Who was Karana in Island of the Blue Dolphins?

Karana is the only character that plays a major role in Island of the Blue Dolphins. For most of the novel, she is the only human being on Ghalas- at. Living alone on Ghalas-at tests her resilience, and as the story progresses, Karana grows through her experiences into harmony with herself and the world around her.

On of the most important things Karana finds on her island is a capacity for understanding and forgiveness. These come mainly through her need for companionship. By the end of chapter eight, Karana has two sworn enemies: the Aleutsand the wild dogs. When the wild dogs kill Ramo, Karana swears to herself that one day she will kill them all. Although she is motivated partially by a desire protect her own safety, there is a vindictive air to her vow. When she is on the verge of achieving this goal, however, and has the opportunity to finish off the leader of the wild dogs, she does not take it. Instead she brings the pack leader (whom she later names Rontu) back to her house and nurses him back to health. Though she admits she does not understand her own actions, she is later glad of them, for Rontu becomes Karana'a close friend and companion in a world where she is otherwise alone. In the same way, Karana repeats over and over that the Aleuts are her enemies, and that she is afraid what will happen to her if they find her on the island. However, when Karana is surprised by the Aleut girl, Tutok near her house, she does not attack, though she is in easy reach of her spear. Again, Karana does not know what stayed her hand, and is initially distrustful of Tutok, but eventually Tutok, like Rontu, becomes Karana's friend. Both of these cases highlight not only Karana's need for companionship, but also her ability to forgive and to see past the labels of those around her. She gave Rontu and Tutok a chance in spite of her fear, and her reward was friendship.

Another important aspect of Karana is her resilience. Though the white men's ship doesn't return for her for eighteen years, and though her efforts to establish a comfortable life on the island are repeatedly thwarted, she never shows signs of despair. Karana is often sad, as when her brother was killed, or frightened, as when she was injured by the sea elephant and stalked by wild dogs, but she never gives up. She is always looking ahead to her next task on the island.

Because Karana's story spans eighteen years, we are able to watch her personal and moral growth. As the only human on the island of he blue dolphins, Karana is left to develop her own moral code. We know that Karana cares deeply for others even at the very beginning of the novel, as is demonstrated when she plunges into the sea to go back to the island for her brother. Later, she is faced with different types of decisions. Faced with the necessity of hunting and defending herself from the wild dogs, Karana need to make weapons, something that the laws of her tribe forbid women to do. The stories say that weapons made by women will break just when one needs them most. After long deliberation, however, Karana decides to make a set of weapons for herself, and soon realizes that the old tales were false. Later in the novel, after Karana has befriended a number of the animals of the island, she decides for herself that she will never again kill any of these animals. This is a significant decision, because she is dependant on a number of these animals for material. However, she considers animals to be very much like people, even though they do not talk. She knows that her tribesmen would consider her resolution ridiculous, but her animal friends are so important to her that she cannot bear to kill them.

The protagonist of the novel, Karana is stranded on the Island of the Blue Dolphins, where she grew up, at age 12. When readers meet Karana, she’s responsible, dedicated, and caring. She and her older sister, Ulape, care for their younger brother, Ramo, since their mother is dead. Her father is Chief Chowig, the tribe’s chief. Karana is distraught when Captain Orlov and the Aleut otter hunters kill two-thirds of the tribe’s men, including her father. So, the following spring, when a different ship comes, she’s happy to leave the island with the rest of her tribe. But she demonstrates her loyalty to her family by leaping off of the ship to return to the island for Ramo, who was accidentally left behind. When wild dogs kill Ramo the next day, Karana finds herself totally alone. Over the next few years, Karana makes a home and a life for herself on the island. Though her tribe forbids women from making weapons, Karana learns to make useable bows, arrows, spears, and knives with which to defend herself and hunt. She revamps a canoe so it’s small enough for her to handle by herself, and the year after she’s stranded, she befriends one of the wild dogs, Rontu. Karana lives her life according to the seasons, spending her springs, summers, and falls gathering abalones in preparation for winter, and in winter making weapons and other items at home. When the Aleuts return to hunt otter around the island, Karana hides. But Karana also befriends Tutok, an Aleut girl who comes with the hunting expedition. After Tutok leaves, Karana becomes increasingly lonely. She develops friendships with a number of creatures and ultimately decides to stop killing animals—all animals, she decides, are potential friends. Before coming to this conclusion, she makes herself a skirt of cormorant skins and feathers, from cormorants she shot herself. Karana finally leaves the island 18 years after she was stranded, when Catholic missionaries from the mainland return for her. She’s happy to go, as she’s desperate to be around humans again. Karana takes her second dog, Rontu-Aru, with her, in addition to several songbirds.

