The Island of the Blue Dolphins was a favorite book of mine as a late elementary school student. I was told that it was too advanced for my grade level, but I loved the cover image of the native American girl. Recently, I reread the book with my son. It still engaged my imagination.
The novel takes the point of view of Karana, a native American girl from an island off the coast of California. She experiences the loss of her parents and then her brother and is abandoned on her island for 18 years. Most of the novel takes place while she is alone, like in Robinson Crusoe or The Hatchet.
The story is based on a real-life in the 1800. The name was changed, and all the details were made up, but a real woman had been left by her tribe for 18 years on an island.
This book is actually very optimistic and positive even though so many negative things happen to the main character. She does not feel sorry for herself or express depressed thoughts. Instead, she goes to work living life. She even expresses enjoyment of her surroundings, her home, and her pets.
In reading this book, we were able to talk about what civilization is. There is a trend right now reducing education to “practical” skills and self-reliance in growing one’s own food. Minimalism and simplicity are a goal for many. This isn’t a bad thing considering how cluttered and chaotic modern life is. Still, civilization is not about survival, and very little of it is purely practical. Civilization is about community, pleasure, and art. Even Karana in this book takes time to make a beautiful skirt, hunt the devil fish for good meat, and keep pets for their company. None of this was necessary for her survival.
In contrast, in a similar grade-level book, The Hatchet, the main character is focused purely on survival. Why does Karana have time for pleasure while the boy in The Hatch does not? It has to do with knowledge. Karana was born on this island and just continued doing what she had always done to survive. She knew how to find food and to make weapons. She knew how to deal with the weather. She didn’t have to discover all of this.
The question I find myself pondering is how much of the desire to get off the grid in our current society is actually a result of is not understanding the purpose of civilization. I have recently been watching videos about ancient monuments and cities. I have been struck by the complexity, beauty, and order of these things. The ancient Roman city would have been beautiful! Today, I see how little we put into creating beautiful cities for ourselves. Our ugly, beat-up roads, power lines, massive billboards, hodge-podge architecture, trash everywhere, unmanicured plants, and tons of structures in disrepair leaves nothing of beauty to the next generation. We don’t have time to spend with even our own families. We don’t eat well, over-processed junk instead of fresh, well-cooked meals. No wonder we are uninspired by civilization as we see it today.
The Island of the Blue Dolphins is a great award-winning novel for middle school and older readers. It is fantastic as a fictional classic, but also great as a discussion starter.
Check out my young adult fantasy fiction novels HERE for something optimistic and fun.
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What do you think?