Fictional Story Inspired from Themes in The Castle

A man's journey from struggling with his identity to realizing it, this story tells the journey of Mr Patel, a Gujarati in Australia, who later becomes an Indian.

Running head: FICTIONAL STORY INSPIRED FROM THEMES IN THE CASTLE
FICTIONAL STORY INSPIRED FROM THEMES IN THE CASTLE
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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FICTIONAL STORY INSPIRED FROM THEMES IN THE CASTLE
‘I am an Indian’
A man’s journey from struggling with his identity to realizing it, this story tells the
journey of Mr Patel, a Gujarati in Australia, who later becomes an Indian.
Mr. Patel settled in a suburb in Melbourne neighbored by an Indian Muslim family after
coming to Australia in 1997. His reaction on seeing Mr. Ahmed was the same as the reaction of
Americans on seeing any bearded man after September 11. The two were poles apart but they
were Indians. Mr. Patel would join hands to pray, so would Mr. Ahmed.
Mr. Ahmed would kneel down to pray and so would Mr. Patel. Oh yes, and both would
address the Aussies as “gora” or “gore” (white or whites). When his son grew up to become a
mature lad of 20, Mr. Patel would find it difficult to convince him about hating the Ahmeds.
Romesh was too attached to Rizwan to make space for any hatred. The two would spend hours
together in that small tree house of theirs while they were kids. The tree house was their hideout,
their kingdom where there was no king but only knights.
The kingdom expanded and some curious Aussie kids wanted to explore it as well.
Jordon was amongst the few lucky ones who received the fine opportunity. The kingdom had

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three ‘knights in shining armor’ - Romesh, Rizwan and Jordon. The hangouts now expanded and
hard drinks replaced the soft toys. Friday nights became party night except Rizwan would not
attend. He was a devout Muslim and never missed a Friday prayer. For Romesh, religion was not
as crucial because it conflicted with his individuality and freedom. May be Rizwan felt the same
but he was too scared of his father. Patel kind of represented that Indian pop where being
devoutly religious was old fashion. Ahmed represented the other side of the coin.
Patel preferred affinity with the Aussies as he believed that you have to have close
connections with the majority else you might end up being at the bottom of the chain. He owned
a restaurant and wanted to make it big but could not do without local help. Jordon was his
medium. He could use him to expand his business because Jordon’s parents had links to people
that mattered. Ahmed would call him “laalchi Gujju” (greedy Gujarati). Things went on pretty
well for the folks until one day; the otherwise sunny sky of the Patels was dark with clouds.
It was Friday night. Blood scattered all over the place! Romesh was lying motionless
with his eyelids wide open as if they have seen someone they knew. The investigations revealed

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something that shattered Mr. Patel to pieces and he found himself in an ocean of tears with no
signs of rescue. One of the knights had betrayed Romesh.
“You! You killed my son!” cried an inconsolable Mr. Patel pointing at Rizwan. “You
bloody Muslim! Don’t you feel any remorse, any regret”, Mr. Patel carried on. Rizwan stood
there as motionless as his dead friend did, his ‘knight’ did. Nothing seemed to reach his ears,
neither Mr. Patel’s accusations nor his father’s fruitless defenses.
The two Indians were at each other while the Australians tried to decode their language.
His blood stained hands went up slowly to wipe the tears rolling down his face. His head went up
to see two Australian police officers approaching to handcuff him. Something went through his
mind and he ran faster than Usain Bolt did to escape the arrest. Mr. Patel’s vocals grew stronger
and his doubts became firmer.
Mr. Ahmed could not believe it. “Are these ‘goras’ (referring to the Australian officers)
are more loyal than you people”, exclaimed Mr. Patel and Mr. Ahmed could say nothing because
his son fled. The next day, ABC News broadcast a live video. It was Rizwan, asking Jordon to
show up. Mr. Patel suddenly realized that Jordon did not show up after the incident. Rizwan

