The Whale Rider

The following summer Kahu turns four. Rawiri decides that it is time for him to explore the world outside of his village. He flies to Australia, despite Nanny Flowers’ objections. In Australia, he runs into a cousin almost everywhere he goes. Each one asks about Nanny Flowers and Koro Apirana. While working as a brickie and playing in a League, Rawiri meets Jeff, who happens to be looking for a flatmate. They moved in together, and Rawiri states, “Jeff was a friendly, out-front guy, quick to laugh, quick to believe and quick to trust” (35). They tell each other about their lives, Rawiri deciding to trick Jeff about Kahu’s true identity. He portrays Kahu as an older, attractive woman who would find Jeff good-looking. After Rawiri has been in Sydney for a year, Porourangi calls him and says he is marrying Ana. Porourangi then says that Rawiri’s roommate Jeff clearly has taken a liking to Kahu, so he filled Jeff in on how well her spelling is coming along. Jeff realizes the lie and playfully confronts Rawiri.

A little while later, Jeff receives a phone call from his mother, asking him to come home to Papua New Guinea. His father needs help running their coffee plantation, and he is too proud to ask Jeff himself. Jeff invites Rawiri to work on the coffee plantation, and Rawiri accepts the invitation. Rawiri calls Nanny Flowers and promises to come home next summer.

Rawiri spends two years with Jeff in Papua New Guinea. He recalls that they were productive but not necessarily happy years. Clara, Jeff’s mother, knew Rawiri was Maori when Jeff invited him, but she makes Rawiri feel that he is too dark. Tom, Jeff’s father, was a self-made man who has Parkinson’s disease. Tom ran the plantation from the homestead, and Jeff turned the instructions into action.

Rawiri contemplates that, “sometimes, when you yourself are living life to the full, you forget that life elsewhere also continues to change like a chameleon” (38). He studies the political life in Papua New Guinea, stating that while the Maori nation has had to fight against the effects of European colonization, the nationalism in Papua New Guinea was growing despite tribal opposition and outside influences. Yet, as Rawiri comes to understand, the nationalism includes race discrimination against darker-skinned peoples and natives. This understanding prompts Rawiri to view his Maori ethnicity differently, as something that will forever be an identifiable trait and thus always a part of him. Rawiri learns that Porourangi has accepted his father’s offer to become chief of the tribe and that Kahu, now six, is returning to Whangara to stay. The only part of life back home that hasn’t changed is Koro Apirana’s indifference toward his eldest granddaughter.

During their second year in Papua New Guinea, Jeff and Rawiri visit Manus Island on a day trip. Jeff asks Rawiri if he is becoming homesick. Rawiri ponders the question as he listens to the whispers of the sea. He concludes that he is homesick, especially because his dark skin and Maori status ostracize him from the community. Jeff thanks Rawiri for the help and his friendship. Rawiri places a seashell to his ear and hears it calling him home. Upon returning to the coffee plantation, a letter is waiting for Rawiri from Porourangi. It relays that Ana is pregnant and that both Koro Apirana and Kahu are very excited.

Three events occur that convince Rawiri it is time to leave. The first event occurs when Jeff’s family is invited to a wedding reception, and despite his mother’s obvious objections, Jeff demands that Rawiri come with them. While at the wedding, Rawiri overhears Clara explaining away Rawiri’s presence to a guest by stating that Jeff is always bringing home stray dogs. She adds, “But at least he’s not a native,” and her laugh “glittered like knives” (40). The night only gets worse as Jeff hits a pedestrian on their drive home. After realizing the man is a native, Clara fears his tribe will kill them. Jeff’s family argues about what to do, everyone collectively ignoring Rawiri’s suggestion that they take the man to a hospital. Neighboring people begin to take notice of the accident, and Rawiri says he will never forget the look on Jeff’s pale face. The man who was hit, Rawiri later reveals, is named Bernard. The second event is a realization that Rawiri has after the accident inquest. Bernard died on the road that night due to the inaction of Jeff’s family. While Rawiri understands it was ultimately an accident, he cannot shake the thought, “And would I be next? There was nothing further to keep me here” (41).

Porourangi sends another letter relaying that Ana had a baby girl. Of course, Koro Apirana is disappointed and blames Nanny Flowers and her strong feminine genes. The letter is attached to a note from Kahu, who asks Rawiri not to forget about her. The third and final event occurs a month before Rawiri flies home. In the clouds, he had seen a strange formation resembling a surging sea with a giant whale. On the whale’s head is a swirling moko.

