Wednesday, July 4, 2007

survival

When a tribe of islanders leaves their home in search of a safer place to live, they accidentally leave behind a twelve-year old girl and her young brother. The boy is soon killed by wild dogs, and Karana swears to devote the rest of her life to destroying the wild dogs who killed her little brother. After a failed attempt to leave the island in a leaky canoe, Karana decides to build a house and learn to hunt while waiting to be rescued. Her isolation from humans teaches her how to co-exist peacefully with the local wildlife, even the wild dog she considers her worst enemy. After many years, missionaries come to the island. She is not lonely; eventually she befriends and tames various wild animals, including the leader of the wild dogs. After years of hating the dogs, she slowly comes to realize that it is easier to live in peace than to be constantly at war.
She has to go through the stages of learning to do everything for herself with no one to protect her. In learning to provide herself with everything she needs, she not only overcomes her fears, she finds she is quite capable of performing every necessary task and more. She learns who her enemies are and when to trust them, how much food and water to store and how to protect it and numerous other tasks that in her past were always performed by the men. The environment surrounding her tests her courage and yet also allows her to find inspiration to keep going from one day to the next. She never loses hope, but she does eventually let go of the need for a provider. This gritty story was ahead of its time in its depiction of a strong, self-sufficient heroine.

taken from:
http://www.classzone.com/novelguides/litcons/dolphins/guide.cfm http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/Island-Blue-Dolphins.html http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-island-of-the-blue-dolphins/themes.html

1 Comment:

Piong Si Yi((: said...

Eleanor,you should have display a moral story about survival.You also can write things about survival.