Rawiri regards himself as a fatherly figure to her and feels the need to look after her, protecting her from all the rain and storm. Also, when Kahu went out to sea in an attempt to save the whales, ‘instantly I (he) ran through the waves’, ‘plunged into the sea’ and ‘yelled to her, a despairing cry’. Even though he was ‘frightened by the heavy seas’, he bravely ploughs on for her as he does not want to lose Kahu and felt a strong responsibility to get her back to safety, even if he ‘would just have to go down this whale’s throat and pull Kahu right out’. This shows the extent of his guardianship of Kahu as he takes pains to protect this mentally strong yet fragile girl of eight.
Lastly, he also provides humour in different moments in the novel, especially in times of tension. For example, when Nanny felt indignant and unfair regarding the exclusion of women during school sessions, Rawiri managed to lighten the tense atmosphere through his comical phone conversation with Cheryl and bringing Kahu to the movies instead, with the girls ‘assessing whether I (he) had now become marrying material’. By inserting comic relief, there is a variation in the mood throughout the novel and thus the readers do not feel perpetually a sense of pressure and tension, and are able to feel relaxed. Also, the way Nanny wanted to look her best despite her failure as she wears a hat that ‘must have looked wonderful in the 1930s’ and ‘added a bit of this and a