Paul Kelly Influence

Paul Kelly is a singer-songwriter famous for the heavy undertones he uses in his songs and The Castle is the story of s little aussie battler named Darryl Kerrigan taking on an Australian powerhouse corporation in an effort to preserve his family home. In a wide range Paul Kelly songs we see many positive and negative impacts on family, these are also a common feature in the movie The Castle.

In the movie The Castle the Kerrigan family always tend to defy adversity and remain together especially when their home is under threat. When a letter from the council comes in the mail for the Kerrigans telling them that they are facing a compulsory acquisition of their home they don't know what to make of the situation, they're scared about the future
and what will happen to them. The Kerrigans have a strong bond to their home, “its not a house, its home” - Darryl Kerrigan as they have brought up four children in that home and it is full of memories for them. “you know [Wayne Kerrigan] keeps a picture of this place on his wall” - Darryl Kerrigan. Darryl takes the appeal to court but after failing he believes he had let everyone down, but in reality he hasn't. “Dad, you haven’t let anyone down. I don’t know what the opposite of lettin’ someone down is… but you done the opposite.” - Steve Kerrigan. In other words, their home, their memories and their family mean so much to the Kerrigans and when faced with a compulsory acquisition they stick together as all good families do.

The song How To Make Gravy is a classic by Paul Kelly, it talks about how being imprisoned can really effect a family.
The protagonist on the song is Joe, the song is a letter he writes to either a brother or mate named Dan. In the song Joe talks about how much he misses his family during the Christmas season, as he laments about missing relatives he asks, “Who's gonna make the gravy now? I bet it won't taste the same” implying that this is usually his job at Christmas and that without him there it wont taste the same, which is alluding to the fact that without him their, Christmas wont be the same. While in prison Joe has really seen the error of his ways, he knows now that without him with his family he can't see or protect his wife or children, “And you'll dance with Rita, I know you really like her, Just don't hold her too close, oh brother please don't stab me in the back". Joe is regretting the choices he made with ended with him in the big house and he knows that he owes to his family to apologise, “You know one of these days, I'll be making gravy, I'll be making plenty, I'm gonna pay 'em all back.” Joe feels the longing to be home with his family when his locked up and even though he can't physically see it, it would have a negative affect on his
family.

The main difference between the stories of The Castle and How To Make Gravy is how you see all the family members affected. In The Castle you see the affect the compulsory acquisition affects the whole family, mainly Darryl and Sal Kerrigan. Darryl Kerrigan is all about fighting to keep his home and takes it so far as the high court of Australia and even contesting the constitution with the help of his lawyer Dennis Denuto, “In summing up. It’s the constitution. It’s Mabo. It’s justice. It’s law. It’s the vibe.” - Dennis Denuto. All the while Sal Kerrigan sits back and tries not to show her worry and support her husband. While reading the lyrics of How To Make Gravy you are given the perspective of Joe, you hear about his sorrows and longing to be with his family and no input from his family and how they are coping with not have him around especially at Christmas, usually a time for family. Hearing the different affects stress can have on family is important, it gives depth to the situation at hand but also only having one party's opinion can show what the family is going through even when the rest are present.

On the whole, The Castle is a story about standing up for your rights and being prepared to fight for them while showing the effects it can have on a middle class family, while How To Make Gravy is about being away from family during the holidays and the longing to just be with the people you love. The similarity is that both these texts show the strain stress can have on a family and in the case of How To Make Gravy we still have an idea of the strain but we don't get everyone's feelings about the matter as we do in The Castle.