The Black Fort Symbol Analysis

Looking back on his past from his luxurious office in Bangalore, Balram imagines what the detectives and police would have found out about him had they returned to his home village of Laxmangahr. He laughs to himself that the police would never discover the true clue to what differentiated him from the other villagers, what made him capable of imagining a better life: his fascination with the Black Fort.

The Black Fort was the only thing of beauty in Balram’s impoverished ancestral village. The fort is a grand old building on a hill above town, constructed by foreign occupiers years ago, which both fascinated and frightened Balram throughout his youth. He claims that his ability to appreciate its beauty marked him early on as different from his fellow villagers and showed his destiny not to remain a slave. When he returns to the village years later with his wealthy master Mr. Ashok and his mistress Pinky Madam, he finally gets the courage to visit the fort alone. From the very top, he looks down on Laxmangahr and spits—he has literally risen above the Rooster Coop, and from within this fort representing the power of former occupiers, he rejects his former life and his family that still lives that life. A short time later, he murders Ashok.