The Wasps Drowned

The lack of resolution at the ambiguous end of “When the Wasps Drowned” leaves the reader with unanswered questions – yet fails to leave them stunned, as it is previously made clear to us that the protagonist, Eveline, would do anything to protect her siblings.
Although the story concludes on a distressing and enigmatic note, the reader is almost prepared for this by the overbearing and enclosed atmosphere Wigfall displays at the start – by using pathetic fallacy. By portraying Eveline as “confined” by the garden walls in the “hot sun” and “still air” at the start, Wigfall seems to make it clear that an adventure would be a welcome break. As the trio “step back out into the sunlight of the garden towards the end”, it is inferred that it is

Just as Eve covered when she lost her innocence after talking to the snake (which could be represented by killing the wasps), Eveline also makes a bikini for herself in the stifling heat. Both seem eager to gain freedom from a place that may seem like a prison to them but once a bad event occurs – it makes them see that it is more like a sanctuary. This could symbolise the loss of innocence and childhood.
By recounting her loss of virtue and childhood in the past tense and first person, Wigfall makes it seem like Eveline is reliving past actions with remorse. Perhaps at the time she didn’t feel remorse as she went hand in hand with her siblings “back into the sunlight” – it is inferred that she is stopping her siblings from experiencing the outside world, implying that she is very protective of them.
In addition, she is further shown to be protective and a parental figure throughout the end to the story by how she treats Tyler and Therese (her younger siblings). She “takes them by the hand” and leads them back to the safety of the garden. By implying that her siblings see her as a leading figure when they “cling to[her] bare legs” it suggests she is protective of them, hence the reason she lied to the police to give the reader an unsatisfying