Kulu ka waimaka wwe ‘opu

Tori Howard

            One crucial Hawaiian legend that surfaces in Hemming’s novel The Descendants is the Hawaiian views of rain on or near the death of a loved one. First, taking the traditional value of the message, “The Hawaiians say when rain fell at the time of a person’s death or funeral, Kulu ka waimaka wwe ‘opu, which means ‘the tears fall: the clouds weep.’ The gods mingle their tears of affection with those who weep in sympathy and aloha,” (41) the reader can understand that as the Earth mourns a loss, the heavens and nature gain from that loss. As gruesome as it sounds, the dead body of a human becomes a meal to all kinds of creatures, sustaining life even in its loss, showing the inherent cyclic nature of life and therefore nature itself.

            Looking at this phrase, “the tears fall: the clouds weep” I can’t help but be remembered about how rainy weddings are supposed to promise longetvity of the marriage. More specifically, Sposa bognata, sposa fortunate, which means “wet bride, lucky bride.” The story comes full circle for me, as Matt and his daughters Alex and Scottie realize that their lives will be better without their mother; while they weep in her passing, yet the heavens seem to remind the family in their own way: “it has been unusually cold all around the island these past few days, with hard rain, near black clouds—the most perfect weather for now” (272). Matt never elaborates on what he means by “now”: the time of the year, the passing of his wife, the storm that he brought upon so many people. Although at this point, while he never directly references the gods again after the original explanation of the story, the reader understands that he is implying this connection.