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
The winter storms come early. When it’s not raining, the wind blows sand into the air. Karana spends her time making another dress and working on the spear to catch the devilfish. As with the other weapons, Karana has seen this spear made but knows little about it. But she remembers what it looks like and how to use it, so with Rontu sleeping nearby, she works on it. Karana breaks three sea elephant teeth, but she manages to fashion one into a barbed point. The point gets fastened to the end of the shaft with a ring, which has a long, braided string tied to it. When a hunter throws the spear into a devilfish, the head comes loose from the shaft and remains tied to the hunter’s wrist with the string.
Out of necessity, Karana has to live her life in tune with the seasons. As she describes the violent storms and the blowing sand, she makes it seem like the only real option is for her to stay inside, working on crafting items that will help her reenter the wider world in the spring. When Karana manages to make the special devilfish spear, it again shows that she’s capable of doing anything she puts her mind to—even if she is female. And this sounds like a complex weapon to make, which only highlights her ability.
Themes
Karana takes her spear to Coral Cove on the first day of spring. She knows it’s spring because flocks of migratory birds came and stayed for two days and then headed south. Rontu is not with Karana; she recently let him out and he hasn’t returned. He’s spent the winter ignoring the wild dogs, but the night before last, he finally took notice and whined. Karana let him out when he refused to eat.
Karana demonstrates her deep knowledge of the natural world when she recognizes that it’s spring because of the specific birds that passed by. Letting Rontu out of the fence shows that Karana trusts him to return and remain her friend, even if she doesn’t understand his reasons for leaving.
Themes
Karana pushes the canoe into the water and heads for the reef where devilfish live. Through the clear water, she can see many devilfish. Though it’s nice to be on the sea with her new spear, Karana can’t stop thinking of Rontu. She wonders if he’ll turn into her enemy again. She won’t be able to kill him now that he’s been her friend.
After spending so many months with Rontu to keep her company, it’s difficult for Karana to go out in the canoe by herself. She can’t enjoy the wonders around her, like the devilfish and the reef, not knowing where her friend is. And now that she’s befriended Rontu, her perspective about killing him has completely changed.
Themes
After several hours, Karana hides her canoe in the cave she found last fall and hikes up the cliff to her house with some small bass she caught. At the top of the steep climb, she hears dogs fighting. Karana grabs her bow and arrows and hurries toward the sound. Near the spring, she finds Rontu’s tracks. She continues to follow the sound until she gets to a meadow with a mound in the middle; the mound was created when Karana’s ancestors left shells here. Rontu is on the mound, his back to a cliff. The pack of wild dogs are in front of him, with two dogs with bloody mouths between Rontu and the rest of the pack. One is the new leader; Karana doesn’t recognize the other one.
A loyal person, Karana is more than ready to run to Rontu’s rescue, if he needs rescuing. Finding him in this specific location, in a place where Karana’s ancestors used to congregate, again reminds readers that Karana is the last of her tribe left on the island. Even as she’s surviving, making friends, and even thriving, she can’t escape the fact that all signs point to her being the last of her tribe to ever reside on the island. This is, again, the result of colonial forces pushing Karana’s tribe off the island.
Themes
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The dogs don’t notice or respond to Karana, though Karana is sure Rontu knows she’s around. The two dogs pace around Rontu, and Rontu never takes his eyes off of them. Karana knows she can’t shoot the dogs—this is Rontu’s fight, and they’ll fight again if they don’t finish this now. When the two dogs finally attack, Rontu breaks one’s leg, but the other dog strikes him on the flank. Karana fits an arrow in her bow, but she can’t shoot. When the other dog leaps at Rontu again, Rontu locks his jaws around the other dog’s throat. After a minute, Rontu lets the dog go, climbs the mound, and howls. Then he trots home as though nothing happened. After this, Rontu never leaves again, and the wild dogs never return to the headland.
Part of being a good friend, Karana believes, is letting Rontu fight this fight without interference. She knows he’s capable, and she also knows that the fight won’t be over until Rontu ends it. Still, she wants to be prepared in the worst-case scenario, which is why she notches the arrow and prepares to shoot. Rontu, though, shows that he’s just as self-sufficient as Karana by killing and injuring the other dogs. And allowing Rontu to finish this fight himself has an unexpected positive consequence: Karana implies that because of Rontu’s dominance, she’ll never have to deal with the wild dogs tormenting her again.
Themes
