th115+Rontu-Aru

**Constantly Reminded of Him**
==**In chapter 25 and 26 of Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, Karana's loyal dog Rontu dies of old age, leading her to capture and tame a new dog. Even though Karana gets a new dog to replace Rontu, it's only because she loves him so much. While it's true that Karana only waited one winter to replace Rontu, the reader also has to realize that a winter is a long time. Karana might seem cruel to replace Rontu, but the reader must understand that she caught other dogs and let them go, only wanting Rontu's son. On the one hand, because Karana didn't singe her hair, you might think that she doesn't care that Rontu died; but on the other hand, she does spend two days making a grave for him. A quote that supports this is "... digging for two days from dawn until the going down of the sun..." Because Rontu meant so much to her, Karana only wanted his son so that she'd be constantly reminded of all of the good times they'd had.**==