Island of the Blue Dolphins

The weapons Karana builds are a motif that develops the theme of The Struggle for Survival and Self-Determination. The laws of Ghalas-at forbid women from making weapons. Therefore, Karana’s belief that she can make her own weaponry equates to her deciding her own fate. At first, Karana hopes that the men of her village left some weapons behind. However, she eventually builds her own spear, bows, and arrows to protect herself from the wild dogs. This emphasizes two key points on the theme of survival and self-determination. First of all, Karana must learn how to live on her own without relying on aid from anyone. Secondly, in order to survive, Karana must move past her people’s expectations for her.

As Karana crafts weapons, she also crafts a new identity as a capable and confident survivor. While making her first batch of weapons, Karana feels “very fearful” because the villagers told her that disaster would strike any woman who broke the law (52). Since no one taught her how to craft spears or arrows, the weapons are the result of much trial and error. The second time Karana crafts a bow and arrows, her improved skills and confidence result in weapons that allow her to “shoot farther and much straighter than [...] before” (74).

While preparing this second batch of weapons, Karana makes spear points from sea elephant tusks because this is “the way the men of [her] tribe did” (74). No man from her village would attempt to hunt a bull sea elephant on his own, but Karana has more to prove, and she does not have the luxury of hunting partners. Acquiring the tusks and carving them into spears gives Karana the confidence to face the wild dogs.

The weaponry takes on more nuances as Karana matures and the plot progresses. The fishing spear with the long cord and detachable spearhead is the most complicated weapon Karana builds, and she constructs it to hunt the delicious albeit dangerous devilfish. She has other food sources, so catching the devilfish is not necessary to her survival. Rather, crafting the fishing spear and pursuing a rare delicacy are ways to challenge herself and seek thriving instead of subsistence. Karana uses her spear to capture the devilfish, and finishes it off with a whalebone knife after it seizes Rontu in its tentacles—fighting to protect a friend rather than just for her own survival or to prove a point.

Near the novel’s end, Karana resolves to stop hunting animals, vowing to never “kill another wild dog” or “try to spear another sea elephant” (149). This is a key development in Karana’s struggle for self-determination. At first, she needed weapons to feel safe on the island. Now, her skills and wisdom are so great that she can be secure without having to raise weapons against animals.