In the novel Island of the Blue Dolphins, the main protagonist, Karana, is also the narrator of the story, as the story is written from her perspective. Karana is trying to kill the wild dogs that roam the island. One day, when attacking a pack of wild dogs, she shoots the leader of the pack, “he turned away from (Karana), took one step and fell, ” so Karana assumes that she has shot the wild dog successfully.

However, having finished and returned from fighting the other dogs, Karana finds that her arrow had not killed the dog after all, as “(the dog) was not there.” She looks for him, finds his tracks in the dust and follows them for a while, determined to ensure the dog is dead. However, she loses his tracks and only discovers the dog three days later, when picking up her search for him again.

At first, Karana is still determined to kill him, as she contemplates “whether to use the spear or (her) bow,“ then she “pulled back the string, aiming at his head,” again indicating her intention to kill the wounded dog. However, she then finds herself unable to go through with her plan, which is much to the reader’s surprise, but also to her own: “Why I did not send the arrow I cannot say.”

One can assume that this might be to do with the fact that the dog did not make any threatening movements, he just lay still and therefore appeared utterly defenceless. Karana indicates so herself by saying “The big dog lay there (…) this may be the reason. If he had got up I would have killed him.” Suddenly, it appears that Karana is feeling pity for the wounded dog, and therefore is unable to kill him, as he is in fact not posing a threat to her any longer. Instead, she shows mercy, as she “carried him to the headland,” cleans his wounds and gives him water to drink, slowly turning him into a pet, even giving him a name: “The name I thought of was Rontu.”