Background and
Summary
Island of the Blue
Dolphins was
written by Scott O’Dell in 1960 and won the Newbery Award in 1961. The book was
inspired by the “Lone Woman of San Nicolas,” an Indian woman who was left
behind when her tribe abandoned San Nicolas Island. After living alone for many
years, the woman was brought to the mainland by the padres of the Santa Barbara
Mission. Island of the Blue Dolphins is
roughly based on the story she told the padre.
The
main character of the book is Karana, a young Indian girl whose father is chief
of the village on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. When Aleut hunters come from
the North to hunt sea otter near the island, Karana’s father cautiously agrees
to allow them to hunt the otters in exchange for an equal exchange of trade
goods. After gathering the otter, the Aleuts attempt to cheat the Indians and
sail away without paying the promised amount of goods. A battle ensues, in
which Karana’s father and most of the village’s men are killed. Life is hard on
the island after the battle. Without the men, women have to assume much of the
workload. In addition, fear of the Aleut’s return and sorrow for lost loved
ones haunt the days of the Indians who survived. The elderly chief who was
appointed to replace Karana’s father undertakes a long journey across the sea
to try to reach the mainland and find a better life for his people. Amazingly,
he succeeds and sends a ship back for the Indian tribe to come join him on the
mainland. Because a storm is brewing, the ship’s captain is eager to depart and
accidentally leaves Karana’s young brother Ramo on the island. Due to the
inclement weather, the captain refuses to turn back, and Karana flings herself
into the water and swims back to the island.
Karana
and Ramo begin to formulate a plan for surviving on the island until the ship
returns to get them. A pack of wild dogs has already destroyed most of the
village’s food that was left behind, so the brother and sister work together to
gather more food. Just a few days after the boat left, the young brother leaves
by himself to climb down and get one of the canoes left behind by the village’s
men. Although Karana is worried when she finds him gone, she waits to try to
allow him more responsibility to provide for them. When Ramo has not returned
by that afternoon, she goes in search of him and finds that the pack of wild
dogs had surrounded and killed him. In her grief, she determines that she will
kill the wild dogs for killing her brother. She is especially determined to
kill the leader, a dog left behind the Aleuts. Karana burns the remaining
buildings on the island and moves her belongings to a rock on the headland that
is high enough to be protected from the wild dogs. For the first year, Karana
waits here for the ship to return for her.
After
the first summer passes without any sign of a returning ship, Karana attempts
to make the journey across the sea in a canoe, but leaks in the canoe force her
to turn back for survival. Her failed attempt to leave the island convinces
Karana that she needs to make herself a secure shelter to live in for whatever
time is left before the ship’s return. She uses kelp and whale ribs to build
herself a home to protect herself from the storms and from the wild dogs. At
this point, Karana begins to make herself weapons, a responsibility strictly
reserved for the men in the tribe. With those concerns taken care of, Karana
begins her plan to kill the wild dogs. After killing several dogs and severely
wounding the leader, Karana cannot bring herself to kill the leader and instead
nurses him back to health. She names the dog Rontu, and he becomes her faithful
companion. Karana continues to befriend and name many of the animals on the
island, enjoying a kinship with them that she misses having with people. Once
during her time on the island the Aleuts return. Immediately suspicious, Karana
hides her presence on the island, easily evading the men. But an Aleut girl
finds her hiding place and befriends Karana; this friendship reminds Karana of
the human companionship she misses so much. Several years later, when another
ship comes to her island, Karana is ready to leave with them and live among
people again. Eventually Karana reaches the Mission Santa Barbara and learns
from Father Gonzales that the ship that came from her island had sunk. The book
concludes as Karana finds out the reason no one had ever come back for her. She
had not been forgotten or abandoned; there were simply no other ships in that
area that could make the journey to the island.
Gender/Age
Interest for This Novel
Island of the Blue
Dolphins would
attract girls more than boys simply because the main character is a girl. The
book features a very small cast of characters and a simple storyline. Girls
would also be especially interested in the book’s exploration of Karana’s
feelings. Karana struggles internally as well as externally, dealing with emotions
such as desperation, contentment, loneliness, and longing. Boys might be bored
by reading about Karana’s internal thought processes and emotions during her
adventure. However, boys and girls would both enjoy reading about Karana’s
external struggles to survive the dangers of injuries, storms, animals, and
starvation. Karana’s independence and survival do make this story somewhat like
Robinson Crusoe, Karana’s self-sufficiency
in the exotic island setting would probably make this story interesting to boys
as well. Still, the book does move fairly slowly and concentrate on Karana’s
thoughts a great deal; for many readers, this will not be an extremely gripping
or exciting book.
Scholastic.com
suggests that this book is at an appropriate reading level for eleven to
thirteen-year-olds with a Lexile rating of 1000L. Short chapters and simple
prose make this book quite easy to read, probably best-suited for young
adolescents in upper elementary school or early junior high. Young adolescents
would understand Karana’s feelings and appreciate seeing her journey to
independence. The adventure of the story would keep them interested, as would
the diverse group of animal friends that Karana gathers. The book gives readers
a chance to experience growing up in a different location under different
circumstances. Young adolescents would enjoy this story of a young adolescent
adapting to a difficult situation, as Karana struggles with emotions and
decisions similar to their own despite her unique setting.
Using This Book as
a Tool for Developing Mature Readers
This
book deals extensively with the development tasks necessary for adolescents as
they transition into adult life. One task Karana deals with is developing
independence from parents. Even before the book begins, Karana has lost her
mother. As a result, she and her sister have had to take over many tasks to
take care of the family. That independence just continues to grow throughout
the book. After Karana’s father dies, she and her sister struggle to take care
of themselves and their little brother. Karana takes responsibility for her
brother and leaps into the sea to prevent his being left alone on the island.