Karana Quotes in Island of the Blue Dolphins

The Island of the Blue Dolphins quotes below are all either spoken by Karana or refer to Karana. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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Behind in the boat stood a tall man with a yellow beard. I had never seen a Russian before, but my father had told me about them, and I wondered, seeing the way he stood with his feet set apart and his fists on his hips and looked at the little harbor as though it already belonged to him, if he were one of those men from the north whom our people feared. I was certain of it when the boat slid into the shore and he jumped out, shouting as he did so.

Page Number and Citation: 4

Explanation and Analysis:

“The Aleuts come from a country far to the north,” he said. “Their ways are not ours nor is their language. They have come to take otter and to give us our share in many goods which they have and which we can use. In this way we shall profit. But we shall not profit if we try to befriend them. They are people who do not understand friendship.”

Page Number and Citation: 9-10

Explanation and Analysis:

Many of our tribe went to the cliff each night to count the number killed during the day. They counted the dead otter and thought of the beads and other things that each pelt meant. But I never went to the cove and whenever I saw the hunters with their long spears skimming over the water, I was angry, for these animals were my friends. It was fun to see them playing or sunning themselves among the kelp. It was more fun than the thought of beads to wear around my neck.

Page Number and Citation: 15

Explanation and Analysis:

“Most of those who snared fowl and found fish in the deep water and built canoes are gone. The women, who were never asked to do more than stay at home, cook food, and make clothing, must now take the place of the men and face the dangers which abound beyond the village. There will be grumbling in Ghalas-at because of this. There will be shirkers. These will be punished, for without the help of all, all must perish.”

Page Number and Citation: 25

Explanation and Analysis:

During this time other women were gathering the scarlet apples that grow on the cactus bushes and are called tunas. Fish were caught and many birds were netted. So hard did the women work that we really fared better than before when the hunting was done by men.

Life in the village should have been peaceful, but it was not. The men said that the women had taken the tasks that rightfully were theirs and now that they had become hunters, the men looked down upon them.

Page Number and Citation: 26

Explanation and Analysis:

As I lay there I wondered what would happen to me if I went against the law of our tribe, which forbade the making of weapons by women—if I did not think of it at all and made those things which I must have to protect myself.

Would the four winds blow in from the four directions of the world and smother me as I made the weapons? Or would the earth tremble, as many said, and bury me beneath its falling rocks? Or, as others said, would the sea rise over the island in a terrible flood? Would the weapons break in my hands at the moment when my life was in danger, which is what my father had said?

Page Number and Citation: 51-52

Explanation and Analysis:

It was a pleasant place to stay, there on the headland. The stars were bright overhead and I lay and counted the ones that I knew and gave names to the many that I did not know.

In the morning the gulls flew out from their nests in the crevices of the cliff. They circled down to the tide pools where they stood first on one leg and then the other, splashing water over themselves and combing their feathers with curved beaks. Then they flew off down the shore to look for food. Beyond the kelp beds pelicans were already hunting, soaring high over the clear water, diving straight down, if they sighted a fish, to strike the sea with a great splash that I could hear.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 54

Explanation and Analysis:

The thought of being alone on the island while so many suns rose from the sea and went slowly back into the sea filled my heart with loneliness. I had not felt so lonely before because I was sure that the ship would return as Matasaip had said it would. Now my hopes were dead. Now I was really alone. I could not eat much, nor could I sleep without dreaming terrible dreams.

