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The Whale Caller is a fifth novel written by South African writer Zakes Mda, who is currently a professor at Ohio University, It is a novel about a man in South Africa named Whale Caller. The Whale Caller first appears to be sexually attracted to whales; especially a whale he named Sharisha. As the story progresses, he meets a woman named Saluni, who falls deeply in love with the Whale Caller. Throughout the story, the Whale Caller constantly has internal conflicts. He tries to love Saluni, however he can not abandon the love he has toward his beloved whale, Sharisa.

Character Analysis:

Whale Caller and Sharisha: As the protagonists of the novel, the Whale Caller is characterized as somewhat of a loner who awaits the return of the whale, Sharisha. For a few years now, the Whale Caller has developed an unexpected relationship with Sharisha, as he is in love with a whale. The Whale Caller is able to express his love for Sharisha by playing his kelp horn, which causes Sharisha to swim around the shoreline, making the Whale Caller content. The Whale Caller is aroused by Sharisha’s reaction to the kelp horn, and considers Sharisha to be an intimate partner. This strains his relationship with Saluni who struggles to create intimacy with the Whale Caller since he is preoccupied with Sharisha. Ultimately though, the Whale Caller remains faithful to Sharisha and appeasing Saluni, until their deaths at the end of the novel. Saluni: Classified as the ‘village drunk,’ Saluni always seems to lurk around town seeking the Whale Caller’s attention. She constantly references the fact that she is a ‘love child’ and therefore deserves the affection and admiration she was denied of as a child. Saluni however is forced to compete for the Whale Caller’s love with the whale, Sharisha. Saluni is able to create intimate moments with the Whale Caller, and in an attempt to fully capture the Whale Caller’s heart, she constantly confronts Sharisha, asking the whale to die or leave the Whale Caller. While never successful, she seeks affection from the Bored Twins on her semi-regular visits to their home. At the end of the novel though, Saluni is tragically murdered by the Bored Twins, whom she had tended to throughout the novel. Bored Twins: Feral twins who are the daughters of two farm laborers’. Given their mental state, Saluni visits them during the day while their parents are in the fields. The Bored Twins have beautiful singing voices, which comfort Saluni during her times of depression. Saluni tries to record the twins’ voices for a recording company, but their mother is afraid that their voices will be stolen, forcing the twins to distance themselves from Saluni. At the end of the novel, as Saluni is leaving the twins’ house, they try to stop her by throwing rocks at her head, but they take it too far and accidentally kill her. Mda foreshadows Saluni’s death earlier in the novel when the twins would torture frogs and snakes, preparing the reader for the psychopathology of the murder. Mr. Yodd: Dwells in a grotto with rock rabbits. Throughout the novel, the Whale Caller and Saluni turn to Mr. Yodd for confession. The Whale Caller confesses his love for Sharisha, and his concern that she might not return from her migration, while Saluni expresses her want to dispose of Sharisha in order to capture the Whale Caller’s love. During confessions, Mr. Yodd taunts the Whale Caller and Saluni by occasionally laughing, causing discomfort and self-mortification for both the Whale Caller and Saluni.

 Themes 

Complexities of Love for Nature – Throughout the novel, The Whale Caller is infatuated with a southern right whale that he has named Sharisha. This is a complicated relationship because when one loves nature (something such a forest) one does not think that it can love us back, but in this case, Sharisha seems to respond to the Whale Caller’s affection. Mda makes the reader think about how the relationship with nature changes as we think of nature as being able to love us back; this complication affects the Whale Caller’s relationship with Saluni. For example, when the Whale Caller and Saluni are about to consummate their relationship, “…images of whales interfere at that moment of excitement and he goes limp” (74). This means that the Whale Caller is constantly thinking of Sharisha, even during his most intimate moments with Saluni. The Whale Caller also longs for Sharisha when she is away on migration. This love for Sharisha symbolizes the love normally only shared between two people.

Jealousy – The theme of jealousy is a prominent one in throughout the novel. The jealousy is mainly coming from Saluni and she is showing that jealousy towards Sharisha because Sharisha seems to get most of The Whale Caller’s attention. Saluni mentions the love triangle between The Whale Caller, Saluni, and Sharisha; Saluni does not want this triangle to exist. Saluni says “I can tell you I am not going to be part of any triangle. The fish must go!” (81). Saluni constantly tries to get the Whale Caller farther and farther away from Sharisha. For example, when they start their journey, Saluni wants them to take the side roads, that are away from the ocean, so that The Whale Caller does not think about Sharisha.

Betrayal- Throughout the novel, there are references to betrayal among the major characters in the novel. Saluni always shows affection towards the Bored Twins and they do likewise, but there are times when they don’t. Ultimately, the Bored Twins betray her, which leads to her tragic death. Saluni starts running to go back to The Whale Caller and the twins try to slow her down by throwing rocks at her. When they see that this works, they make a game out of it and they continue throwing stones at her until they realize that she is no longer moving nor breathing.

Blind Following – Throughout the novel, there are times in which people blindly follow others, without knowing the final destination and without knowledge of the purpose of the journey. After being blinded by the sun, Saluni goes on an adventure with The Whale Caller, and she literally blindly follows him wherever he leads her. This blind following represents Saluni’s thinking that her life is now pointless. She has lost her chance to be a Hollywood star and she believes that she has also lost The Whale Caller to Sharisha. During her journey, she made no progression and in the end, she returns the same person as she left.