Whale Rider Analysis Essay

This universality of Whale Rider receives cross-cultural affiliations. The rite of passage of the character Jonah (noted in ihimaera's novel, the whale Rider) who emerged the changed person from the giant's stomach is one instance. The Greek Arion who sat on the dolphin; King Lear and Cordelia; the tale of the Arthurian horse, man Percival, and the Fisher queen represent others. This older man and young woman, who also represents koros developing ability to interact, go side by side at the Waka. They represent pictures of the state of practice and difference (senex and puella archetypes) , of the older patriarchal state system making room for the gender, which constitutes the inclusive, people focused approach, where everyone has a valued role to play.

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This is the story that inspired Witi Ihimaera’s best-selling novel The Whale Rider. Māori ancestor Paikea journeyed into New Zealand on the back of a whale called Tohora. Paikea, who descended from the god of the sea Tangaroa, was sent a whale after his brother vengefully sank the canoe they were travelling on. Despite his brother’s attempt to sabotage his voyage, Paikea arrived safely in the East Cape of the North Island.

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The movie's story is the history of Paikea Apirana (`` Pai '') . The leader should be the first-born grandson – the primary patrilineal descendant of Paikea, the giant Rider – he who sat on side of the giant (Tohora) from Hawaiki. Pai is originally born the sibling, but her twin brother, also as her mother, dies at birth. However, Pai is female and technically will not acquire this position. While her grandfather, Koro, after makes the loving connection with his granddaughter, holding her to education daily on his bike, he likewise condemns her and blames her for conflicts happening within the tribe.

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Until one individual prepares to make this killing to save the people…the giant Rider. `` Whale Rider '' shows emotional content of the young Maori woman, Pai, who is the main character and the most colorful celebrity in this movie. She fights to attain the acceptance of her grandpa and her people. From the start, Paikea, or Pai, is a young woman in the person's world. Though she is known by her grandfather named Koro, who is the leader of the Maori nation, she is not accepted as the next human, and as the individual as well. The special attention should be given to the the idea of shadows in the history, as it has an important significance.

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A young girl named Paikea once said, “In the old days, the land felt a great emptiness. It was waiting. Waiting to be filled. Waiting for someone to love it. Waiting for a leader” (Whale Rider). As seen in the eyes of Paikea, from the movie Whale Rider, a leader is a guide, someone who guides his or her people in the right directions, someone who does all he or she can do to improve his or her land.

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Niki Caro’s acclaimed film, Whale Rider, is an aspiring story of a young Maori girl’s pursuit to prove herself to her grandfather and to undertake her destiny as the tribal leader. Her grandfather, Chief of Whangara has old-fashioned attitudes that blind him to his granddaughter’s potential as his successor. It is only when tragedy strikes that Pai can prove to her grandfather that her community’s link with the spiritual world of the Maori lives on.