Page Number and Citation: 56-57

Explanation and Analysis:

I felt as if I had been gone a long time as I stood there looking down from the high rock. I was happy to be home. Everything that I saw—the otter playing in the kelp, the rings of foam around the rocks that guarded the harbor, the gulls flying, the tides moving past the sandspit—filled me with happiness.

Page Number and Citation: 65

Explanation and Analysis:

I looked out at the blue water stretching away and all the fear I had felt during the time of the voyage came back to me. On the morning I first sighted the island and it had seemed like a great fish sunning itself, I thought that someday I would make the canoe over and go out once more to look for the country that lay beyond the ocean. Now I knew that I would never go out again.

The Island of the Blue Dolphins was my home; I had no other. It would be my home until the white men returned in their ship.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 66

Explanation and Analysis:

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. The big dog lay there and did not move and this may be the reason. If he had gotten up I would have killed him. I stood there for a long time looking down at him and then I climbed off the rocks.

Page Number and Citation: 91

Explanation and Analysis:

I was not sure what I would do if the Aleuts came. I could hide in the cave which I had stored with food and water, for it was surrounded by thick brush and the mouth of the ravine could only be reached from the sea. The Aleuts had not used the spring and did not know about it because there was another one closer to where they had camped. But they might come upon the cave by chance and then I must be ready to flee.

For this reason I worked on the canoe I had abandoned on the spit.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 95

Explanation and Analysis:

On the first day of spring I went down to Coral Cove with my new spear. I knew it was spring because that morning at dawn the sky was filled with flocks of darting birds. They were small and black and came only at this time of year. They came out of the south and stayed for two suns, hunting food in the ravines, and then flew off in one great flight toward the north.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 102

Explanation and Analysis:

Often I would put on the skirt and the sandals and walk along the cliff with Rontu. Sometimes I made a wreath of flowers and fastened it in my hair. After the Aleuts had killed our men at Coral Cove, all the women of our tribe had singed their hair short as a sign of mourning. I had singed mine, too, with a faggot, but now it had grown long again and came to my waist. I parted it and let it fall down my back, except when I wore a wreath. Then I made braids and fastened them with long whalebone pins.

I also made a wreath for Rontu’s neck, which he did not like. Together we would walk along the cliff looking at the sea, and though the white men’s ship did not return that spring, it was a happy time. The air smelled of flowers and birds sang everywhere.

Page Number and Citation: 110-11

Explanation and Analysis:

The star passed out of sight and another took its place. The tide lifted the canoe higher in the room, and as the water lapped against the walls it sounded like the soft music of a flute. It played many tunes through the long night and I slept little, watching the stars change. I knew that the skeleton who sat on the ledge playing his flute was one of my ancestors, and the others with the glittering eyes, though only images, were too, but still I was sleepless and afraid.

Page Number and Citation: 123-24

Explanation and Analysis:

It was dark in the cave, even when the sun was high, so I burned the small fish I had stored. By their light I began to make a cormorant skirt, working every day on it. The ten skins I had taken at Tall Rock were now dry and in condition to sew. All of them were from male cormorants whose feathers are thicker than those of the females and much glossier. The skirt of yucca fibers was simple to make. I wanted this one to be better, so I cut the skins carefully and sewed them with great care.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 130

Explanation and Analysis:

I watched her go through the brush. I stood for a long time listening to her footsteps, until I could hear them no more, and then I went to the headland and brought the baskets back to the cave.

