Point of View

The story of "The Wasp Factory" is told in the first person omniscient allowing the reader to know all the actions and thoughts of the main character, sixteen-year-old Frank Cauldhame. Frank is a serial murderer who begins murdering at age 6. By the time he is nine, Frank has killed a male cousin, his five-year-old brother and a female cousin. The reader is privy to the steps he takes in their murders as well as his cover-ups and cover stories. The reader also learns that Frank feels little if any remorse or guilt. The fleeting guilt he feels over the years he ascribes to the many voices in his head who do not always agree—certainly a sign of schizophrenia.

The book, which is considered one of the top 100 novels of the 20th century, allows the reader into the dark mind of a young man obsessed...