I think I figured out the machine.
The outer wheel represents general good qualities. The inner circles represent source of punishment/pain and its manifestation (i'd love to see a child wounded by god to have octocephaly). The pain circles have an arrow that point into the middle circle, as does the outer circle. The middle circle represents traits that are double-edged: for example, you can be sociable, but too sociable makes you invasive; you can endorse something, but if you do too much, you are a liar. A little scruff is good, but too much is filth, and so on and so forth.
So look for the little inward and outward pointing arrows and it makes sense:
In the case of Roast Beef:
- on the good hand, he is virtuous and has a little scruff
- however, he was cursed by God with the lash of Thanatos
- on the bad hand, he is self-obsessed (as a result of the above?)
The result is a tennis ball on a towel.