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 villagers pack their baskets excitedly. Karana packs whalebone needles, an awl, a knife, cooking pots, and a box of jewelry. Ulape packs two boxes of earrings (she’s vainer than Karana) and then draws on her face with blue clay. The mark means she’s unmarried. Nanko encourages everyone to hurry—there’s a storm coming—but Ulape, who’s in love with Nanko, jokes that the ship will come back with handsomer men. Finally, the villagers head for the cove. Ramo starts in front, but then tells Karana he forgot his fishing spear. Karana refuses to let him go back for it.
Karana noting that Ulape is vainer than she is suggests that she looks at Ulape’s jewelry collection—a mark of Ulape’s femininity—as something to roll her eyes at. Karana might have a jewelry collection of her own, but she doesn’t place as much importance on having lots of jewelry as Ulape does. This showed up earlier, too, when Karana insisted that she cared more about the otter than about the beads their pelts would get for the tribe.
Themes
The ship is just outside the cove; due to the high waves, it can’t come closer. There are two boats and four white men on the beach. They speak a language Karana doesn’t understand. Aside from Nanko, all the men—and Ramo—are already on the ship. The women get into the two boats and then manage to climb onto the ship. It’s huge, with tall sails.
As when the Aleuts arrived and left, the tall waves and impending inclement weather create tension. Getting everyone onto the ship needs to happen quickly, or getting everyone off the island isn’t going to go well.
Themes
Karana calls for Ramo; he’s bound to get in the sailors’ way. She can’t find him. But then, Ulape points to shore: Ramo is on the cliff with his fishing spear. The ship is already moving away and Karana screams. Matasaip tries to reason with Karana, but when the ship starts to turn east, she leaps into the sea.
For Karana, it’s inconceivable to think about leaving Ramo on the island by himself. He’s just a little kid, after all, and he’s going to need someone to look out for him. This shows how seriously Karana takes her role as Ramo’s caregiver.
Themes
A wave pushes Karana down so far that she fears she won’t rise again. Finally, she reaches the surface. She still has her basket, but she realizes it’s too heavy and lets it sink. Then, she swims for shore. She intends to punish Ramo when she gets there, but when she sees how forlorn he looks, she just hugs him. Karana assures Ramo that the ship will come back for him. She’s angry: her beautiful yucca skirt is ruined.
As Karana dives into the sea, she discovers that the natural world isn’t always friendly. In this situation, the sea might swallow her whole—and it does take all her supplies, in addition to ruining her brand-new skirt. Nature isn’t predictable, and this dangerous situation suggests it won’t make life easy for Karana.
Themes
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