Something interesting I found was that Boy in a Whalebone Corset started and ended with mentions of locusts. At the start of the poem the grass is compared to a “sleeping swarm of locust” and at the end of the poem the night is said to be “made of locusts.” This repeated phrasing of “swarms of locusts” is reminiscent of the ten plagues in the Bible. In Exodus, the Egyptians are subjected to ten plagues until Pharaoh agrees to set the Israelites free. The plague of locusts specifically, is the eighth plague followed by the plague of darkness and the death of a first born. Parallels can be drawn between the father and Pharaoh in this poem, similar to how Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites be free, the father refuses to allow the boy to be free to be himself and wear what he wants.
I find it interesting that locusts specifically were chosen as a descriptor as they are known for destruction. Which mirrors that of the destruction the boy’s clothes are facing in the hands of his father. Continuing with the plague theme, the final plague was the death of a first born. While the boy didn’t physically die in this poem. One can argue that his soul did when his father burned his clothes thus essentially killing off his identity.
I think the meaning behind the implication of religion in this poem is perhaps the reasoning behind the father’s discontent and disapproval of his son’s clothes. Which is further emphasized by the irony of the father burning the son’s clothes, and their smoke “being mistaken for Old Testament God.” Ending the poem on this note drives home the assumption of religion being the guiding factor of why these clothes are unacceptable and why wearing such items needs to be punished.