"The Wasp Factory" has been described as a "modern Gothic horror story". To what extent do you agree?

I would agree with the statement that "The Wasp Factory" is a "modern Gothic horror story".

It was written during the 1980s and is set at the time, thus qualifying as "modern".

It displays many of the aspects traditionally found in Gothic literature, including those of setting, characterisation and style.

Its main setting is an island in northern Scotland, an isolated location in which we can see parallels with the castles and abbeys of earlier Gothic fiction.

There are also clear links between the setting and the characters. The isolation of the island reflects Frank's position cut off from main-stream society, which is due to both her father's convincing her that she does not officially exist and her own feelings over her supposed castration. Frank herself says "I don't like leaving the island" (page 19). In the wider world she might be mocked for her disability, but on the island she can be "eunuch but unique; a fierce and noble presence in [her] land" (page 183). The link between character and territory is also demonstrated elsewhere in the book, when we are told that the Cauldhame family "used to own a lot of the land" (page 15) in the area. This importance of family heritage and a bond with the land can also be seen in Gothic novels such as Bram Stoker's "Dracula", where the eponymous vampire can only rest in coffins containing soil from his homeland made sacred by the blood of his ancestors.

There is deep, and sometimes explicit, psychological symbolism in Frank's house itself. Frank tells us that there is a large quantity of explosive in the cellar, and that her father sees it as "a link with the past, or an evil demon we have lurking, a symbol for all our family misdeeds; waiting, perhaps, one day to surprise us" (page 53). Once again there are parallels in classic Gothic texts, such as the secret underground passages in Lewis' "The Monk", where Ambrosio encounters the devil.

There are some typically Gothic characters in "The Wasp Factory". Frank displays traits identifiable in Gothic villains, in her case those of male Gothic. Frank is violent, killing innumerable animals and three of her relatives: "That's my score to date. Three." (page 42). The coolness with which she makes this statement, and the delight in the suffering of animals throughout the book, admirably demonstrated on page 21 when she describes how she "once . . . tied a wasp to the striking surface [of her alarm clock], where the little hammer would hit them in the morning when the alarm went off" then woke up early in order to watch leads the reader to conclude that she is amoral. Violence and immorality is typical in a Gothic villain, but these characteristics are usually coupled with a charisma and forceful energy that Frank lacks. However, Banks makes good this deficiency with this use of first person narrative, making Frank the driving force of the story, and forcing us to start from her point of view, however swiftly we may move to disagree.

The other character who resembles a Gothic villain is Angus, Frank's father, who displays many of the features of the male villain in female Gothic. He has effectively imprisoned Frank on the island by telling her she has been castrated, and not only seeks to control his daughter but to actually alter her gender. He does this so successfully that for most of the book Frank believes herself to be male, and even expresses a deep dislike of women: "My greatest enemies are women and the sea" (page 43). She considers women to be "weak and stupid" (page 43), and believes they "live in the shadow of men and are nothing compared to them" (page 43). There is a great irony here, as Frank is one of the hated women herself. In this, at least, Banks shows himself to be a revolutionary writer, maintaining that gender identity is entirely the result of upbringing. Frank behaves in a traditional, even an extreme "male" manner, purely because she believes this to be her identity. Gothic writers have always aroused controversy over the supposedly revolutionary and subversive nature of their villains, and Banks' Frank certainly conforms to this. However, much Gothic literature has in fact been reactionary, with emphasis placed on the re-establishment of order at the end of the story. This does occur in "The Wasp Factory", though instead of seeing the central villain being destroyed, we leave her preparing to be integrated into society.

Modern Gothic is often seen as a writing of excess, making use of extreme imagery and improbable situations. "The Wasp Factory" is a perfect example of this, with graphically detailed descriptions of burning rabbits and sheep, dying wasps, and a baby's brain being eaten by maggots. The device of a man trying to change his daughter's gender as "a way of lessening-perhaps removing entirely- the influence of the female around him"(page 181) is both bizarre and improbable, as is the idea that Frank could live for 16 years without noticing that she is, in fact, female.

I would maintain that "The Wasp Factory" uses horror, as opposed to terror. Although there is some tension created through concern over what Eric might do, and although there are some dark secrets hinted at in the first couple of chapters, the mysteries are dispelled fairly swiftly. Banks concentrates on clear and explicit unpleasantness; he shocks and repulses, but does not create any real sense of fear.

In conclusion, "The Wasp Factory" is modern, displays many Gothic features in its setting, characters and style, and is a horror story. It can therefore be accurately classed as a "modern Gothic horror story".

Bibliography

Iain Banks (1990) The Wasp Factory 3rd ed. England, Clays Ltd.

Have referred to, though not quoted from:

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Matthew G. Lewis' The Monk