unpopular opinion: people sympathise with the slab flies too much
some people complain about hornet's comments on the slab flies, saying she's too harsh on them and she should empathise with them because they're enslaved and abused. i have my own rebuttal for this:
though flies are "born into servitude", it's unlikely they're enslaved. they are able to leave the prison, as seen with wardenflies outside the slab, and it is stated they are "Heavy, hairy jailer responsible for capturing sinners and punishing prisoners.". some evidence that the flies can't leave is the scabfly needolin dialogue that reads "No escape!", however, given that we see otherwise, i think this refers to being unable to escape from the sinful "filth". or it could mean there is no escape for the prisoners. the flies also drop rosaries, moreso than the underworkers. if they were enslaved, they wouldn't be paid.
some have also claimed the slab flies don't truly want to do their job, which isn't evident. their needolin dialogue reads
- You! You are the sinner!
- I’m clean... I’m cleaner!
- I'll be cleansed...
- Why was I born in the filth?
- You! The filth! It’s you!
- By toil... by torment...
it reads that they genuinely believe in their cause and their methods, and the old penitent describes them as penitents. given that they are free to leave but don't, i think it's clear they believe in their duty in the slab.
the "By toil... by torment..." line is interesting, but i think the torment refers to the prisoners in the slab, not the flies. the flies are implied to torture their prisoners with "chaining", "swallowing", "casting". it can also be seen above the bellway that scabflies sit upon prisoners to immobilise them until they die. "Be still! Be still!"
another thing is that the flies' oppressors have been gone for a long time, yet they continue with their duty in torturing and executing prisoners. yes, they're haunted, but haunted bugs retain their previous behaviour. the only thing the haunting does is turn that behaviour towards hornet and the unhaunted.
i do think hornet is wrong for wishing the total extinction of their species "The less these gruesome bugs breed, the better" but people baby the flies too much, regardless of propaganda they're willingly and unjustifiably torturing and executing prisoners for the citadel.