Journal of Literary Writing and Evaluation

JLWE, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2025, pp.295-304.

Print ISSN: 3078-8129; Online ISSN: 3104-5073

Journal homepage: https://www.lwejournal.com

DOI: Https://doi.org/10.64058/JLWE.25.2.11

The Wasp Factory as a Thing and Its Ethical Meanings in the Wasp Factory

Luo Junmin

Abstract: In Iain Banks’s novel The Wasp Factory, Things are imbued with vitality, the most crucial of which is the wasp factory itself. Through the lens of thing Narrative, the factory emerges not merely as a passive cultural symbol but as an active, dynamic ethical medium. The “mobility of thing” encourages Frank to engage in ethical reflection through a resonance between self and thing. The interaction between the wasp factory and Frank generates a threefold ethical significance. First, as a death trap, the wasp factory reveals Frank’s behavioral pattern of manipulating “living beings” toward death, embodying the erosion of humanity by his animal factors. Second, the factory functions as a distorted spatiotemporal entity in which the individual cannot situate themselves, leading to a distorted ethical order. Third, the factory extends into the hybrid reality of the island, where chaotic social relationships expose the crisis of ethical disorder and identity confusion. Things assist Frank in reconstructing ethical awareness and help readers grasp the critical role of things in the deconstruction and reconstruction of ethical relations and identities, offering a new perspective on the novel’s exploration of human nature

Keywords: The wasp factory; Thing Narrative; Ethical Literary Criticism.

Author Biography: Luo Junmin, is a doctoral student in Faculty of English language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, focusing on the study of English literature, Email: ljmmm2015@163.com.

标题：《捕蜂器》中的捕蜂器物叙事伦理

摘要：在伊恩·班克斯的小说《捕蜂器》中，物充满了生命力，其中最关键的是捕蜂器本身。透过物叙事的视角，捕蜂器不仅是被动的文化符号，更是积极、动态的伦理媒介。“物的流动性”鼓励弗兰克通过自我与事物之间的共鸣进行伦理反思。捕蜂器和弗兰克之间的互动产生了三重伦理意义。第一，作为一个死亡陷阱，捕蜂器揭示了弗兰克操纵“生物”走向死亡的行为模式，体现了他的兽性因子对人性的侵蚀。第二，捕蜂器是一个异形的时空实体，个人无法置身其中，催生出扭曲的伦理秩序。第三，捕蜂器延伸到岛屿与现实的混合中，混乱的社会关系暴露了道德混乱和身份混乱的危机。物帮助弗兰克重建伦理意识，也协助读者把握物在解构和重建伦理关系和身份中的关键作用，为小说对人性的探索提供了新的视角。

关键词：捕蜂器；物叙事；文学伦理学批评；

作者简介：罗俊敏，博士研究生，广东外语外贸大学英语语言文化学院，研究方向：英语文学。电邮：ljmmm2015@163.com。

    Received: 29 Sep 2025 / Revised: 1 Nov 2025 / Accepted: 1 Nov 2025 / Published online: 30 Nov 2025 / Print published: 30 Dec 2025.