Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Island of the Blue Dolphins, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Natural World
Solitude
Friendship
Gender Roles and Survival
Colonialism, Violence, and Indigenous Culture
Summary
Analysis
Karana can barely crawl under her fence due to the pain in her leg. Her leg swells, and for five days, Karana stays in her house. Two days later, her water basket is empty, so Karana packs food, ties it to her back, and crawls to the ravine. She brings her weapons with her. Because she can’t climb the rocks, she has to go the long way through the brush. At one point, while she stops to rest, Karana sees the wild dogs’ leader above her. He’s clearly tracking her with the rest of the pack. The dogs all fade away as Karana fits an arrow in her bow. She can’t hear the dogs, but she’s certain they’re surrounding her.
After injuring her leg, Karana has to face up to the consequences of taking risks like trying to kill a sea elephant on her own. And keep in mind that such a task, as she’s implied, would be dangerous for anyone on their own—not just a young woman who isn’t “supposed” to be making weapons. Dealing with this injury impresses upon Karana how deadly being alone on the island can be. The sea elephants are dangerous, but even when she’s nowhere close to them, she still has to contend with the wild dogs.
Themes
Karana crawls on, leaving her bow and arrows since they’re now too heavy. The ravine wouldn’t be a good place for the dogs to attack, so Karana drinks her fill and then fills her basket with water. There’s a cave nearby, but as Karana crawls toward it, she sees the leader of the dogs and then the rest of the pack. She crawls into the cave and knows she’s safe. The dogs stalk around the cave’s entrance for the six days that Karana stays there. As she waits for her leg to heal, Karana decides to make the cave into a house where she can stay when she’s injured or sick.
Karana manages to survive this situation because she knows the landscape and the dogs’ hunting habits. She’s able to look around her and know that she’s safe—which shows how prepared she is to live and survive on the island. And this experience does have an upside, as it shows Karana the importance of planning ahead for injury or illness. Her house on the headland is great, but it’s best used in addition to another, safer home.
Themes
Karana’s ancestors used this cave at some point in the past. In addition to cutting figures of pelicans, dolphins, ravens, and foxes, they also cut deep stone basins. Karana decides to store water in them and then cuts shelves into the rock as well. She stores preserved food, her first bow and arrows, and creates a bed of seaweed. After leaving wood for fires, she covers the opening with stones. Everything Karana has done is work for a man.
As Karana works, she isn’t able to avoid acknowledging that she’s the last of her tribe on the island. She’s living amongst the ghosts of her ancestors. In the case of this cave, though, they seem to be watching over her and helping her, particularly when it comes to the stone basins for storing water. By this point, Karana has also become comfortable doing traditionally masculine tasks.
Themes
Finally, when the second house is done and Karana’s leg is better, she returns to the sea elephants. She finds the old bull’s body high on the slope, picked clean by gulls, but the bull’s teeth are still there. Karana manages to make four good spear points from the teeth. Now, she’s ready to kill the dogs.
Though Karana did get hurt during this process, she still learned an important lesson: if she’s patient and allows nature to take its course, it can and will provide for her. Sea elephant fights don’t seem uncommon; she may be able to get teeth again, just by waiting for another set of bulls to fight to the death.
Themes
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