Rawiri gives Nanny Flowers a gift from Sydney. The gift insults Nanny Flowers, as it is a dress that confirms she has gained weight over the years. Rawiri decides to pick Kahu up from school. He describes her as having “turned into a doe-eyed, long-legged beauty with a sparkle and infectious giggle in her voice” (42). She immediately runs to Rawiri and wraps her arms around him.

Kahu says she helps Nanny Flowers every Wednesday in the vegetable garden. She also tells her uncle that her little sister is named Putiputi after Nanny Flowers and that she finished top in her class this year. After sharing a whirlwind of information with Rawiri, she suddenly twirls around and leaves to help her grandmother. Later that night, Nanny Flowers hosts a large dinner party for Rawiri’s return home. Porourangi, Ana, and Putiputi attend. Nanny Flowers also invites Rawiri’s friends, the neighborhood boys. Kahu runs up to Rawiri and exclaims, “See how much we love you Uncle? We killed the fatted calf for you, just like the Bible says” (43). Rawiri watches as Kahu tries to hold her grandfather’s hand, yet is shoved away and ignored. Porourangi tells Rawiri that their father is still searching for the chosen boy who can “pull the sword” (43). His grandfather’s search for a male heir has become an obsession, perhaps because of his increasing age. Yet, in searching thus, he ignores the one who has always adored him.

Sitting on the verandah, Nanny Flowers and Rawiri speak about Kahu. She possesses all the necessary characteristics to be chief one day; she has no guile, no envy, and no jealousy. They watch Koro Apirana turn Kahu away after she tells him she finished first in her class again. Rawiri takes Kahu out on his motorcycle, and Kahu asks him what it’s like to be a boy. She confides in Rawiri that she knows Koro Apirana doesn’t like her because she’s a girl. She tells Rawiri that sometimes she wishes she hadn’t been born a girl.

At the end of the school year, there is a break-up ceremony, which resembles a graduation. Kahu invites her whole family and even some of Rawiri’s friends. Everyone attends, except Koro Apirana, whose reserved seat remains vacant all night, “like a gap in a row of teeth” (45). The headmaster steps forward and says that the winning speech in the East Coast primary schools contest will be presented. Impressively, the speech was written entirely in the Maori native language. The headmaster calls Kahutia Te Rangi to the stage. Translated from Maori, Kahu reads, “Distinguished guests, members of the audience, my speech is a speech of love for my grandfather, Koro Apirana” (46). Nanny Flowers instantly bursts into tears. The speech praises her grandfather’s leadership skills and respectable demeanor. The group applauds loudly and triumphantly once Kahu finishes her speech, yet Rawiri knows it is not enough because Koro Apirana is not there. On the car ride home, Nanny Flowers says she is divorcing Koro Apirana tomorrow. Kahu responds, “‘It’s not Paka’s fault, Nanny,’ she said, ‘that I’m a girl’” (46).

Two weeks after the break-up ceremony, Koro Apirana takes the young boys out to sea. He throws a carved stone into the ocean, tasking any one of the boys who is brave enough to retrieve the stone. Despite some attempts, none of the boys are able to retrieve the stone. When Koro Apirana returns home, he isolates himself in his room and begins to weep. Kahu sees this and asks what is wrong with her grandfather. She hears that Koro Apirana is sad that none of the boys could retrieve the carved stone. The next morning, she waits by the sea for Rawiri and begs him to let her come out to sea. Nanny Flowers joins the group as well, and the three decide to see for themselves just how difficult this stone is to find. Kahu calmly turns to them and proclaims that she will get the stone. Rawiri recalls that “before we could stop her she stood up and dived overboard. Until that moment I had never known she could swim” (48). Nanny Flowers begins to panic, and Rawiri decides to dive in after Kahu. Distraught, Nanny Flowers jumps into the water herself, only to be calmed by Rawiri, who points out Kahu. As if guided by the dolphins, Kahu swims directly to the stone and easily retrieves it. She also grabs a crayfish for her Paka’s tea. Nanny Flowers whispers to Rawiri not to say a word of this to his father as “he’s not ready yet” (50). The sea swells with anticipation.