The Whale Rider – Significance of Rawiri – Grade 9 Student Essay

Explore one character you think is particularly powerful in The Whale Rider

By Kalli Y – shared with permission

In The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera presents many complex characters with intriguing dynamics between each other. It can be argued that all characters are powerful in their own ways, whether through Koro’s position as Chieftain or Kahu as The Whale Rider. Personally, I argue that Rawiri, the narrator of our novel, holds the most power. This is due to his influence in Kahu’s life and how he played an important role in her coming of age arc, his ability to recognise his own identity and leave racist characters who seemingly have more power than him, as well as his identity as a man caught between tradition and modernity.

In the second section, spring, “The Force of Destiny”, we see the birth of Kahu. Kahu eventually becomes the whale rider, fulfilling the prophecy of being the last spear thrown by Paikea and restoring oneness to the land. However, what is often overlooked is how Rawiri was there almost every step of the way, supporting Kahu, loving Kahu even when her own grandfather doesn’t because she’s a girl, and the mantle of Paikea only passes down to boys. Thus, Rawiri is the most powerful of them all in terms of his influence on Kahu’s destiny. For example, Rawiri is first brought into Kahu’s life through the burying of her birth cord. This is a traditional Māori custom and is meant to signify how a child is connected to the land and nature. As Koro is disappointed that Kahu is a girl and wants nothing to do with her, Nanny Flowers and Rawiri, along with the boys, bury the birth cord in Wangara land. Thus, they’re the only ones who know the location, and as Rawiri says in his own words, he became her guardian. His position as guardian is relevant in “Summer Halcyon’s Flight”, as he is the first one who exposes Kahu to whales and the horrible nature of whaling, taking her to the movies. This is one of the very first times we see Kahu link to the ocean and it can be said that Rawiri makes it happen. Following the film, Kahu is distressed and Rawiri finds her by the ocean making mewling sounds. He says it sounds like she was warning them, the orcas. This, in fact, is Kahu’s whale song, an ability to communicate with whales and other beasts gifted by Paikea, the god of sea monsters and tamer of whales, through his spears. The chapter then ends with hui e, haumi e, taiki e, a traditional ending to a Māori prayer, signifying the inevitability of Kahu’s destiny. In fact, every time hui e comes up, the stories of the Wangara tribe and the whale herd become intertwined. Thus Rawiri led her to her exposure of the whales, and we see the great amount of power he possessed in leading Kahu to her destiny. Moreover, the character Kahu was written after Ihimaera’s daughters complained of there being no female protagonist. As Rawiri supports and contributes to Kahu’s growth, who is the female protagonist, we see just how significant, how powerful he is.

Secondly, Rawiri becomes more powerful through his journey to Australia and Papua New Guinea. As a Māori from Aotearoa, as he says himself, he craved to see bold, big, beautiful and brassy places, thus leading to his journey to Australia. There he comments on how he was like a kid in a toy shop, and we see the outside influences growing on him. However, what makes him more powerful is how he chooses to leave racist people and embrace his own Māori identity through his two years in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea has a large number of natives, all with their own language and tribes. It achieved independence in 1947, but even then many of the indigenous people still faced racism and stereotypes. The most evident case is the behaviour of Clara, Geoff’s mother. From the moment Rawiri met her, it was as if Clara saw him as still too dark. She even called him a stray by saying, “You know my Jeff always bringing home dogs and strays.” However, she still thinks he is better than the natives. It is quite sad here how the native people of Papua New Guinea were many in number but still looked down upon by the others who have more power. This is further strengthened when they crash into Bernard, a native who had more degrees than Clara had chins, and left him to die, fearing retribution from his people. Personally, I think what Rawiri did next made him very powerful. He went home. Rawiri chose to be Māori. He chose to go home to Wangara and be a native. Here he has the power. He shows that racism and colonialism, New Zealand was colonised by the English and only achieved full independence in the 1970s, cannot stop him from being himself and that he is proud of his identity, his language, his traditions and customs. It is even more remarkable of him to do such an act when the entire world was progressing and staying in Wangara could hold him back, yet Rawiri does not abandon tradition, he keeps it even after exposure to modernism.

Finally, Rawiri shows power through his actions. He helps with the rescue effort of the whales and even tries to save Kahu. He can unify people, unify the young and the old for a single goal and this is very powerful indeed. In Winter, Whale Song, Whale Rider, we see the beaching of the whales in Whangara Beach. Two hundred whales, young and old, female and male, are beached. Many of the young people take this as an opportunity to skin the whales for meat and power and glory and blood. Rawiri does not. As a young man himself, Rawiri and the boys go down to the beach to help the older citizens with their rescue efforts. He tells an old lady that he’s a goodie and together they try to push the whales back into the ocean. Although they don’t succeed, they still tried their best and Rawiri continuously did his best. He was also able to previously tell the young who were killing the whales to leave, and by standing up to people who were similar to him in age and telling them that they are doing the wrong things, he shows power. Whaling was in fact a huge issue. New Zealand had a flourishing whaling industry and only later established bans. The damages done however were still great and as Koro states, “Look how empty our sea has become.” Many other disasters also harmed sea life. For example, the nuclear testing by the French in Mururoa and the disaster in Chernobyl were all momentous. In the book, nuclear testing can also lead the whale to become beached in the south-west lands and destroyed Hawaiki, the Palace of the Gods. Fortunately, many protests happened and there was an effort to preserve nature, such as the Friends of the Earth or Greenpeace protests in 1986.

In conclusion, Rawiri is one of the most powerful characters in The Whale Rider as he shows great strength and influence and stays true to himself even in the turbulent and rapidly progressing world of the 1980s.