Irony of Frank/Francine’s Anger towards Women
Frank/Francine’s is angry with women because of his/her mother’s supposed abandonment as well as his/her supposed castration. When the truth is finally revealed that his/her entire world--the abandonment, their isolation, the loss of his/her genitals--all happened to be a sick, elaborate lie, the root of Frank/Francine’s anger suddenly becomes meaningless. Her anger towards women is at best misplaced and at worse completely unnecessary given that she too is a female and that her mother, ultimately, is herself a victim of Angus’ wicked manipulations and abuses.
Irony of Angus Cauldhame
Angus Cauldhame is an evil, warped being who enjoys the immense power that he wields over his family. He lords over them through a combination of manipulation, isolation, and verbal abuse. It is ironic though that there seems to be no real reason for him to be acting in that manner--no reports of childhood trauma, no indications of drug abuse, nothing. In fact, all things considered, he has all the necessary elements to raise a happy, emotionally sound, mentally stable household. Instead however he chooses to subject his family to cruel mind games and keeps them as virtual prisoners for no apparent reason that he is just a perverted human being who delights in inflicting cruelty.
Irony of Frank/Francine’s Rituals
The rituals that Frank/Francine carries out to get answers and to make sense of the confusing chaos that is his/her life is actually nothing more than random acts that he/she carries out that he/she interprets through the most cursory reasons. In short, these rituals and superstitions he/she uses to give herself a sense of normalcy and meaning are nothing more than things she had pulled out of thin air and are, for the sake of argument actually meaningless save for himself/herself.
Irony of Frank Cauldhame
The manipulation of Angus of his children is so total, so complete that even he even manages to fool them about their own biological identity. He creates a story about how the family dog supposedly castrates Frank but in reality “Frank” is actually born female. He manages to fool him/her into buying this fabricated story by feeding him male hormones, secreting them in his meals. The male hormones prevent him/her from experiencing menses and he develops secondary male characteristics like a boyish build and facial hair.
Irony of Paul Cauldhame
Paul Cauldhame, youngest of the Cauldhame brood is a truly odd bird. Unlike his other siblings who display psychotic behavior and/or murderous tendencies he is actually innocent and possesses a gentle, sweet demeanor. It is therefore genuinely odd that Frank/Francine would come to the twisted conclusion that because Paul’s birth coincides perfectly with the death of Old Saul that some sort of supernatural “soul exchange” occurred and that Paul, at least in Frank/Francine’s damaged mind, is actually a reincarnation of his/her “old nemesis” Old Saul.
