The Wasp Factory
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Iain Banks |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
Publication date | 1984 |
| Publication place | Scotland |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 184 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-349-10177-9 (paperback edition) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| OCLC | 22766221 |
| Followed by | Walking on Glass |
The Wasp Factory was the first novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. It was published in 1984.
Overview
Written from the first person perspective, it is a deeply unreliable narrative told by sixteen-year-old Frank Cauldhame, describing his childhood and all that remains of it. Frank observes many shamanistic rituals of his own invention. As the novel develops, his brother's escape from a mental hospital and impending return lead on to a violent ending and a twist that undermines all that Frank believed about himself.
Plot
The 'Wasp Factory' of the title is a huge clock face encased in a glass box and salvaged from the local dump. Behind each of the 12 numerals is a trap which leads to a different ritual death (for example burning, crushing, or drowning in Frank's urine) for the wasp that Frank puts into the hole at the center. Frank believes the death 'chosen' by the wasp predicts something about the future.
There are also Sacrifice Poles, upon which hang the bodies and heads of larger animals, such as seagulls, that Frank has killed and other sacred items. They define and 'protect' the borders of Frank's territory - the island upon which he lives with his father.
Frank occupies himself with his rituals and an array of weapons (from his catapult, to home-made flame throwers and pipe bombs) to control the island. He goes for long walks and runs, and occasionally gets drunk with his dwarf friend Jamie in the local pub. Other than that, Frank has almost no contact with the world outside his island and admits he is afraid of it due to what it did to his brother, Eric.
Frank's older brother Eric is in an insane asylum after witnessing a tragic case of neglect in a hospital where he was training. He escapes in the start of the novel and throughout the book rings Frank from phone boxes; informing him he is coming to visit. Frank is confused as to whether or not he is looking forward to seeing Eric, but it is clear Frank loves his brother dearly. Frank constantly refers to his older brother as being extremely sensitive before "the incident". After a long build-up, which comes to define the book, we discover "the incident" which occurred to drive Eric insane.
At the very end of the novel the reader finds out that Frank is in fact female, and that when he thought he was castrated by Old Saul (the family dog) at a young age, his father had simply pumped him full of male hormones to see if he would transition from female to male. The father said it was simply "an experiment" and there are hints it was in order to distance himself from the women he felt had ruined his life.
Literary significance and criticism
A 1997 poll of over 25,000 readers listed The Wasp Factory as one of the top 100 books of the 20th century.[1] But as a first novel by an unknown author, the book was initially greeted with a mixture of acclaim and controversy, due to its gruesome depiction of violence. While this is mostly against animals, Frank also recollects killing three younger children when a child himself. The murders are described in a frank and matter-of-fact way, often with grotesque humour; what may be more disturbing than the details of the violence itself is the depth and intensity with which Frank is portrayed. What is also most shocking about the novel is the fact that the reader actually starts to sympathise with and even like Frank despite his monstrous, psychopathic actions.
The novel works largely as a 'Bildungsroman' as it deals with Frank's ability to deal with events going on around him as he has grown up. In terms of genre it fits into the Gothic Literature due to its exploration of death, mortality and arguably presentations of the monstrous.
It also deals with Banks' sceptical attitudes towards organised religion. Frank is obsessive about ritual and the form of things; the Wasp Factory and the Sacrifice Poles are protective talismans, and divinatory in intent.
The novel is also about power and its abuse. Frank's father's deception of his son (one of Banks' central themes, which appears again in The Crow Road), and the propensity of people for deceiving themselves, are accentuated in the final chapters of the book when new facts force the reader to reassess completely the opinions formed about the narrator. .
Release details
- 1984, UK, Macmillan (ISBN 0-333-36380-9), Pub date 16 February 1984, hardback (First edition)
External links
- Iain Banks discusses The Wasp Factory on the BBC World Book Club
- Iain Banks discusses The Wasp Factory at the Guardian Book Club
- Iain Banks writing about the creation of The Wasp Factory for the Guardian
- Unreality Shout review
- Steven Wu review
- William Lexner review
- Critical Analysis of Iain Banks' Work