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continued. “Patel uncle, I might be a Muslim but I am an Indian”. “I did not kill Romesh”. “You
doubt not me but my sub-identity, my Muslim identity”. Mr. Patel rushed to Jordon’s house to
find Jordon’s absence but the look on his parents’ face spoke everything.
Jordan showed up the next day and gave his statement to the police. In the next moment,
both Rizwan and his father were taken under arrest. The two were charged with acts of hate
crime against Romesh. The police told Mr. Patel that his suspicions were right and that the
Muslims were behind his son’s murder. “Thinks about this, Mr. Patel that if it was a hate crime
committed by Jordon against Indians, wouldn’t Rizwan be the target as well?” said one of the
police officials. Patel looked at them and said, “yes officer, you are right” but his eyes did not
match his words. It was clear. The ‘goras’ were behind it. Patel’s close affiliations did not work.
His Gujarati mind failed to find answers to this tragedy. He stood on the crossroads of being a
Gujarati and an Indian. He went to meet the Ahmeds. “It took me 22 years to realize that I am an
Indian. The ‘goras’ have brought us Indians together again after independence”.
Rizwan was not killed because he was on his Friday prayers that night. The Aussies,
Jordon and the officers failed to notice it. But Patel knew. He hated the Ahmeds because of their

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conservative thinking. He hated them because they attached too much importance to religion and
this hatred gave him the answers. Now he had to fight for his son, his Indian brothers and his
identity. First, he had to know how his son was taken away from him. He went straight to Jordon
and asked, “How did you find it was the Ahmeds who killed my son?”
Jordon mumbled and said, “I was with Romesh that night when Rizwan stabbed him from
behind, then stabbed him multiple times until he bled to death. He stabbed him as if he wanted to
say that you Indians, sorry you Hindus do not deserve to live”. “Let me tell your Mr. Patel, these
Indians, I am sorry I mean these Muslims deserve to be punished”. “They are threats to our
Australian society”. Looking at Jordon’s face, Patel realized the kind of hate he had for Indians.
A tinge of pain ran through his chest, probably out of the hurt and regret. However, he also a felt
a strange relief to come finally to terms with his identity. He told Jordon, “Listen beta (son), I
might have left behind my Indianness in order to earn money but I have not forgotten it”.
“Let me tell you something, we Indians never stab in the back. We believe in hitting face
on, not like the whites who would first deceit and then take away everything. And one more
thing beta (son), think about your past once and contemplate if Australia actually belongs to you

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white people”. Ask your parents and grandparents if you do not know”. Saying these words,
Patel left and began his fight for justice. He found support from some Indigenous communities as
well. The Ahmeds were released for lack of evidence. A local NGO came out in support
although it had majority of white Australians. While working with them, Mr. Patel realized that
humanity is the only identity, no matter if you are black, brown or white.
Jordon was arrested along with other perpetrators who had provided him weapons. Mr.
Patel and Mr. Ahmed continued staying in Australia. Rizwan formed a student’s organization
after Romesh.
Explanation:
The story above has taken inspiration from the techniques used in the chosen text The
Castle, a film directed by Rob Sitch. In the film, several language and literary techniques have
been used that have clearly established the relation between language, identity and culture. The
main character in the film, Darryl Kerrigan (played by Michael Caton) goes through numerous
phases in life while fighting for his home, his ‘castle’ that reveals the various identities he has a
human.
Furthermore, Darryl also brings to the fore, several identities that are although not
directly portrayed in the film but shown through the dialogues and characters. For example, the

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film uses the Kerrigans’ struggle for their land as a parallel, to the Aboriginal people’s struggle
for their own land. This also shows the excellent connection made between culture and identity
to place.
In the short story above, the themes of conflict, struggle, status or class and challenge
have been used. The apparent conflict is between the main character Mr. Patel and his Muslim
neighbor but the actual conflict is between the Indian identity and the religious identity. The
struggle depicted in the story has been mostly about the struggle for finding a place where Mr.
Patel could peacefully follow his vegetarian diet, which is also a part of his culture.
The relationship between culture and identity was also demonstrated through the
characters of Romesh and Rizwan as well. The two belonged to different cultural backgrounds
but they did not let it come in their friendship. The challenge faced by Mr. Patel to settle down in
an unknown land with different culture and language was demonstrated as well. All these themes
have been inspired from the film. The reason behind choosing these themes was that the above
story could not have been narrated in a better way.

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References:
IMDb.com 2019. The Castle (1997) - IMDb. [online] IMDb. Available at:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2019].