Tutok came again the next day. We sat on the rock in the bright sun, trading words and laughing. The sun went fast in the sky. The time came soon when she had to leave, but she returned on the day that followed. It was on this day, when she was leaving, that I told her my secret name.

“Karana,” I said, pointing to myself.

Page Number and Citation: 137

Explanation and Analysis:

At first, knowing that I could now leave the cave and move back into my house on the headland, I was happy. But as I stood there on the high rock looking down at the deserted harbor and the empty sea, I began to think of Tutok. I thought of all the times we had sat in the sun together. I could hear her voice and see her black eyes squinting closed when she laughed.

Below me, Rontu was running along the cliff, barking at the screaming gulls. Pelicans were chattering as they fished the blue water. Far off I could hear the bellow of a sea elephant. But suddenly, as I thought of Tutok, the island seemed very quiet.

Page Number and Citation: 139-40

Explanation and Analysis:

On sunny days I would wear them with my cormorant dress and the necklace, and walk along the cliff with Rontu.

I often thought of Tutok, but on these days especially I would look off into the north and wish that she were here to see me. I could hear her talking in her strange language and I would make up things to say to her and things for her to say to me.

Page Number and Citation: 144

Explanation and Analysis:

Ulape would have laughed at me, and others would have laughed, too—my father most of all. Yet this is the way I felt about the animals who had become my friends and those who were not, but in time could be. If Ulape and my father had come back and laughed, and all the others had come back and laughed, still I would have felt the same way, for animals and birds are like people, too, though they do not talk the same or do the same things. Without them the earth would be an unhappy place.

Page Number and Citation: 149

Explanation and Analysis:

We had many happy times that summer, fishing and going to Tall Rock in our canoe, but more and more now I thought of Tutok and my sister Ulape. Sometimes I would hear their voices in the wind and often, when I was on the sea, in the waves that lapped softly against the canoe.

Page Number and Citation: 157

Explanation and Analysis:

Like two giants they crashed against each other. They rose high in the air, bending first one way and then the other. There was a roar as if great spears were breaking in battle, and in the red light of the sun the spray that flew around them looked like blood.

Slowly the second wave forced the first one backward, rolled slowly over it, and then as a victor drags the vanquished, moved in toward the island.

The wave struck the cliff. It sent long tongues streaming around me so that I could neither see nor hear. The tongues of water licked into all the crevices, dragged at my hand and at my bare feet gripping the ledge. They rose high above me along the face of the rock, up and up, and then spent themselves against the sky and fell back, hissing past me to join the water rushing on toward the cove.

Page Number and Citation: 161

Explanation and Analysis:

Night came, but the earth still rose and fell like a great animal breathing. I could hear rocks tumbling from the cliff, falling down into the sea.

All night as we lay there in the house the earth trembled and rocks fell, yet not the big one on the headland, which would have fallen if those who make the world shake had really been angry with us.

Page Number and Citation: 163

Explanation and Analysis:

I came to the mound where my ancestors had sometimes camped in the summer. I thought of them and of the happy times spent in my house on the headland, of my canoe lying unfinished beside the trail. I thought of many things, but stronger was the wish to be where people lived, to hear their voices and their laughter.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 167-68

Explanation and Analysis:

Then one of the two men who stood behind him spoke to me. His words made the strangest sounds I have ever heard. At first I wanted to laugh, but I bit my tongue.

I shook my head and smiled at him. He spoke again, slowly this time, and though his words sounded the same as before and meant nothing to me, they now seemed sweet. They were the sound of a human voice. There is no sound like this in all the world.

