Kuho In Joseph Campbell's The Whale Rider

A hero in every myth or story tend to be a special character in the story that the readers notice and foreshadow that this character will accomplish something. The Joseph Campbell theory suggest that a hero must go through a transformation physically and spiritually. In The Whale Rider, one of the main characters, Kahu goes through that transformation throughout the story she becomes aware of her identity. According to Joseph Campbell’s theory Kuho fits the characteristics of a true hero such as determination, bravery, and self sacrificing.

Kuho was unlike other ordinary kids her age, she was very determined to learn and prove her leadership. Despite Koro continuously doubting her skills and ignoring how passionate she is to learn she still seeks to learn from him. Her uncle Rawiri was watching how she was growing up “ just as I was maturing in my own understanding, she, too, was moving closer and closer to that point where she was in the right place at the right time, with the right understanding to accomplish the task that had been assigned to her. In this respect there is no doubt in my mind that she had always been the right person"(Ihimaera 70). With this her uncle sees the girl that

The reader can not doubt her bravery as it was very obvious that she was fearless. When the bull whale was rolling over into the beach Koro and the women failed to save it. Kahu knows that if it die then her people die too. She runs and jumps with no fear into the ocean and rides the whale, even though it was taking her away from home and deep into the ocean she had enough bravery to do it. “She was the whale rider. “I am not afraid to die,” she whispered to herself” (Ihimaera 130). She was just a kid but the reader can see she wasn’t an ordinary kid but a brave