Island of the Blue Dolphins is a recent addition to the long literary tradition of the "Robinsonnade" — those innumerable works written directly under the influence of Robinson Crusoe. Since the advent of Crusoe the "castaway" story has been extremely popular, and has reappeared in such diverse forms, usually designed for young readers, as Wyss's Swiss Family Robinson (1812), Marryat's Masterman Ready (1841), Ballantyne's The Coral Island (1858), Verne's The Mysterious Island (1875), and Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954) to name but a few (and not to mention Gilligan's Island). The principal way that Island of the Blue Dolphins is different from these previous works is that they usually portray castaways in families or groups rather than as solitaries — even Crusoe had his Friday — whereas Karana is for the most part alone. She.....
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