The Wasp Factory
The Wasp Factory is Frank/Francine’s means of making sense of his dark, confusing, twisted world. Believing himself/herself castrated as a child because of a vicious dog attack he ostracizes himself from other boys. Over time this sense of “otherness” worsens when his/her brother, Eric is committed to a mental institution. The loneliness and emotional torment that he/she endures causes him/her to turn to rites and strange superstitious practices to give a sense of purpose and direction as well as a sense of control and power. The ultimate manifestation of this need for control, comfort, and answers is The Wasp Factory, an elaborate clockwork trap that Frank/Francine has, to a certain extent, deified, interpreting the random clicks, whirrings, and turnings of the many dials for the answers that he/she so desperately seeks.
Old Saul’s Skull
Angus fabricates a story about how Old Saul, the family dog, supposedly mauls Frank/Francine’s genitals effectively neutering him/her and in retribution he kills Old Saul and buries him in the Skull Grounds. Frank/Francine exhumes his skull a decade later, using it as a ritual instrument. He/she makes use of the skull as it is emblematic of the power that had been taken from him--the power to procreate as well as the ability to fully mature into a man. In disinterring the skull Frank/Francine feels that some of that masculine power that was taken from him/her can somehow be reclaimed.
The Specimen Jar
When Frank/Francine breaks into his/her father’s office he/she finds what he/she believes to be the remains of his/her genitals that have been stored in a jar. The missing organs, in Frank/Francine’s mind represent a future that was supposedly stolen from him/her. In the last few chapters of the novel however Angus destroys the jar exposing the “testicles” to be nothing more but lumps of clay revealing the truth that “Frank” was never actually a male. The jar’s obliteration is symbolic of Frank/Francine’s freedom from the lie that had kept him angry and confused for so long; with the truth finally revealed a new future possibility now opens up for Frank/Francine--she may now live her life as a woman--if she so chooses.
Frank/Francine Cauldhame
Despite the barbarism and insanity that Frank/Francine has displayed there is an undeniable truth that must be faced: he/she is ultimately a victim of a more sick, more twisted mind. It may even be argued that the predations that he/she has carried out are the direct result of having been raised up in such perverse conditions. Frank/Francine therefore can symbolize, albeit backhandedly, the dangers of organized religion or despotic regimes, proving that people can be acclimatized to brutal results given enough conditioning and manipulation.
Angus Cauldhame
The mysterious father of Frank/Francine, Eric, and Paul is the deviant mind that had orchestrated the creation of the monster that is Frank/Francine. He is a master manipulator who maintains near total control over his children by keeping them isolated, deliberately feeding them misinformation, and through constant verbal and emotional abuse. It is never revealed why he carried out these abuses but one thing can be inferred; Angus embodies every single abusive and totalitarian form of authority--whether secular or religious--and how if unchecked or uncontested can result in the creation of only two things: monsters or broken souls.