Related Characters: Karana (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 171

Explanation and Analysis:

Karana Character Timeline in Island of the Blue Dolphins

The timeline below shows where the character Karana appears in Island of the Blue Dolphins. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

When Karana first catches sight of the Aleut ship in the distance, it looks like a small... (full context)

...seen a ship before, so he watches it get closer without knowing what it is. Karana hasn’t seen one either—but she’s heard about them, and so she knows what she’s seeing.... (full context)

The Aleut ship has already entered Coral Cove by the time Karana fills her basket. The village already knows about the ship, so the men take their... (full context)

The Russian man shouts for a moment and then switches to Karana’s language. He says he’d like to speak with the villagers, so Karana’s father steps out... (full context)

...he and his men have come to camp on the island and hunt sea otter. Karana’s father says nothing—Aleuts hunted otter once before, and her father remembers what happened. Captain Orlov... (full context)

Karana’s father asks Captain Orlov to agree to half now. The sea surrounding the Island of... (full context)

Karana’s father allows Captain Orlov and the Aleut hunters to camp on higher ground. The Island... (full context)

That night, Karana’s father warns people not to visit the Aleuts. He insists they’re too different to befriend;... (full context)

...night—but in the morning, two Aleuts come to Ghalas-at, demanding a share of the bass. Karana’s father refuses to share. The villagers enjoy the rest of the fish and celebrate that... (full context)

...about a league. The Aleuts hunt otter in the kelp every day. From the cliffs, Karana watches their canoes skim through the water and spears fly at the otter. In the... (full context)

Karana knows her father believes the Aleuts will leave soon—he sent young men to build a... (full context)

...hurries to Coral Cove. The men take their weapons to the beach, and the women—including Karana and Ulape—hide in the brush on the cliff. Karana watches the Aleuts load bundles of... (full context)

Captain Orlov opens the chest and shows Karana’s father several sparkly necklaces. But Karana’s father shakes his head. Captain Orlov insists that there... (full context)

Karana isn’t sure who makes the first move, but a battle breaks out on the beach.... (full context)

The storm rolls in as Ulape and Karana race for the beach. Most of the men are wounded, and their father is dead.... (full context)

...them old. The storm rages for two more days and finally, on the third day, Karana’s tribe buries their dead. They burn the Aleut bodies and spend the next few days... (full context)

...upset—but everyone has to pitch in, or the villagers will die. Kimki assigns everyone jobs. Karana and Ulape are tasked with gathering abalone on the rocks, and Ramo is assigned the... (full context)

...winter is that all those who died at Coral Cove are still haunting the island. Karana remembers her father all the time, and it’s hard to look after Ramo with no... (full context)

...that the Aleuts are here. Matasaip encourages everyone to stay calm and pack only necessities. Karana, however, packs her yucca skirt and her otter cape. She follows the villagers to the... (full context)

Karana and the villagers wait, afraid to start a fire to cook breakfast. Finally, while Ramo... (full context)

The villagers pack their baskets excitedly. Karana packs whalebone needles, an awl, a knife, cooking pots, and a box of jewelry. Ulape... (full context)

...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... (full context)

Karana calls for Ramo; he’s bound to get in the sailors’ way. She can’t find him.... (full context)

A wave pushes Karana down so far that she fears she won’t rise again. Finally, she reaches the surface.... (full context)

Karana and Ramo climb the trail, but the blowing sand makes it hard to see. They... (full context)

Ramo and Karana spend the day gathering food. They find more than enough to eat, but Karana has... (full context)

...doesn’t care if the ship comes back—he likes it better on the island with just Karana. He announces that he’s going to fetch one of the hidden canoes tomorrow so he... (full context)

Even if Ramo is the chief now, Karana has no intention of letting him get a canoe alone. But when she wakes up... (full context)

Karana gathers mussels as she waits, wondering if the ship will actually return for her and... (full context)

Karana carries Ramo home and then scares the dogs off with a club. The dogs’ leader,... (full context)

Karana doesn’t remember much of this time. Many days pass and she only leaves the village... (full context)

It’s still winter and the ship might return any day, so Karana doesn’t bother storing much food. Instead, she makes weapons to protect herself from the dogs... (full context)

It’s low tide. Karana starts to dig small holes in the sand, figuring the storms covered the chest up.... (full context)

