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
There have always been wild dogs on the Island of the Blue Dolphins, but the pack has become much bolder since the Aleuts killed villagers and the villagers’ dogs joined the pack. The villagers had planned to get rid of them, but then everyone left. Karana believes the pack grew bolder because of the leader, who she believes came with the Aleuts. He’s bigger than the other dogs and looks very different. At this point, Karana has already killed five dogs, but the dogs keep reproducing. There are many to kill.
Karana’s description of the dog pack’s evolution shows that colonial forces are changing life on the island in unexpected ways. They not only killed enough villagers to put the survivors in danger from the dogs; they also left a dog—the leader—that has made the pack even bolder and more dangerous. It also doesn’t help that Karana’s tribe left; it seems like her neighbors probably also left behind dogs which further expanded the pack.
Themes
Karana begins by collecting brush near the pack’s lair. Then, when the dogs are all in the cave, early in the morning, Karana lights the brush on fire and pushes it into the cave. Eventually, the dogs will have to leave and escape the smoke. Karana decides to save her arrows for the leader. As the fire dies, small groups of dogs come out of the cave. Then, the leader comes out alone. He doesn’t run away—and he doesn’t see Karana until she raises her bow. Karana’s arrow strikes him in the chest. He wanders away, and Karana shoots three more dogs.
Karana has been on the island alone for just over a year now, and it’s clear that she’s learned a lot about hunting in that time. She’s quickly become an accomplished shot with a bow and arrow, if she can hit the leader right in the chest on her first try. And smoking the dogs out of the cave again shows that Karana knows how to manipulate her surroundings to get the results she wants.
Themes
With her spear, Karana goes to look for the leader. She can’t find him. After a while, she goes inside the cave. There’s a dog in there with four pups, and one approaches Karana. Karana wants to pick it up, but its mother bares her teeth. Though Karana threatens the mother with her spear, she doesn’t kill her. The leader is nowhere to be found.
Karana wants to kill the dogs, but when confronted with a protective mother and a curious puppy, she finds herself feeling less violent. Rather, her priorities shift to making sure the mother doesn’t attack her, suggesting that Karana is developing more of a live and let live attitude.
Themes
It’s nearly night now. Karana follows a trail that winds along a cliff until she comes across the broken shaft of the arrow that she shot the leader with. She finds the leader’s tracks, but she loses them in the darkness. It’s raining the next day, so Karana makes more arrows. The day after, it’s nice again, so Karana follows one of the dogs’ trails until she finally finds the leader. Karana raises her spear—but the dog lifts his head and then drops it again. Karana is surprised, but she’s used to animals playing dead. She climbs onto a tall rock and then notches an arrow. But her hand won’t let go, and the dog never gets up.
As she tracks the leader across the island, Karana demonstrates her ability to keep track of animals on the island—an important skill, especially now that she’s living alone. The leader’s refusal to fight back or show aggression of any sort makes the thought of killing him seem way less satisfying. Killing him seemed like a great outcome when he and Karana were locked in a battle of wills and wits, but now, the dog has clearly given up.
Themes
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Karana climbs down again and approaches the leader. She picks him up and carries his limp body to the headland. He’s too difficult to get through her hole under the fence, so Karana opens the fence to get him in. In her house, Karana pulls the arrow out and cleans the wound with a stick. Figuring the leader will die, Karana leaves water for him and goes to the sea to gather shellfish. But he’s still alive when she gets back, so she cleans his wound and forces him to drink water. He looks at her for the first time; his eyes are sunken.
At first, Karana expresses no emotion when she decides the dog is probably going to die. But she also doesn’t want him to suffer; she’s a compassionate person and doesn’t want to torture him. And seeing him in such a helpless, needy state seems to affect Karana. It shows her that she’s not actually alone on the island—the dog might need her, and he might be able to alleviate her loneliness.
Themes
For four days, Karana nurses the leader and sleeps on her rock at night—she doesn’t trust him. During the day, she leaves the fence open, but the leader never leaves. She shares her fish with the thin dog, though he won’t take it from her hand. On the fourth day, Karana returns from the sea and the leader isn’t at the fence. Strangely, Karana is almost sad that the dog left. She calls, “Dog,” and finds him inside the house. He wags his tail at her when he sees the fish. Karana sleeps in the house that night and decides to give the leader a name: Rontu, which means “fox eyes.”
Karana didn’t go into this expecting to come out the other side with a friend. But she finds that having another being around, even one she doesn’t totally trust at first, makes her feel less alone. And the fact that Rontu chooses to never leave the yard suggests that he might be just as lonely as Karana is. Recall that he came with the Aleuts; in a way, he was abandoned in much the same way Karana was.
Themes
