Island of the Blue Dolphins Ravine Island of the Blue Dolphins Rontu
Rontu is Karana's dog. Before she captures and tames him, she refers to him as "the leader," as he's the leader of the wild dogs' pack. She believes he came to the Island of the Blue Dolphins with the Aleuts, as he looks nothing like the dogs that are native to the island—he has thick gray fur, yellow eyes, and is bigger than the native dogs. At first, Karana blames him for killing Ramo and vows to kill him in return. But when the dog doesn't fight back after Karana shoots him in the chest, Karana brings him home, tends to his wounds, and ultimately decides she likes having an animal friend around. At this point she names him Rontu, which means "fox eyes." Rontu is extremely loyal to Karana and only leaves her a couple of times, either to breed or fight with the other wild dogs. He goes everywhere with her, even in the canoe. Rontu's favorite things to do are chase the gulls and bark at the various fish and birds on the island. He's especially interested in the devilfish (octopus), even though the devilfish injures him when Karana ultimately catches it. As he gets older, Rontu spends more and more time sleeping in the sunshine. He dies at Karana's feet after uncharacteristically refusing to bark at the gulls. Karana buries him on the headland with his favorite stick.
Rontu/The Leader Quotes in Island of the Blue Dolphins
The Island of the Blue Dolphins quotes below are all either spoken by Rontu/The Leader or refer to Rontu/The Leader. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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As I lay there I wondered what would happen to me if I went against the law of our tribe, which forbade the making of weapons by women—if I did not think of it at all and made those things which I must have to protect myself.
Would the four winds blow in from the four directions of the world and smother me as I made the weapons? Or would the earth tremble, as many said, and bury me beneath its falling rocks? Or, as others said, would the sea rise over the island in a terrible flood? Would the weapons break in my hands at the moment when my life was in danger, which is what my father had said?
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Why I did not send the arrow I cannot say. I stood on the rock with the bow pulled back and my hand would not let it go. The big dog lay there and did not move and this may be the reason. If he had gotten up I would have killed him. I stood there for a long time looking down at him and then I climbed off the rocks.
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Often I would put on the skirt and the sandals and walk along the cliff with Rontu. Sometimes I made a wreath of flowers and fastened it in my hair. After the Aleuts had killed our men at Coral Cove, all the women of our tribe had singed their hair short as a sign of mourning. I had singed mine, too, with a faggot, but now it had grown long again and came to my waist. I parted it and let it fall down my back, except when I wore a wreath. Then I made braids and fastened them with long whalebone pins.
I also made a wreath for Rontu's neck, which he did not like. Together we would walk along the cliff looking at the sea, and though the white men's ship did not return that spring, it was a happy time. The air smelled of flowers and birds sang everywhere.
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The star passed out of sight and another took its place. The tide lifted the canoe higher in the room, and as the water lapped against the walls it sounded like the soft music of a flute. It played many tunes through the long night and I slept little, watching the stars change. I knew that the skeleton who sat on the ledge playing his flute was one of my ancestors, and the others with the glittering eyes, though only images, were too, but still I was sleepless and afraid.
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At first, knowing that I could now leave the cave and move back into my house on the headland, I was happy. But as I stood there on the high rock looking down at the deserted harbor and the empty sea, I began to think of Tutok. I thought of all the times we had sat in the sun together. I could hear her voice and see her black eyes squinting closed when she laughed.
Below me, Rontu was running along the cliff, barking at the screaming gulls. Pelicans were chattering as they fished the blue water. Far off I could hear the bellow of a sea elephant. But suddenly, as I thought of Tutok, the island seemed very quiet.
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On sunny days I would wear them with my cormorant dress and the necklace, and walk along the cliff with Rontu.
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.
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Ulape would have laughed at me, and others would have laughed, too—my father most of all. Yet this is the way I felt about the animals who had become my friends and those who were not, but in time could be. If Ulape and my father had come back and laughed, and all the others had come back and laughed, still I would have felt the same way, for animals and birds are like people, too, though they do not talk the same or do the same things. Without them the earth would be an unhappy place.
