The story “Island of the Blue Dolphins” talks about a Native American girl Karana who was left in the natural world of San Nicolas Island trying to survive, to find companions, and hoping that the ship who took her people away, which she called “The White Men’s ship”, could return. At first Karana was having a peaceful life with her village. One day some Russians came and killed her family. Then some Spanish people came and took her family to the mainland. She suddenly realized that her brother was still on the island, and, regardless of her village’s restraints, jumped into the ocean to travel back to her brother. However, her brother was killed later by the wild dogs. She was forced to learn to survive by herself and to make tools to be self-sufficient. She needed to ignore her village’s customs in order to survive. She killed almost all of the pack, leaving the leader to take home. She would not let go of the arrow to kill the dog. She later made many more animal friends, only to find out that Rontu, the dog, had died. She caught another dog. Aleuts came again another spring. This time they also hunted otters, but Karana found an Aleut girl. They spent many days pointing out things in their language. Shortly after that, she left the island by herself.
Being able to think and live independently is the first priority for survival, no matter what their genders are. Traditional stereotypes view men as the main resource for maintaining the family needs. But when it comes to dire situations, women need to learn to be independent in order to live. In custom at Karana’s village, men were often conceived as the ones who do the hunting, making canoes, and other rough work while women were staying at home, caring for children and housework. When the Aleuts slain most of the men in the village, women began to take over the old tasks of men in order to survive. “The women, who were never asked to do more than stay at home, cook food, and make clothing, now must take the place of the men and face the dangers which abound beyond the village.” Similarly, when Karana was left alone on the island, she made a bow and arrow to protect herself, built a shelter, and learned how to find food. When 12-year-old Karana was left on the island, she was forced to be independent in order to survive in the wilderness while no one was with her. To live, Karana learned to construct her own house to stay and store the food, made her own weapons to defend herself from external threats, and found her own food by hunting animals and harvesting seeds. She, a young female, basically took over all the survival work that was once done by the men of the tribe. As time went by, Karana developed strong independence and extraordinary survival skills. She constantly taught herself new ways in which she did not learn from her village to make surviving on the island easier. It is not a principle that women should always depend on men. In fact, women have the ability to do anything. Women just need to learn to live and think independently for survival in order to gain a unique perspective on the role of women in society.
Redemption appears when an attacker wants to make a change for his previous mistake, hoping to obtain forgiveness from the victim whom he has harmed, which in turn, trust might be developed between the two people. When the victim forgives the attacker by showing his compassion and understanding toward the attacker, his forgiveness promotes the attacker to redeem himself. When Karana shot an arrow into the dog’s chest and walked over, she had mixed feelings about whether to kill it or not. “Why I did not send the arrow I cannot say. I stood on the rock with the bow pulled back and my hand would not let it go.” At last, Karana cleaned its wound, gave it food and water, and provided shelter for him to stay. On the fourth day contributing to the dog, the dog’s attitude changed, from“ His yellow eyes followed me wherever I moved….watching me with his yellow eyes that were very narrow and slanted up at the corners.” to “He looked first at the fish I carried and then at me and moved his tail.” Slowly, the feeling of trust was established between the dog and Karana. Part of Karana certainly wanted to kill the dog as revenge for her brother while another part of her wanted to rescue the dog. Eventually, Karana rescued the dog. This action explains Karana forgave the dog by doing something good toward the dog. Karana’s forgiveness triggered the dog’s redemption. Her kindness made the dog reflect on his previous wrongness and want to make amends to make up for what he harmed before. The dog’s attitude changed from being hostile and suspicious to trusting Karana and relying on her. On the fourth day of contribution, Rontu first looked at the food handed by Karana and wagged his tail, showing appreciation and trust toward Karana. The trust between Karana and the dog had been unconsciously developed by the dog regarding that Karana is her master and Karana treated the dog as her family. The victim’s forgiveness leads the attackers to realize what they did before was wrong and want to earn their own redemption. The interaction of the victim and the attackers, based on forgiveness and redemption, promotes trust and loyalty toward each other.
All kinds of people at one point would have the feeling of loneliness caused by unexpected events., but only with brighter attitudes and positive actions could help them find companionship. Everyone is different so the loneliness people experience and how they handle the loneliness would be different. Karana was originally left on the island with her brother alive. But Karana’s brother was killed by the wild dogs. She was lonely after that time until she took Rontu home as her pet. She often talked to him about the natural world, but Rontu didn’t respond. Karana said “I talked to him often, using these words and others and any that he did not understand, just as though I were talking to one of my people.” But even then, her loneliness was not fulfilled until the Aleuts came again, only for more otters. She met Tutok, an Aleut girl among the hunters, who was also Rontu’s previous owner. Karana and Tutok often traded words with each other and laughed together. When Tutok left, Karana described “But suddenly as I thought of Tutok, the island seemed very quiet.” When Karana was with her brother, she did not have the feeling of loneliness because she had the companionship of her brother. Later 12-year-old Karana was stranded on the island by herself. At that time, she had no family members with her. Although it seems that Karana owns the spacious tropical island, she felt very lonely. To change the lonely state, one needs to change the attitude and take action, just like what Karana did. Karana makes a good choice by not killing the dog. In return, she gets a companion for life. But if she hadn’t forgiven the dog and killed it, she would be back to the original, being alone by herself. Loneliness could occur to anyone no matter the difference in age, family background, or living condition. To jump out of the isolated feelings and find companionship, people should try to see things from a brighter side and take more positive actions.
The island of the Blue Dolphins is a moving and unforgettable story. While I, as a reader, sense many messages the author tries to send, there are three main themes standing out in my mind: Independence and gender, forgiveness and redemption, and loneliness and companionship. The story of Karana genuinely reflects on the practical life. Women, just like men, could do anything they would like to do as long as they could live and think independently, even during the hardship. People, even though still in the mood of hatred, should try to forgive others who do harmful things by showing some compassion. It is very hard to take such a step but only doing so could not only make others find their redemption and correct their mistakes but also People, even though still in the mood of hatred, should try to forgive others who do harmful things by showing compassion. It is unbelievable hard to take such difficult step, but only doing so could not only make others to fin their own redemption and correct their previous mistakes but also they can rescue themselves from the sadness and live in a new life. Sometimes people would feel lonely, no matter what age they are, what the family background is, or where they live. Definitely, people want to find a companion with another human being or an animal to fill that lonely spot in their heart, feeling the connections and belongings to fulfill the basic human needs. But only when people change their attitudes and take some positive action can they develop true companionship.
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