HUMAN-NATURE INTERDEPENDENCE IN SCOTT O’DELL’S ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS

Abstract

Abstract
This research aims to show the natural problems faced by Karana and interdependence between human and nature in Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphin. The research is a descriptive qualitative study. The subject of this research is Scott O’Dell’s novel entitled Island of the Blue Dolphins. The data are the sentences and the paragraphs related to the natural problems and interdependences between nature and human beings taken from the novel. The findings of the research show that: first, natural problems faced by Karana are namely animal threat, natural disaster, scarcity and bad weather; and second, the interdependence between human and nature is classified into two categories: human needs nature and nature needs human. Human needs nature exists in three  ways, namely needing food, needing shelter and protection, needing natural materials to make life necessities.Meanwhile, nature needs human is depicted in two ways, namely needing human to recover from life-threatening conditions and needing human’s awarenes toward nature existence and its preservation.
Keywords: natural problems, human-nature interdependence, ecocriticism