Violence, then, is an ineffective means to an end-the end being a sense of personal fulfillment and self-control. However, although Frank spends much of the novel setting off bombs, building dams, torturing rabbits, and generally causing mayhem, in the book’s final pages Frank realizes that he has been using violence to compensate for his (perceived) castration, attempting to destroy because he felt he would never be able to (pro)create. Angus attempts to control his children through the strict rules he imposes on them, and the limitations he places on where they are allowed to go in his household, whereas Eric and Frank both enjoy exerting their power through acts of violence on the landscape, nearby animals, and other children. Throughout The Wasp Factory, members of the central Cauldhame family attempt to exert control over each other and over the wider world.
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