Karana forgets all about weapons until, days later, the dogs howl under her rock. She watches... (full context)

Karana needs a sea elephant’s tusk for her spear tip, but she doesn’t have a weapon—or... (full context)

Having weapons makes Karana feel secure, and she’s certain that the dogs will eventually come to the camp. She... (full context)

Now that it’s summer, Karana figures the ship will return for her. She spends most of her time on her... (full context)

The winds are so bad that Karana can’t keep sleeping on her rock. For five days, she sleeps at the bottom of... (full context)

Karana selects the smallest canoe, which is still almost too big for her to handle. Using... (full context)

About halfway through the night, Karana discovers that the canoe is leaking. She bails out the water in the canoe until... (full context)

Karana lets the canoe drift. The thought of going back after working so hard is painful—and... (full context)

Karana wakes up that night when she feels waves at her feet. She’s still too tired... (full context)

The following morning, Karana starts to hunt for a good place to build a house. It needs to be... (full context)

Ultimately, Karana decides on the spot for her house because of the sea elephants. Near the western... (full context)

It rains for the next two days. Karana makes a small shelter and shivers, since she can’t build a fire. When the rains... (full context)

Several years ago, two whales washed up on the sandspit. Karana digs up the whales’ ribs to make her fence. She sets them deep in the... (full context)

...gods were fighting, but now there are just a few. After searching for several days, Karana has enough poles for the house. She finishes her house when the winter is half... (full context)

Karana also makes some cooking utensils at this time. She makes bowls to save the juices... (full context)

Now, it’s time to focus on killing the wild dogs. Karana knows she needs a bigger spear and a bigger bow. She spends weeks searching for... (full context)

Karana barely sleeps the night before she visits the sea elephants. She thinks about the law... (full context)

...all far apart, since they have terrible tempers and are quick to fight each other. Karana studies the six ugly bulls and decides to target the smallest. He’s young and without... (full context)

Karana stands, trying to decide where to aim her first arrow. Bull sea elephants have small... (full context)

When the bulls pause, Karana knows it’d be a good time to shoot the young bull. But she finds that... (full context)

Karana can barely crawl under her fence due to the pain in her leg. Her leg... (full context)

Karana crawls on, leaving her bow and arrows since they’re now too heavy. The ravine wouldn’t... (full context)

Karana’s ancestors used this cave at some point in the past. In addition to cutting figures... (full context)

Finally, when the second house is done and Karana’s leg is better, she returns to the sea elephants. She finds the old bull’s body... (full context)

...the pack. The villagers had planned to get rid of them, but then everyone left. Karana believes the pack grew bolder because of the leader, who she believes came with the... (full context)

Karana begins by collecting brush near the pack’s lair. Then, when the dogs are all in... (full context)

With her spear, Karana goes to look for the leader. She can’t find him. After a while, she goes... (full context)

It’s nearly night now. Karana follows a trail that winds along a cliff until she comes across the broken shaft... (full context)

Karana climbs down again and approaches the leader. She picks him up and carries his limp... (full context)

For four days, Karana nurses the leader and sleeps on her rock at night—she doesn’t trust him. During the... (full context)

The white men’s ship doesn’t come back to the island all spring or summer, though Karana watches for it every day—and she watches for the Aleuts’ red ship. Karana ponders what... (full context)

The canoe is still too big for Karana to easily get in and out of the water, so she decides to take it... (full context)

When Karana finally finishes the canoe, she and Rontu take a trip around the entire island. It... (full context)

Karana and Rontu come out in a room like the first one. It’s high tide, but... (full context)

The devilfish appears ahead of the canoe, but it’s too fast. Karana can’t catch up. Rontu doesn’t acknowledge Karana when she says he has a lot to... (full context)

...winter storms come early. When it’s not raining, the wind blows sand into the air. Karana spends her time making another dress and working on the spear to catch the devilfish.... (full context)

