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leftovergarlicbread 's review for:
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's a nice story on it's own, and had it's place when it was initially published in 1960, but nowadays, I think that simply it is a story that we can retire. There are much better native stories now, actually written by native authors.
One issues I have is that it is very obvious that O'Dell did not do a lot of research into actual native cultures when he wrote this, instead choosing to place the cultural ideals of 1950's America onto this native society. The biggest example of this is how in the book all the women of Karana's tribe are forbidden from not just hunting, but even ever crafting weapons. That she was taught if a woman made a weapon she would face divine punishment. And while it lead to give Karana good character development and give her challenges to make, making it a good plot device; it doesn't necessarily reflect real native ideals and practices, which is something that is very important when representing different cultures.
Karana was actually based on a real person, the last surviving member of the Nicoleño tribe, named Juana Maria. Who was, similar to Karana- the last survivng member of her tribe living alone on an island for many many years. Though, if you look into her story you will find that Island of The Blue Dolphins tells a likely very romanticized version of her story.
There is also a bit of an undercurrent of white saviorism. Karana's motivation to keep living is the hope that the white men will come back on their boat and rescue her. Painting the white man as the savior in a native story is never a very tasteful decision.
Overall, it was a hopeful survival story with an inspirational female main character, but is definitely a product of it's time, being a book published in 1960. The native elements of the story, while not overtly racist or hateful, were not handled with the respect, research, and care that they deserved. It is a book that has earned it's place in history, and I think is one that can spark many great discussions, I think it is a book that we can move on from, because now there are actual native authors producing native stories for children, and I think that those are the voices and stories that deserve to be uplifted now.
One issues I have is that it is very obvious that O'Dell did not do a lot of research into actual native cultures when he wrote this, instead choosing to place the cultural ideals of 1950's America onto this native society. The biggest example of this is how in the book all the women of Karana's tribe are forbidden from not just hunting, but even ever crafting weapons. That she was taught if a woman made a weapon she would face divine punishment. And while it lead to give Karana good character development and give her challenges to make, making it a good plot device; it doesn't necessarily reflect real native ideals and practices, which is something that is very important when representing different cultures.
Karana was actually based on a real person, the last surviving member of the Nicoleño tribe, named Juana Maria. Who was, similar to Karana- the last survivng member of her tribe living alone on an island for many many years. Though, if you look into her story you will find that Island of The Blue Dolphins tells a likely very romanticized version of her story.
There is also a bit of an undercurrent of white saviorism. Karana's motivation to keep living is the hope that the white men will come back on their boat and rescue her. Painting the white man as the savior in a native story is never a very tasteful decision.
Overall, it was a hopeful survival story with an inspirational female main character, but is definitely a product of it's time, being a book published in 1960. The native elements of the story, while not overtly racist or hateful, were not handled with the respect, research, and care that they deserved. It is a book that has earned it's place in history, and I think is one that can spark many great discussions, I think it is a book that we can move on from, because now there are actual native authors producing native stories for children, and I think that those are the voices and stories that deserve to be uplifted now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Violence, Grief
Minor: Racism, Cultural appropriation
I'm including cultural appropriation and racism as minor tags simply due to the nature of the book being a story about native characters that was written by a white man in 1960.