Island of the Blue Dolphins Isolation Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

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. (23.18)

It's only once Tutok is gone that Karana really experiences her loneliness again.

Quote #8

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. (26.13)

In the end, Karana really wants human companionship and decides to journey to the mainland with the white men.

Quote #9

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. (28.19)

Karana's loneliness gets the best of her. She wants to leave the island to be with people. The pull of what she needs now is greater the memories of her past on the island.