Castle in the Air

During his journey, Abdullah frequently wrestles with the notion of agency and questions how much control he has over his own life. His destiny has been prophesized since birth, but he ignores this in favor of his own daydreams—he does not want a fate chosen by others. Throughout Abdullah’s dilemma, the novel thus explores the tensions between personal agency versus fate.

Abdullah’s daydreams are about an imagined birthright rather than his own projected actions, as he initially believes his fate is determined by the circumstances of birth. The gradual materialization of these daydreams builds a false sense of fatalism, which is then undercut by the reveal that Hasruel orchestrated these events. This revelation challenges the literary trope of destiny in a quest story: Apparent “fate” actually reflects choices. Diana Wynne Jones suggests that events that might seem inevitable or fated are sometimes the consequences of deliberate actions.

Nonetheless, Hasruel still represents a bigger power dictating events. Abdullah struggles with the sense that everything is determined by other forces, big and small. These include “Fate,” whether the prophecies or Hasruel, but also the soldier and the cats, who manage to manipulate him to get their way.