Only Pai survives, which might be seen as a sign of the girl's strength, but is instead interpreted by Koro as a kind of curse or at very least an unfortunate event for the Maori tribe's future. In the hospital room, while his son is still overcome by grief, Koro can only think of his public role in the tribe, as is typical from someone from older generation. His more modern, independent, and individualistic son is still too overcome, psychologically, with has transpired, to tolerate the older man's different generational perspective. This conflict between individualism and collectivism is at the heart of Maori intergenerational conflict. Koro's granddaughter wishes to realize her own dream of becoming a leader, which she believes is her birthright. Her grandfather puts tradition ahead of such individualism, as can be seen in his schooling of all of the local boys in the same fashion, without regards to their own, individual needs and desires, as might transpire in a modern educational...

Even within the context of his own family setting, he cannot put the concerns of the tribe to the side. In a hospital, a grief counselor might suggest that Koro postpone all talk of the tribe's needs until his son had gone through the different stages of mourning, but Koro has grown up in a world where any conflict between public and private emotional demands must always yield to the needs of the collective, and where masculinity, open displays of emotion, and love are not acceptable. This shows how the gender-based generational conflict depicted in the film is not particular to Koro and Pai, but can even be seen in the attitudes the old man manifests towards younger males. It also shows how assertions of masculinity, unlike femininity, are public acts of significance, as transpires in the education of the young boys, or in Koro's assertion of his authority in the hospital.
Works Cited

Whale Rider." Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Rawiri Paratene. 2002.