After her brother is killed, Karana must learn to be independent and take
responsibility for her own actions and welfare. She must learn new abilities
and be proactive to care for herself because there is no one else to turn to
for help. Although most students will not be left completely alone like this,
they should learn to take responsibility for their own actions and needs as
they mature and become adults. Karana can be a good role model of taking care
of what needs to be done, even when she’s completely alone.
Another
task the book deals with is discovering one’s gender role. This task is
particularly confusing for Karana. She has been taught by her tribe that women
must not make weapons and do certain other tasks. But no men are present to do
these necessary tasks for Karana. In order to take care of herself, Karana
chooses to violate typical gender roles and assume tasks normally done by men
in her society. This book gives good guidance about gender roles because it
teaches to take responsibility for what needs to be done. If there is no one
else to do a necessary job, students should learn to just do it themselves,
regardless of whether it would be considered “men’s” or “women’s” work.
This
book deals very briefly with the task of developing relationships with the
opposite gender. Karana’s sister Ulape is older than she, and early scenes of
the book show a lively bickering between Ulape and a boy she is interested in. Later,
when Karana is alone on the island, Karana muses to herself that she would have
been married by now and starting her own family if she had not been left behind.
Finally, when she leaves the island, Karana marks herself to signify that she
is a single girl, an indication that she is ready to be courted and start a
family. This book only briefly addresses this developmental task because Karana
is alone on the island for most of the book. Ulape and Karana both manifest a
natural interest in getting married, a natural progression that most
adolescents will experience. The book portrays this interest realistically as a
natural part of becoming an adult.
The
most significant developmental task for Karana is the development of good
relationships with her peers. Because she is completely alone on the island,
Karana develops a defiant, independent attitude. When visitors and hunters
first come to her island, she hides from them and distrusts their intentions.
Karana begins to realize her need for companionship as a result of her
friendship with Rontu. When the Aleut hunters return to the island, Karana
still hides. But an Aleut girl finds Karana and tries to communicate with her,
slowly breaking down Karana’s defiance. The two become good friends as they
exchange gifts and try to understand each other’s languages. After the Aleuts’
departure, Karana misses the friendship and begins to feel discontent with her lonely
life. This attitude leads to her welcoming the next ship that visits the island
and leaving her island behind. The book gives very good guidance for this
developmental task, especially as teenagers are going through periods of
rebellion and independence. Karana’s story and emotions vividly illustrate that
every person has an inherent need for companionship. Reading this book could
encourage adolescents to seek out friends and appreciate the relationships they
have.
Potential Issues
with This Book
Very
few issues arise in this book. Because the book is written from Karana’s
perspective, much time is spent exploring her emotions and needs. One minor
problem would be the violence and slaughter depicted in the early chapters. The
writing is not graphic, however, and the book could be integrated with history
to further explain what was going on. Another possible problem could be a slight leaning toward environmentalism. By the end of the book, Karana refuses to kill any animals and feigns ignorance to protect them from hunters. She views the animals as her friends and treats them like humans. This issue is very minor. Realistically, her devotion to her animals is much like a person’s devotion to their pets; however, she does generalize it to all animals regardless of whether she is friends with them.
To
summarize, a few minor potential problems can be found in the book, but nothing
that should prevent children from reading this book.
Recommendation
Due
to the lack of objectionable material, Island
of the Blue Dolphins could easily be taught to the whole class or
integrated with other classes. I would recommend introducing this book in fifth
or sixth grade. Younger elementary students might also enjoy this book if the
teacher read a chapter aloud each day in class. By junior high, I think that
students would be more engaged by reading other novels with deeper themes and
more vivid stories.
Resources for
Teaching or Research on the Novel
http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=9739
This
website contains multiple lesson plans for teaching Island of the Blue Dolphins. It also has a written interview with
the author.
This
website contains a link to a document with very valuable activities. It has
worksheets and activities to explore the topics of loneliness, animal rights,
endangered species, bravery, gender roles, and maps.
This
website has plans and ideas for using journals, skits, story maps, and other
sources to teach Island of the Blue
Dolphins.
This
website has a good summary of the book with recommended age levels.
This
website has many good resources for teaching a variety of aspects of this
novel. It includes biographies, geographies, puzzles, and activities.
This
interactive website encourages students to explore information about the story
and about the island. The goal is to answer the questions in the final quiz and
help Karana get off the island.
This
link contains a test for assessing students’ knowledge of the book.
This
source contains information on teaching literary techniques such as mood and
setting are used in the novel Island of
the Blue Dolphins.
Strategies for
Teaching Reading with This Novel
Summaries-Children could be
encouraged to choose a word, a phrase, or a sentence from each chapter to
represent the main idea in that chapter. This activity could help them keep the
ideas organized as they move through the book.
Journal-Children could
keep a journal as they read this book. They would write about the topic of bravery,
discussing how Karana shows bravery and how they might have reacted in the same
situations.
Maps-Students can use
the following website to create character maps, plot maps, resolution maps, and
setting maps.
Person-Students can
discuss how using first person affects the storyline of this book. They can
then write their own story in first person.
Works Cited
Carmichael,
Sue. Examining island of the blue
dolphins through a literary lens. Read Write Think, n.d. Web. 7 April 2015.
“Island
of the Blue Dolphins.” Scholastic, n.d.
Web. 7 April 2015.
Story Mapping. Read Write Think, n.d. Web. 7 April
2015.
