What happened in Chapter 7 of island of the Blue Dolphin?

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Chapter 7

  • The villagers pack all of their things: Karana fills two baskets with her needles, knife, pots, and a box for her earrings. Ulape, the vainer of the two sisters, brings many earrings.
  • Ulape puts a thin smear of blue clay across her nose to indicate that she's unmarried. Nanko fusses at her to hurry up, and she teases him. Karana tells us that her sister is in love with Nanko. Yeah, we already figured that one out.
  • As the villagers head for the ship, Ramo runs to his sister to tell her he needs to go back for his fishing spear. She tells him not to.
  • At the beach, all of the men have been rowed to the ship using smaller boats. Karana asks Nanko about her brother Ramo, and Nanko says that Ramo is on the ship.
  • Karana and Ulape arrive on the ship, but once on board, Karana still can't find Ramo. Nanko repeats what he says on the beach until Ulape points back at the island, and sees their brother. Ramo has been left behind.
  • Karana begs Chief Matasaip to turn back for her brother. When it's clear that he won't, Karana jumps from the ship, into the ocean, and swims back to shore.
  • Karana thought she would be mad but is so happy to see her brother that she just hugs him when she gets to shore.  She tells him that she is sure the ship will come back for them. She's only angry that she ruined her pretty yucca skirt on the swim back to shore.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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What happened in Chapter 7 of island of the Blue Dolphin?

What happened in chapter 8 Island of the Blue Dolphins?

Karana finds her brother lying on the ground. She discovers that a pack of wild dogs has killed Ramo. She carries his body back to the village and vows to kill the wild dogs to avenge her brother's death.

What happened in chapter 6 of Island of the Blue Dolphins?

A month after Kimki paddled away from the island, the villagers begin to watch for his return. They search the sea day and night, but there is no sign of the returning chief. Fresh water springs around the island provide water for Ghalas-at, but the villagers are worried that the water might run low.

What happens in island of the Blue Dolphin?

This book is a true story about a 12 year old girl called Karana who is stranded on an island and has to work out how to survive. Her main enemies on the island are the wild dogs and she lives in fear of the Aleuts (a tribe who arrive on the island to hunt seals).

Why did Karana jump off the ship?

Karana wanted to go with them, but when she discovered that her little brother had been left on the island, she jumped off the ship to return to him.