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Rontu/The Leader Character Timeline in Island of the Blue Dolphins
The timeline below shows where the character Rontu/The Leader appears in Island of the Blue Dolphins. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Karana carries Ramo home and then scares the dogs off with a club. The dogs' leader, a big gray dog with yellow eyes, leaves last. Karana follows them to their cave.... (full context)
...while she's making weapons, but once, when the weapons are done, Karana notices the dogs' leader watching her. (full context)
...rock with a fire going. She kills three dogs when they come, but not the leader. The storm ends, so on the sixth day, Karana goes to find one of the... (full context)
...a while. She arrives and remembers that it's close to the wild dogs' lair. The leader watches Karana as she looks around. Karana knows she'll have to kill the wild dogs... (full context)
...but they can't get in. Karana shoots at the dogs, but she doesn't shoot the leader. (full context)
...the brush. At one point, while she stops to rest, Karana sees the wild dogs' leader above her. He's clearly tracking her with the rest of the pack. The dogs all... (full context)
...with water. There's a cave nearby, but as Karana crawls toward it, she sees the leader of the dogs and then the rest of the pack. She crawls into the cave... (full context)
...of them, but then everyone left. Karana believes the pack grew bolder because of the leader, who she believes came with the Aleuts. He's bigger than the other dogs and looks... (full context)
...have to leave and escape the smoke. Karana decides to save her arrows for the leader. As the fire dies, small groups of dogs come out of the cave. Then, the... (full context)
...cliff until she comes across the broken shaft of the arrow that she shot the leader with. She finds the leader's tracks, but she loses them in the darkness. It's raining... (full context)
Karana climbs down again and approaches the leader. She picks him up and carries his limp body to the headland. He's too difficult... (full context)
For four days, Karana nurses the leader and sleeps on her rock at night—she doesn't trust him. During the day, she leaves... (full context)
...it once was—but she can lift it. All summer as she works on the canoe, Rontu is nearby. He sleeps in the shade, chases the pelicans, and quickly learns his name.... (full context)
When Karana finally finishes the canoe, she and Rontu take a trip around the entire island. It takes all day, but once the canoe... (full context)
Karana and Rontu come out in a room like the first one. It's high tide, but there's still... (full context)
The devilfish appears ahead of the canoe, but it's too fast. Karana can't catch up. Rontu doesn't acknowledge Karana when she says he has a lot to learn about devilfish. Instead,... (full context)
...it. But she remembers what it looks like and how to use it, so with Rontu sleeping nearby, she works on it. Karana breaks three sea elephant teeth, but she manages... (full context)
...because flocks of migratory birds came and stayed for two days and then headed south. Rontu is not with Karana; she recently let him out and he hasn't returned. He's spent... (full context)
...nice to be on the sea with her new spear, Karana can't stop thinking of Rontu. She wonders if he'll turn into her enemy again. She won't be able to kill... (full context)
...grabs her bow and arrows and hurries toward the sound. Near the spring, she finds Rontu's tracks. She continues to follow the sound until she gets to a meadow with a... (full context)
The dogs don't notice or respond to Karana, though Karana is sure Rontu knows she's around. The two dogs pace around Rontu, and Rontu never takes his eyes... (full context)
...dressed up. Karana often puts on her skirt and sandals and walks the cliffs with Rontu. Sometimes, she makes a flower crown to wear. All the women in the tribe singed... (full context)
Karana still hasn't speared the giant devilfish, so she and Rontu look for him every day. Finally, she gives up and sets to work gathering abalones... (full context)
One morning, Karana and Rontu paddle out to the reef. Karana has been keeping an eye on the reef for... (full context)
...to where the big fish live and manages to catch two. She gives one to Rontu and then picks up a few purple sea urchins for dyeing. But then, Rontu drops... (full context)
...canoe and make the devilfish pull her, but she can't untie the canoe one-handed. And Rontu is barking, which isn't making anything easy. (full context)