Karana takes her spear to Coral Cove on the first day of spring. She knows it’s... (full context)

Karana pushes the canoe into the water and heads for the reef where devilfish live. Through... (full context)

After several hours, Karana hides her canoe in the cave she found last fall and hikes up the cliff... (full context)

The dogs don’t notice or respond to Karana, though Karana is sure Rontu knows she’s around. The two dogs pace around Rontu, and... (full context)

...the island. One bird, with a yellow body and bright red head, is one that Karana hasn’t seen before. A pair of these birds nests near her house. Karana leaves abalone... (full context)

When the birds grow too big for the cage, Karana clips their wings and lets them loose inside the house. They learn to take food... (full context)

Karana makes another yucca skirt as she’s taming the birds. She makes a sealskin belt for... (full context)

Karana still hasn’t speared the giant devilfish, so she and Rontu look for him every day.... (full context)

One morning, Karana and Rontu paddle out to the reef. Karana has been keeping an eye on the... (full context)

Karana picks her way to where the big fish live and manages to catch two. She... (full context)

Karana misses and the devilfish lets loose a black cloud. She starts to pull the spear... (full context)

Karana stops moving so the devilfish can’t enter the cave. Her hands start to bleed. Then,... (full context)

...water, dragging Rontu with him. And because the string is now tangled in Rontu’s legs, Karana can’t pull the devilfish toward her. She pulls out her whalebone knife and gets between... (full context)

Karana fills the canoe twice more with red abalones, cleans them, and dries them on shelves.... (full context)

Karana spends each morning gathering food for winter, and in the afternoons, she and Rontu go... (full context)

Karana discovers Black Cave on the south coast of the island one day. She only notices... (full context)

As Karana turns the canoe to leave the cave, she notices a deep shelf with two dozen... (full context)

Karana continues to hide the canoe in the cave below the headland every time she returns... (full context)

Karana isn’t sure the ship belongs to the Aleuts, but she packs her things anyway and... (full context)

Karana climbs the rock to check on the Aleuts. Now, the ship is anchored in the... (full context)

When Karana leaves the cave that night, she leaves Rontu inside—she doesn’t want him to find the... (full context)

Karana stays inside the cave until the next full moon. At this point she needs food,... (full context)

Karana and Rontu’s days are long. At first, Rontu paces and resents being cooped up. But... (full context)

This is the first time Karana has seen the skirt in the sunlight. The black feathers shimmer green and gold, and... (full context)

The girl introduces herself as Tutok, but Karana ignores this and calls Rontu to her. Tutok smiles and points to the cormorant skirt.... (full context)

Tutok continues to speak, but Karana doesn’t understand much of what she says. Tutok seems to want to know if Karana... (full context)

Karana spends the rest of the day packing her things. She plans to take her canoe... (full context)

Karana doesn’t enter the cave or take the necklace. She sleeps at the headland and, at... (full context)

Karana leaps up and calls for Tutok. Tutok turns around and watches Karana loop the beads... (full context)

...sitting in the sun, trading words and laughing. At the end of the third day, Karana shares her secret name with Tutok. That night, she starts to make a gift for... (full context)

Tutok visits the cave often—until one day, she doesn’t come. At dusk, Karana becomes afraid that the men will come for her, so she sleeps on the ledge.... (full context)

Karana goes to the headland the following morning. It’s no longer windy, but it’s foggy. When... (full context)

The hunters leave many otters wounded. Karana watches some die, and she kills others to save them from their suffering. But one... (full context)

Over the next few weeks, Karana discovers that the otter needs to eat six fish per day. She fishes for it... (full context)

Fishing for Mon-a-nee is hard work, especially in bad weather. He gives Karana dirty looks if she can’t catch a full six fish. One day, the waves are... (full context)

Soon after the Aleuts leave, Karana moves back to the headland. She fixes her fence and puts her house back together,... (full context)

