In both Toni Morrison's Beloved and Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory, gender constructions are explored and manipulated to show the harmful effects that social norms of a patriarchal society can have on an individual’s psyche. Gender is a social construct which dictates how men and women should act in different situations; therefore, since both authors create characters who transgress the boundaries of this construct, it is implied that there cannot be a clear line between genders. However, whilst Morrison uses the backdrop of slavery to explore gender from the opposing racial viewpoints, Banks’ choice of a present-day, isolated setting means he is more able to transgress the boundaries between sex and gender using dark, twisted humour. Therefore,…