Rontu rushes forward and bites at the fish. Though devilfish are most dangerous in the water,... (full context)
...no children to protect the abalones from the gulls, so for a while, Karana leaves Rontu at home to chase the birds. He hates this and howls, so eventually, Karana ties... (full context)
Karana spends each morning gathering food for winter, and in the afternoons, she and Rontu go out on the sea. They spend their afternoons visiting the sea elephants, Black Cave,... (full context)
...but on the other side of the narrow passageway is a bigger, brightly lit room. Rontu starts barking and then howling—and it gives Karana chills. She makes him stop. (full context)
...others are her ancestors, but she's still afraid. She leaves in the morning and tells Rontu they'll never return. (full context)
...never goes any further than a half-day's journey away. Finally, the last time Karana and Rontu go to Tall Rock, the Aleuts come. As Karana climbs the cliff with the 10... (full context)
...a trail to the cave; this time, she takes a circuitous route through the brush. Rontu is hesitant to enter the cave, but he finally follows Karana in. She closes the... (full context)
When Karana leaves the cave that night, she leaves Rontu inside—she doesn't want him to find the Aleuts' dogs, if they're on the island. The... (full context)
...cave until the next full moon. At this point she needs food, so she and Rontu hike to the headland. Three of the whale ribs are missing from her fence, but... (full context)
Karana and Rontu's days are long. At first, Rontu paces and resents being cooped up. But he soon... (full context)
...and it's so beautiful that Karana is almost giddy. As Karana admires the skirt, though, Rontu suddenly leaps up and Karana hears steps. It's the girl. Karana grabs her spear, but... (full context)
The girl introduces herself as Tutok, but Karana ignores this and calls Rontu to her. Tutok smiles and points to the cormorant skirt. She says a word that... (full context)
...her word. The girls laugh. They exchange words for the necklace, the spring, a gull, Rontu, and the sun. They spend hours laughing, and then Tutok gets up and waves. Karana... (full context)
...of the Aleuts now, she builds a big fire and cooks enough supper for her, Rontu, and Tutok. She knows Tutok won't come, but she saves food for her anyway. (full context)
...back to her house. But then she thinks of laughing in the sun with Tutok. Rontu is chasing gulls and barking at them, pelicans are chattering, and a sea elephant is... (full context)
...their suffering. But one day, she finds a young otter that isn't wounded too badly. Rontu barks at the young otter; at first, Karana thinks it's just sleeping in the kelp.... (full context)
...with them, Karana puts them on with her cormorant skirt and the necklace. She and Rontu walk the cliffs, and Karana thinks of Tutok. Karana wishes Tutok were here to talk... (full context)
...flows in the ravines. Tainor and Lurai build a nest out of seaweed, leaves, and Rontu's hair—which Rontu doesn't appreciate. Lurai lays two eggs, which hatch. Karana clips the babies' wings,... (full context)
...otters leave Coral Cove every summer. They live around Tall Rock until winter. Karana and Rontu often go to Tall Rock for several days during the summer to catch fish for... (full context)
Rontu dies late in the summer. During the early summer, Rontu doesn't accompany Karana to the... (full context)
Karana sits with Rontu the whole night in the cave. When the sun comes up, Karana carries him out... (full context)
...Karana only leaves her house to get water. The weather is terrible, so even if Rontu had been around, Karana wouldn't go out much. She makes four snares, which she intends... (full context)
...tries to come up with a name for him. Because he looks so much like Rontu, Karana decides to call him Rontu-Aru, or son of Rontu. He becomes Karana's friend quickly.... (full context)
...and draws the sign that means she's unmarried. As Karana makes breakfast for herself and Rontu-Aru, she tells the dog that they're leaving the island. He cocks his head at her,... (full context)
...the Blue Dolphins; the headland is the last thing she can see. She thinks of Rontu in his grave, Won-a-nee, the red fox, her canoe, and her many happy days on... (full context)
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Source: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/island-of-the-blue-dolphins/characters/rontu-the-leader
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