The Whale Rider: Characters (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note

Kahu Apirana

• The protagonist, Kahu, is immediately established as a significant member of the Māori village: she is named after the original whale rider, Kahutia Te Rangi

• Ihimaera’s portrayal of Kahu is sympathetic:

  • She struggles to fulfil her destiny as the whale rider as she is a female successor

  • After her mother's death, she is raised away from Whangara by her maternal grandmother (Rehua's mother), before returning at the age of six to live with her father, Porourangi, and his new wife, Ana

• Ihimaera delivers key ideas about family, tradition, and progress through Kahu: 

  • As a female successor, she causes family conflicts about tradition

  • She represents a modern female close to her heritage 

  • Kahu’s unjust alienation hinders the tribe’s future

• Kahu symbolises a return to harmony in the tribe and with the natural world:

  • In the resolution, Kahu rescues the whales and reunites the family

  • She is willing to sacrifice herself for her people: “I am not afraid to die”

Koro Apirana

• Koro’s character is presented as the strict, elderly patriarchal Whangara chief:

  • He is knowledgeable and passionate about Māori tradition and culture 

• Ihimaera’s characterisation of the powerful chief facing modern problems symbolises the struggle between tradition and modernity:

  • His refusal to accept Kahu raises gender and cultural issues

  • However, his love of the Māori culture presents him as well-intentioned

  • In the resolution, his acceptance of Kahu reconciles the family

• Ihimaera characterises Koro as excessive in his actions:

  • Koro’s persistent shunning of Kahu portrays his stubbornness 

  • His marriage is harmed because of his traditional outlook

Rawiri 

• Ihimaera uses a character with a neutral position to narrate: Rawiri, the younger brother of Porourangi, is not an heir:

  • As a quiet, calm member of the family, he is a reliable narrator

  • He provides distance as he relates Kahu’s spiritual journey

  • This objectivity places the magical events firmly in reality

• Rawiri symbolises the search for identity and belonging in a traditional world:

  • However, his journey to Australia also highlights post-colonial discrimination

  • His experiences abroad deepen his understanding of discrimination and help him reconnect with his Māori identity

• Rawiri’s return to Whangara shows him as a loving, loyal family member

Nanny Flowers

• Nanny Flowers (spelled "Nani" in some editions) is Kahu's great-grandmother and the foil to Koro, her husband, as she is patient and caring and understands the younger generation: 

• She represents a harmonious integration of the past and the future 

• Like Kahu, her character subverts gender and age expectations:

  • She is rebellious: she commandeers a motorboat to chase Koro and challenges his authority

• She is a significant role model to Kahu, encouraging her and supporting her

• Her likeable character allows Ihimaera to convey themes about family love: 

  • She manages Koro’s stubborn nature, and guides Kahu to wait until the time is right to prove her destiny

Porourangi

• Through Porourangi Apirana, Kahu’s father, Ihimaera illustrates how tradition can create conflict:

  • Porourangi is caught between his duty as Koro’s successor and protecting his new daughter 

• Although the natural successor, he declines the leadership role, indirectly increasing the pressure on Kahu

• Porourangi is characterised as an honest, kind father, although he lets Kahu be raised by her maternal grandmother until she is six, and remarries to start a new family

The bull whale 

• Ihimaera tells the story of the original whale from Māori legend:

  • He is characterised as a mystical creature with a tattoo of a sacred symbol 

  • He is a spiritual symbol of the past and generational continuity

• The whale is the narrator of alternate chapters

• The whale shares similar characteristics to Koro:

  • He is stubborn and nostalgic for the past

• However, the whale story runs parallel with Kahu’s to illustrate their bond:

  • They both lose their mother, leave home, and become wise leaders

Jeff 

• Jeff, a European settler, represents colonial discrimination and racism: 

  • Jeff becomes Rawiri’s best friend in Australia 

  • In Papua New Guinea, on Jeff’s family plantation, Ihimaera illustrates the family’s casual racism towards Rawiri and the workers

• The climatic event, when Jeff kills Rawiri’s worker friend Bernard and his parents dismiss it because he is a “native”, is a turning point for Rawiri

Kahutia Te Rangi (Paikea)

• Kahutia Te Rangi, also known as Paikea, is the legendary ancestor of the tribe and the original whale rider:

  • In the novel's opening, he arrives in Aotearoa (New Zealand) on the back of the bull whale and throws spears that become living creatures

  • One spear does not land, and legend says it is waiting for a time when it will be needed

• Kahu is named after him, which links her to the tribe's founding ancestor and foreshadows her role as the new whale rider

• The bull whale's longing for his lost rider drives the whale narrative and brings the pod back to Whangara