If you have ever had pets, you know what it means to connect with an animal. You have probably felt the worry of leaving them by themselves for a few hours or days, and found much comfort in their company. The Dolphin House is the story of Cora, a young woman, whose fate leads to her four dolphins housed at a research facility lagoon. Dr Blum, the head of the facility, charges her with keeping the dolphins alive (when Core first arrives, the dolphins have not been eating) and later, in bargain for giving them freedom, she agrees to live with one of the dolphins and teach him language.
Based on the true story of the 1965 “dolphin house” experiment, this spellbinding novel captures the tenor of the social experiments of the 1960’s in award-winning author Audrey Schulman’s tightly paced and evocative style.
It is 1965, and Cora, a young, hearing impaired woman, buys a one-way ticket to the island of St. Thomas, where she discovers four dolphins held in captivity as part of an experiment led by the obsessive Dr. Blum. Drawn by a strong connection to the dolphins, Cora falls in with the scientists and discovers her need to protect the animals.
Recognizing Cora’s knack for communication, Blum uses her for what will turn into one of the most fascinating experiments in modern science: an attempt to teach the dolphins human language by creating a home in which she and a dolphin can live together.
As the experiment progresses, Cora forges a remarkable bond with the creatures, until her hard-won knowledge clashes with the male-dominated world of science. As a terrible scandal threatens to engulf the experiment, Cora’s fight to save the dolphins becomes a battle to save herself.
Content Notes: sexism, unwanted sexual advances, sexual content, animal cruelty, animals used for experimentation.
Thoughts on The Dolphin House
On the atmosphere in The Dolphin House
There are many things to love about this book, and yet at the same time, this is not an easy read. Set in the 1960s, the attitude of men depicted in this book is shameful, and yet a reality of that era. I asked Clinton why men behaved like this back then. Women had contributed to both the World Wars and shown that they were good at things beyond the household. He pointed out that this was the time when women were integrating into the workplace and men were adjusting to the idea of working alongside women. Not all were welcoming to that idea and the men in this book, Blum, Tibbet and Eh were all about letting Cora do the heavy lifting for their research on dolphins. All they were willing to do was drill holes in the dolphins’ brains, while she was the one who truly wanted to know the dolphins and wasn’t afraid to jump in the water and meet them in their natural habitat.
While this action of hers was attributed to her being a woman and having motherly instincts, I felt that this was just an excuse for the men to watch her succeed and struggle while basing all their research papers on her work. At one point in the story, Blum dangles the idea of Cora being a woman researcher. She found these two words disorienting and rightly so. He was always taking advantage of her in some form or another.
Cora was a careful woman. She had met many men in the course of her life and working as a waitress had taught her how easily they could use women for their own pleasures without caring a bit about the women themselves. The Dolphin House opens with her working as a waitress at a restaurant and this random guy at a table grabs her breast to show off to his coworkers. She doesn’t like it, plays it cool and asks him which car is his so she can meet up with him after the shift is done. He is interested and tells her. She leaves work, never to come back to this place, dumping something in his gas tank. She is a strong formidable character and I loved her dearly.
On the dolphins
I learned so much about the amazing creatures that dolphins are through this book! The author, Audrey Schulman has put a lot of research into this and I quite enjoyed her notes at the end of the book, separating the facts from fiction and the way she changed the timing of certain discoveries like dolphins being able to recognize themselves in a mirror. The first thing that Cora did when she started to study dolphins was jump into the water. Somehow, the men had not thought or bothered with that at all. Blum’s dream to teach language and communication to dolphins was purely based on being on land and keeping these lovely creatures captive. Through Cora’s perspective, I felt like I was making connections with these majestic animals as well, concerned about their wellbeing, curious about their nature and daily routines, while the whole time, worrying about what Blum and his team was going to do for them.
The dolphins also made Cora realize some biases that she had grown up with. When deciding which dolphin would live with her, she had to think fast about which the men would be most likely to succeed. A male dolphin, of course. And while she had seen one of the females excel at communication, she too thought a male dolphin was more valuable. Thoughts like these make us feel ashamed but they are a result of conditioning in society. No different than the operant conditioning techniques applied by the researchers to get the dolphins to communicate.
As social creatures, dolphins are aware of the body language of humans as well. While they flourished with Cora, loving and protecting her in their unique way, with Tibbet they reinforced his belief that they were not intelligent. Tibbet was an important part of the cast. He offered moments of kindness to Cora, sometimes pulling them right from under her feet by showing what he really thought of her: a woman who did not belong and would give up when the going gets tough. Since the men in the book hardly did anything but observe Cora and the dolphins, drink, get funding, be inappropriate, I don’t know how he could think that as a man he was more likely to tough it out – when he had clearly shown he would not bother. It was only on Cora’s insistence that he started stepping into the water as he worked with the dolphins.
They would never admit it but without Cora they would not have gotten this far.
On living with deafness
One of the highlights of this book for me was Cora herself. Cora had become deaf at the age of eight years and had since worn special glasses to help with hearing. It was disheartening to see how the three researchers behaved around her, knowing very well that they needed to look at her for her to lip read and understand them. At least with the dolphins, interestingly without the hearing aids altogether, Cora thrived. Having grown on a farm with animals, she was observant and apt at learning their patterns and routines.
Cora was never deterred by her deafness. Though everyone automatically assumed that being deaf meant she wasn’t smart, she was actually smarter and more compassionate than Blum and his team. She saw the dolphins as living creatures, not test subjects. She was good to them and they in turn protected her when she was vulnerable.
The end of “captivity” for Cora came about because society misunderstood her relationship with the dolphin she had been living with for 10 weeks. No one seemed to care about the struggles of living partly in water for weeks or not getting enough sleep because dolphins spray water wherever they want, or the fact that the dolphin was so attached to her that she could not leave for the longest time, knowing he would cry, while also worried that in the meantime Blum would strap him up and experiment.
That summer with the dolphins was the best because of the dolphins and the worst because of the men. I wanted a better ending for Cora but that is beside the point because at the end, she persevered. She continued to fight the animals in her own way, though it isn’t written explicitly how the loss of the dolphins affected her.
I am fortunate to live in a world where women are a common part of the workplace. Cora’s experiences reminded me of the time I was doing my grad degree. It is a field dominated by men in the West (not the case in India where I grew up) and reading Cora’s story makes me wonder how much of my experience and my mentor’s lack of confidence in me had to do with me being a woman. In this age, such things are not said outright, but they can still be felt.
I read The Dolphin House in two days. Cora and the dolphins drew me into their world. I loved Bernie, Kat, Mother and Junior and felt for them deeply. If you are intrigued, do check out the book!
Will you pick up this book?
Add it to your shelves on Goodreads and Storygraph.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Cover image: Photo by Tim de Groot on Unsplash
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