Island of the Blue Dolphins. Scott O’Dell.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

O’Dell, Scott. 1960. Island of the Blue Dolphins. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0440439884.

PLOT SUMMARY

As everyone in Karana’s tribe is leaving the island to join their chief in a new land, she realizes her little brother has been left behind. She jumps out of the boat and swims back to the island. They live there alone until her brother is killed by a pack of wild dogs. After his death she is very lonely and tries to sail after her family, only to return to the island when the boat begins to leak. Over time she makes friends with a variety of animals, she builds a house, gathers food, makes canoes and even weapons to eradicate the dogs that threaten to kill her too. She is lonely. As the months turn into years she prepares to go with the next ship that lands on the island but that is a long time to come. Many things happen while she grows older on the island. This well crafted story is a unique and enchanting adventure.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Karana’s story takes place on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California. The island is shaped like a big fish sunning itself on the ocean. The village is called Ghalas-at and Karana was possibly the last member of the Nicoleño tribe. Unlike many contemporary novels of the time, Island of the Blue Dolphins portrays a strong female protagonist. The representation of tribal life, written by a non-native in 1960, is admirable; none of the crazy prejudice against Natives during that era is present in O’Dell’s writing. As a reader I appreciate how he pays honor to the ways of her tribe and the traditions that help her thrive after everyone leaves.

The first person narrative follows her experiences on the island across 20+ years. As Karana matures, O’Dell skillfully includes subtle changes in her perception, emotions, and thoughts as each experience gives shape to her story. After losing her brother to the dogs, she goes through stages of loneliness, loss, determination, and peace. She develops a family of animal friends she recued and tamed: an orphaned otter, two birds taken from their nest, and even the wild dog she initially sought to destroy.. She thinks in terms of rocks, sand, sea, wind which brings the reader further into her world. Eventually she realizes how deep her loneliness has rooted and she decides to join the next ship that lands on her island. Luckily the very next ship is actually looking to rescue her (but she doesn’t know that, so neither does the reader.) The sailors seem to expect her though and welcome her and her animals. The story ends as she sails away from the island for the last time, already missing her quiet life and happy times.

The sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins picks up on the main land (California) and is the story of her niece, Zia. … both sad and happy times come for Karana. She reunites with some of her family but is never quite comfortable among people. Plot twists galore, but mostly more of the same, O’Dell published Zia some sixteen years later. If you liked the first, you’ll like the second.

For me, I especially enjoyed this book as a young girl dreaming of a wild life among the animals… which one of us didn’t go through that phase! As an adult, the book was slow, reminding me of Jean Auel’s series, Earth’s Children. I am especially fascinated (now) by the history of the actual woman, Juana Maria; I couldn’t help but snoop around a little and find out about her:

Juana Maria (died October 18, 1853), better known to history as "The Lone Woman of San Nicolas" (her Indian name is unknown), was a Native American woman who was the last surviving member of her tribe, the Nicoleño. She lived alone on San Nicolas Island from 1835 until her discovery in 1853. Just seven weeks after arriving on the mainland, Juana Maria died. In that time she danced and entertained her many visitors. The story of Juana Maria had captured the imagination of many, and still does. Most of the evidence of her life is gone and her story is pieced together from several accounts. Juana Maria's water basket, clothing and various artifacts, including bone needles which had been brought back from the island, were part of the collections of the California Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, they were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Her cormorant feather dress was apparently sent to the Vatican, but it appears to have been lost.

From what I’ve learned researching Juana Maria on the web, Scott O’Dell minimized the gruesome massacre of her tribe, and portrayed her infant son as her young brother to make the novel more appealing to a young audience. He added to the story many fantastical details to bring her legend to life. He did a wonderful job of writing a story based on the Lost Woman of San Nicolas Island, but there is more to the history then he lets on. Several websites that have worked to accurately connect the different legends and histories that tell her story.

http://www.missionscalifornia.com/stories/lone-woman-san-nicolas-island.html

Joe Robinson. "Marooned - 18 Years of Solitude". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 1, 2009.

http://www.nativevillage.org/Messages%20from%20the%20People/Lone%20Woman%20of%20San%20Nicolas%20Island.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juana_Maria

She was buried in a unmarked grave in Santa Barbara, only seven weeks after she arrived to the mainland. In 1928 the Daughters of the American Revolution installed a plaque commemorating her.

REVIEW EXCERPT

"A haunting and unusual story based on the fact that in the early 1800s an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone on a rocky island far off the coast of California ... A quiet acceptance of fate characterizes her ordeal." School Library Journal, Starred


CONNECTIONS

This is definitely a book for older students, even adult book clubs. There are many possible conversations that can be born from these pages, depending on your audience.
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/dolphin/
This website has activities and educational games exploring the world of San Nicolas Island. I like how they’ve set up the learning interaction here. Children will find something to connect with.

O’Dell wrote a sequel, Zia, a sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins. It was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1976, sixteen years after the publication of the first novel.

Discuss with the group what Karana's life would have been like after she left the island. Remind students that she didn't speak English or Spanish and that she had been alone for nearly 20 years. Have students write about what they think happened to Karana when she reached California (Mid 1800’s). Was she happy? Did she miss the quiet of the island? How did she communicate and make new friends?

A film version of Island of the Blue Dolphins was released in 1963. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058241/