The Whale Rider Essay

The word “quest” means a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something. In the movie Whale Rider a little girl named Paikea pursues a quest to follow that of her ancestors. When Paikea is born her mother dies when she gives birth to both Pai and her twin brother who also died at birth. Paikea’s father leaves her to be watched by her grandparents. Pai’s grandfather was not happy that her twin brother died at birth because he was supposed to be the next leader due to being the first-born son so he could follow the quest of the ancestors.   Paikea feels as if she needs to fulfill the quest of her ancestor who was also named Paikea even though she is a girl and wants to prove everyone that she can do it and ride a whale.

A mother and a twin brother dying at birth left Paikea all alone with her grandparents. Her dad left for Germany leaving Pai with her grandparents and a life near the water in New Zealand where her ancestor arrived to on the back of a whale. Paikea’s grandfather Koro wanted to have a grandson so he can learn the ways of their tribe and by tradition, the leader should be the first-born son which would have been Pai’s twin brother if he had lived. Koro was always unhappy with this and Pai could understand why. This is why she felt as if she had something to prove even though she was a girl. She constantly felt as if she had to make her grandpa proud and would do things to try and make him happy but nothing really worked because all Koro wanted was a grandson to teach to learn the ways of their tribe and become new leader. Paikea realized this and took action when her grandfather gathered a group of boys to start teaching them the way of their tribe.

The way of Pai’s tribe did not allow her to train along with the other boys her grandfather Koro was training. Paikea kept trying to sneak her way along the group of boys to try and learn along with them but Koro abandoned her from training. This was when Paikea took action into her own...