![]() ![]() Kahu went out to sea with Nanny Flowers and Rawiri, and without their knowledge leaped into the sea to retrieve Koro’s stone. The young boys failed to complete this task and the stone was left untouched at the bottom of the sea. He instructed the boys to dive in and bring the stone back to him he did this as another challenge to find a male who was strong enough to handle the power of the tribe’s leadership role. Koro Apirana takes the young boys to the sea and threw a carved stone into the ocean in a depth that was not visible. The second half of Whale Rider develops a change in the power of gender roles. ![]() She had a special connection with the whales and the sea, she favors Maori food, she bites Koro’s toe, she is able to retrieve Koro’s stone from the bottom of the sea, and her name is significant as it comes from the tribe’s founder, who was male. ![]() There were various signs that portrayed Kahu’s unique role later proven in the book. Then she looked up at him, and her eyes seemed to say, “Don’t think you’re leaving me out of this” (page 36). “Koro Apirana’s toes must have looked juicy to her, because there she was biting on his big toe and making small snarling sounds as she played with it, like a puppy with a bone. When he was instructing a lesson to the males in the meetinghouse, Kahu hid under the table and bit his toe, which symbolized the transfer of power to the one who performs this act. Koro Apirana deep down knows the capabilities of Kahu, he just refused to make her strengths a reality. When he takes the motor boat out to sea to run from his problems, she leaves him with no gas to return back to land. When he tries to escape in the row boat, she chases him down in the motor boat. Nanny Flowers is always one step ahead of Koro Apirana. For example, Koro Apirana is a character that holds the belief of male dominance and superiority, but in reality he is inferior to his wife, Nanny Flowers, most of the time. The idea of gender roles in the book Whale Rider is presented ironically on several accounts. It takes him until the final scene in the book to understand his faults and stubbornness. Koro Apirana is blinded by the strength and power of the one he has right in front of him, Kahu. #WHALE RIDER SERIES#He puts the men through a series of task but none are able to rise to the occasion. For a majority of the book Koro spends most of his time searching for a male to assume the inheritance of power in the tribe because he will not have a woman take on this task. He wants nothing to do with the child and angrily states “she has broken the male line of descent in our tribe” (page 13). When his son’s wife gives birth to a baby girl, Kahu, Koro is disgusted. Koro Apirana is a man of tradition and is not open to change. The main character in the book, Koro Apirana, will continue to further the idea of male superiority in society. ![]() The description of the whale rider displays his character as a God-like figure. He seemed, with all his strength, to be pulling the whale into the sky” (page 6). Upon that beast he looked like a small tattooed figurine, dark brown, glistening, and erect. His eyes were wide shining with splendor. The water streamed away from him and he opened his mouth to gasp in the cold air. From the very beginning the idea of male dominance is presented with the description of the whale rider “He was wondrous to look upon, the whale rider. In the book Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera, the conflict involving gender role is evident throughout. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |