While I do love the interpretation of the breaking wheels you have put forth, there's a reason why Seckendorff's "Wheel of Fate" poem is the more accepted interpretation. I mean, just look at just the name. A "wheel of fate" is a cycle, one that is perpetuated endlessly, unable to be stopped. Oktavia is birthed around the time the audience learns the ultimate fate of a magical girl is to become a witch. All magical girls are doomed to ride this wheel of fate, and Oktavia/Sayaka represent this horrible reality, this tragic revelation. At least until Madoka's wish.
A cruel, sick joke is still a joke, and sometimes all you can do is laugh.
It's also possible that both interpretations are equally true. Writers can draw from a variety of different places for inspiration for their works, and sufficiently skilled ones are more than capable of writing symbolism with a combination of multiple potential meanings in mind at once.
In another few hours, the sun will rise.
I think we need a rule on this page where questions like "Why didn't they just wish for what I would have wished for?" are just not allowed.
They didn't wish for what you want because they aren't you. Put on your big girl panties and deal with it.
It's accepted that Oktavia's attacks (the wheels she throws) are a reference to von Seckendorff's "Wheel Of Fate" poem. However, the first time I viewed episode 9, I was rather under the impression that said wheels were actually the infamous "breaking wheels" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_wheel);
used plenty in medieval Germany and on through the end of the 19th century as torture and capital punishment devices for criminals, particularly witches. Given that Oktavia's form mirrors in a bizarre yet horror inducing way Sayaka's magical girl costume (the cape, the belt, soem sort of armor), wouldn't her attacks also reflect her black and white morality regarding the comrades she rejected as not being at the levels of her standards? The people invading her barrier are magical girls *aware that Madoka isn't one yet), witches in a near or far future, so she'd "fight" against them by the very way a hero/witch hunter from times past would.
The breaking wheel might also point out to the fact that Sayaka's downfall was slowly churned out, as the very torture this device would deliver.
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