark tree, was an exotic invasive species that was draining huge tracts of our swamp to the northeast. And everybody had one eye on the sly encroachment of the suburbs and Big Sugar in the south.”

This passage speaks to the theme of Environmental Destruction. The invasive melaleuca tree, which functions symbolically within the narrative as a marker of environmental destruction, had been introduced to the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands areas with disastrous results. The family spends much time clearing these trees out of their property, but their efforts are no match for the quickly spreading tree.

“About this time, Ossie and I started playing Ouija every afternoon. We made the board ourselves. It had a blue painted alphabet and little suns and moons modeled on a picture from The Spiritist’s Telegraph.”

This passage speaks to the theme of Grief and Loss. The two girls begin the narrative grieving their mother’s death. Osceola becomes convinced that she is engaged to marry a ghost. Ava eventually learns to channel her grief by recalling and acting on her mother’s advice. For each of the girls, managing their grief will become part of the coming-of-age process.

“Then something shifted in our house and I felt outnumbered. Ghosts silked into our bedroom like cold water.”

Ghosts are a motif within the narrative. They speak to the theme of Grief and Loss, because their presence indicates the depth of sadness each child in the family feels about their mother’s untimely death. Each time a ghost appears, readers are reminded of the loss of Hilola.