One thing I find really awesome about Misty Day as a character is that sheâs a witch but sheâs also religious (probably Catholic), and understanding that has a lot to do, I think, with understanding that Cajun culture is very different from the ultra-conservative Bible-belt South that we think of when we think rural Louisiana. And she grew up in the heart of it, near Lafayette. Cajun culture is an interesting mix of French-Canadian, Creole, and Native American influences so along with being very Catholic thereâs also plenty of mysticism, respect for nature, andâmost importantly for Mistyâfaith healers, people who can lay their hands on someone in prayer and use medicinal remedies to help people. So Misty probably grew up around people who told her that her power was God-given and considered her blessed. Those people, her community, are what kept her safe for so many years, who shaped her deep connection to the earth and love of music and gave her faith in what she could do.
And then you have the conservative, fundamentalist Protestants (those are the traditional Bible Belt people we think of), who thought it was just a prank when she brought a dissection frog back to lifeâexcept that there have been rumors of things like that happening more than once over the yearsâand who might interpret her fainting at a revival as a sign that the devil is in her and decide to burn her at the stake.
Misty Day being all flower-child-y and loving Stevie Nicks, the White Witch, confused me a lot given that she grew up in the deep South, but looking into the differences between that culture and Cajun culture explains a lot about how she became who she is and managed to survive for so long without attracting negative attention. Her loneliness also makes sense that wayâtrying to be careful, trying not to attract attention, those who do suspect something looking at her with fear or awe, itâs not a great way to make friends.
I think Mistyâs family probably loved her and supported her abilities, but knew that not everyone would see it that way. Misty is Misty, though, she canât be as cautious as she should be when an animal is right there in front of her that she can save. Itâs an almost physical pull for her to use her magic. So why then, if her family loved her, didnât they tell the police what happened? They think sheâs gone, and they know it was people in their community that killed her. Think about what might happen to them if they do talk to the police, who might be in on it themselves. They could feel threatened. They could have other children who people are suspicious of because of Misty, whether or not these other kids actually have magic or not. They could also know that sheâs alive and that she wonât be totally safe until the police stop looking for her.Â
Someone knows sheâs alive. They have to. How else would a dead girl from Lafayette get to the swamps outside New Orleans? The two cities are over a hundred miles apart. Where would she get her possessions, or money for new ones? My theory is that after she resurrected herself, she found her family or had someone she trusted and they helped her get the hell away and set up somewhere safe. And then they left her there with an unspoken agreement to never see each other again, because no one could suspect anything, and it would only put her and her family in danger. So she stayed in the swamp where she had her plants and her Stevie and a life, struggling between desperately wanting someone to talk to, needing people like her and just knowing they were out there somewhereâŠand on the other hand, being terrified and distrustful and angry because humans hate what they canât control and kill what they donât understand, and itâs too risky to venture out into the world to look for the few that are kind. Much safer to keep herself hidden and wait for them to find her, even if sheâs slowly dying inside.
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