Whale Rider Essay

Whale Rider Essay

           


           What qualities represent a good leader? Is it unbearable strength, or perhaps unbreakable courage? A leader should be someone who will take guides their people in the right direction and with care. A leader must be able to trust their followers. In the Maori tradition, the leader is traditionally a man. The only person left in the true blood line after Koro Apirana, (the current leader,) is Kahu. Kahu is Apirana’s granddaughter. She is a stubborn little girl who is always getting in to trouble. She is curious and wants to learn about the culture, and also partake in traditionally boy activities. Kahu’s position she is in is clearly plagued with a disadvantage, the Maori people are discouraged to have a girl leader about to take the crown, but she exhibits good leadership qualities and also can communicate with the whales. Although she is not the gender of a traditional chief, Kahu represents strength and desire in the Maori culture.

Koro Aprina is a man that is very knowledgeable about the Maori culture and traditions. He is a man cemented in tradition. Koro is the grandfather to Kahu, the heir to the Maori tribe leadership. The tradition in Maori culture is to have a male as the leader of the tribe. He is afraid that his people are forgetting the ways of the Maori and are adopting too much western influence. This makes him become very particular and knit-picky about tradition. He is not happy that the throne is going to be passed on to his granddaughter, which of whom is named after first whale rider of the New Zealand people.  The leader is traditionally supposed to be a male, but the only one left in the true bloodline Koro’s granddaughter Kahu. Koro is upset and fears the fact that the tradition must be broken when Kahu takes the role. He is stubborn in his ways and even is fighting with his wife for the sake of “saving” the Maori culture. His intentions are good he just does not want to tarnish tradition by handing leadership to a female. His distrust in her really makes her seem like she is not strong. If her grandfather does not trust her then she cannot display her strength because he will just immediately shun the fact of her giving him an example of fortitude.

Kahu is trying to learn the ways of a Maori and her grandfather keeps on shunning her off and getting mad. He would always say, “She is no good to me.” Even when Kahu is learning to spar with the fighting sticks Koro immediately yells at her and scolds her. All of these put downs, and constant public humiliations, by her grandfather would normally discourage a girl, but instead it doesn’t faze her and she becomes even stronger. The Maori people are warriors, and it is said that the leader must be a strong warrior. Kahu may not be an actual warrior leading people into battles but metaphorically speaking she is a strong warrior. I say this because she is in a constant battle to show her grandfather that he will not let him down, or the people of the tribe.

All leaders must prove themselves. Kahu has a big bite to swallow if she wants to prove her worth to her grandfather Koro Apirana. A quality that a leader must exhibit very well is to never give up, and she never does. Even after Koro would bark commands at her and scolds she was never shook. In chapter 17 of the book, The Whale Rider, Kahu puts her strength to the test. There are a bunch of beached whales and she is trying to get them back in the water.

This is the true test. She is named after the first and only legendary whale rider. Kahu must prove her worth to her people and to Koro. She spends time with one particular whale who seems to be the leader. She starts to realize that the whale represents Koro and the tradition, if she saves the whale then her grandpa will still be around and tradition can still live, but if she fails and the whale dies then so will Koro and the Maori tradition. She is whispering to the whale almost trying to talk it back into going back to the sea, and she eventually kicks it and it starts to begin to wake up from its dazed state and go back into the water. “As it did so, the younger whales came to push their leader into deeper water. “Let the people live,” she ordered. Together, the ancient whale and its escort began to swim into the deep ocean. She was going, our Kahu. She was going into the deep ocean. I could hear her small piping voice in the darkness as she left us. She was going with the whales into the sea and the rain. She was a small figure in a white dress, kicking at the whale as if it were a horse, her braids swinging in the rain. Then she was gone and we were left behind,” (W. Ihimaera 130) Kahu finally proved herself, she rescued the whales and she saved the day.

At the end of the novel Koro really tells Kahu how he actually feels. “’I fell off the whale. If I were a boy, I would have held on tight. I’m sorry, Paka, I’m not a boy.’ The old man cradled Kahu in his arms, partly because of emotion and partly because he didn’t want those big ears out there to hear their big chief crying. ‘You’re the best great-grandchild in the whole wide world,’ he said. ‘Boy or girl, it doesn’t matter.’ We see that Koro has accepted Kahu and now Kahu can really lead her people, with the attained strength, courage, and given consent from Koro.

Constantly over the book we are proved to by Kahu that she is a good leader. She exemplifies good leadership qualities and represents with honor. In Maori culture the leader must be a male, and must be a warrior leader, ready to lead his warrior people, but Kahu is the only remaining true heir. So Kahu breaks tradition but is qualified to do so. We see how she is stubborn but set in her ways. This will help prove to the audience that later on she will be protecting the culture and keeping tradition alive. Next it is clear to see that she is named after the first and only whale rider of the tribe. There are even whales that are beached that she helps back into the water near the end of the novel. Koro is along the beach in the shallow water along with more of his people, but they are all struggling and failing to return the whales into the water so they can survive. She rides one back into the ocean, just another display of her strength and courage. Despite Koro’s harsh and demanding relationship with Kahu, never letting her join in on the boy traditional teachings, and all the times that he scolded Kahu, she ends up proving her worth to the old leader.

Work Cited

Ihimaera, Witi. “The Whale Rider.” Harcourt Books 2003. Print. This book is about a girl Kahu, who is the heir to the Maori throne. She is consistently butting heads with her grandfather, Koro Apirana, who is the current leader of the people. This is a tale of strength and courage how Kahu has to overcome her grandfathers put-downs and try and show people to look past gender and just see the great leadership qualities she has.

“Maori”, People, Culture & Traditions. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.themaori.com/> . Is filled with facts about everything that is Maori. It takes us in depth about the Maori tradition, culture, lifestyles and more. It also gives a detailed background and story of how the people landed on the island of New Zealand.

“New Zealand Culture – Maori.” New Zealand Travel and New Zealand Business. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. http://www.newzeleand.com/int/article/new-zealand-culture-maori/. This website is more of a pop culture look at the Maori tradition, culture, lifestyles and more. It is an examination of the atmosphere in the Maori culture.