Whale Rider essay

He was calling to the ancient ones, asking them to help him. But they werent
listening.
So I tried. And they heard me.
Niki Caro, the director of the 2002 film Whale Rider tells the story of a Maori tribe
finding it difficult to adjust to change, and they need someone to lead them out of the
darkness, a chosen one. Paikea Apirana is that chosen one. In that quote mentioned at
the start, there needs to be one person to lead the crumbling community out of the
darkness, that person is Paikea. She is shown to be the chosen one because she can
communicate with the whales. Also because she endeavored to save the tribe when
Koro and the others had given up. Niki Caro also gives many clues and foreshadows
that Paikea is the chosen one.

In the film, Paikea is shown to be the chosen one because she can communicate with
the ancestors. The quote from the start is Paikea saying that Koro was asking for help
from the ancestors. But they didnt listen to him instead they listened to Paikea. Even
Paikeas name is significant. Paikea was the original Whale Rider, the one that
brought the tribe to New Zealand. So Paikea has always had a connection to the
original whale rider. When Poro takes Paikea to Germany, she hears the whales
calling. Almost as if they are saying, dont go! Stay here with us! Another major
reason why Paikea is the chosen one is because she saved the whales, and she saved
the community. Koro found the whales beached after Paikea called them. The whales
symbolize the fate of the community and them ending up dying on a beach obviously
isnt good. Paikea communicated with the biggest whale (the original Paikeas whale)
and rode it back into the water. The other whales followed. So Paikea saved the
beached community.

Paikea was the perfect child to become chief. She had all the qualities that Koro
wanted in his boys. This is what Koro said to all the participants in his school You
will be taught in the old ways for all the qualities of a chief. You will be tested for
your strength. Your courage. Your intelligence. And your leadership. Paikea
demonstrated her strength when she stood up to Koro at his introduction to the school.
She demonstrated her courage when she took it upon herself to find Koros whale
tooth that none of the boys could find. Paikea demonstrated her intelligence with her
knowledge of all the tribal chants and her family history. Paikea proves this in her
speech to the community, and in her voiceovers. She demonstrated her leadership
when she led the whales to safety in the water.

There are many clues that Niki Caro gives that Paikea is the chosen one. One of them
is that she is the voice of all the voice-overs. Paikea has a connection with the
ancestors and she proves that in her voice-overs. For example, Koro was shocked to
find the whales on the beach, but Paikea knew that the ancestors had sent the whales
because they were in trouble. Paikea even said, Koro knew what it meant. It was
Paikea's whale, Sent to us because we were in trouble. She can talk to the ancestors
like no one else in the tribe can. Caro also gives hints like the rope that starts the
engine. Koro explains that all the little threads that bine together the rope represents
the community with everyone working together to make them strong. Then Koro uses
that rope to try and start the broken engine, and he breaks the rope, symbolizing that
he will break the community. But when Paikea tries to start the engine she succeeds
foreshadowing that she will fix the community. Those two examples are both
examples of how Niki Caro used foreshadowing to hint at the end of the film.

In the film, Paikea is the chosen one because: She can communicate with the whales
and therefore communicate with the ancestors. She has all the qualities of a chief and
is destined to be leader. Niki Caro gives hints and foreshadows that Paikea is the
chosen one in the film. In conclusion, the Evidence that is given proves that Paikea is
the chosen one based on the way that Caro has constructed Whale Rider in showing
that she was destined to be leader.