Island of the Blue Dolphins Themes

Island of the Blue Dolphins tells the story of 12-year-old Karana, a member of the Nicoleño tribe living on the Island of the Blue Dolphins—San Nicolas Island—off the coast of California. Life is idyllic on the small island until a ship comes to take most of Karana’s tribe away—and she and her six-year-old brother, Ramo, end up stranded there. When Ramo dies a day later, Karana finds herself totally alone. Over the next…

Over the course of her 18 years spent alone on the Island of the Blue Dolphins, Karana—who’s stranded on the island at age 12, after white men take the rest of her tribe away—goes back and forth between enjoying her solitude and hating it. Her solitude (or, at least, not having to function as part of a tribe) gives her the freedom to explore her home, pursue things that interest her (such as hunting…

Twelve-year-old Karana has grown up in a society with very strict gender roles. Men are tasked with being leaders, hunting, and fishing; women should keep house, attend to children, and gather foods like roots. Karana’s tribe has functioned well for centuries by adhering to these gender roles. After Aleut otter hunters kill more than half the men, however, her tribe realizes that with fewer men around to hunt and fish, things will have to change…

Karana’s tribe has faced conflict with Russian and Aleut otter hunters coming to the Island of the Blue Dolphins before—and, when a Russian ship arrives at the beginning of the novel bringing more hunters, Karana’s tribe rightfully fears the worst. After the hunters spend months killing otter, Karana’s father and the Russian Captain Orlov argue over payment for the pelts; a fight breaks out and the Aleuts end up killing two-thirds of the men…