The Aleuts’ presence meant that Karana couldn’t catch and dry fish for light. So, all winter, she only works during the... (full context)

...of seaweed, leaves, and Rontu’s hair—which Rontu doesn’t appreciate. Lurai lays two eggs, which hatch. Karana clips the babies’ wings, names them, and they become as tame as Lurai and Tainor.... (full context)

Karana begins gathering and drying abalones early in the spring; she wants to be prepared if... (full context)

Karana doesn’t see Mon-a-nee again until two months later. He comes to visit her with two... (full context)

Won-a-nee’s babies grow quickly and are soon happy to take fish from Karana’s hands. Won-a-nee prefers abalones. She floats on her back and strikes the abalones with rocks... (full context)

After this summer, Karana stops killing otter. She wears her otter cape until it wears out and doesn’t make... (full context)

Even though the Aleuts never come to the Island of the Blue Dolphins again, Karana keeps watch for them every summer. Every year, in early spring, she gathers and dries... (full context)

Finally, one summer, the otters don’t leave Coral Cove. When this happens, Karana knows that there aren’t any otters left who remember the hunters. Karana doesn’t think of... (full context)

Rontu dies late in the summer. During the early summer, Rontu doesn’t accompany Karana to the reef unless she convinces him. He prefers to lie in the sun. Then,... (full context)

Karana sits with Rontu the whole night in the cave. When the sun comes up, Karana... (full context)

Over the winter, Karana only leaves her house to get water. The weather is terrible, so even if Rontu... (full context)

Karana is ready to give up on catching the dog when she remembers how her tribe... (full context)

Karana finds the dog she wants, picks him up, and quickly carries him home. She ties... (full context)

...to look at. On what turns out to be the last day of this weather, Karana takes her canoe to the sandspit without Rontu-Aru, since he doesn’t like the heat. The... (full context)

Karana hasn’t been asleep long when she hears a sound like thunder. But the sky is... (full context)

Terrified, Karana races along the sandspit. The ground shakes as the first wave hits. Though Karana would... (full context)

...wave wins the battle and moves quickly toward the island. When it hits the cliff, Karana can’t hear or see. The water pulls at her, but then, everything is silent. Night... (full context)

Karana finds Rontu-Aru waiting for her at the fence when she gets home. She’s glad to... (full context)

At dusk, Karana and Rontu-Aru are walking along the cliff with water from the spring. The sea is... (full context)

...for a few days, but it comes back stronger than ever. It does destroy all Karana’s food and weapons stored in the cave, and her canoes. The canoes are a huge... (full context)

Karana finds the remains of her other canoe stuck so far in the cave that she... (full context)

To do this, Karana builds a fire to soften the pitch. It’s windy and cold, so the fire takes... (full context)

Karana doesn’t know what to do. If these men are here to hunt otter, she has... (full context)

Karana goes home. She puts on her otter cape and her cormorant skirt and grabs her... (full context)

...springs later, on a calm morning, the ship returns. By midday, it’s in Coral Cove. Karana watches the men make a camp on the beach all day and then spends all... (full context)

Karana can smell the men’s fire in the morning. She bathes in the spring and dresses... (full context)

Karana can’t picture what she’s going to do across the sea. She can’t picture what the... (full context)

It’s a sunny morning. Karana watches three men notice the house on the headland. Two are tall, and one is... (full context)

...man points toward the cove and draws a picture in the air of a ship. Karana nods, points to her three baskets, and gestures that she’d like to bring them and... (full context)

...are here for otter, but all the otter are gone—some must still remember the Aleuts. Karana knows where they are, but when the men ask her, she pretends not to understand.... (full context)

Finally, on the 10th day, Karana leaves the island. It’s a beautiful day. Karana stares back at the Island of the... (full context)

What does Karana mean in Island of the Blue Dolphins?

What kind of person is Karana?

What happened to Karana from the Island of the Blue Dolphins?

How does Karana survive?