The Lesson Of The Moth Analysis

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Recommended: The pursuit of happiness theme

Antonio Griggs
English COMP II
February 13, 2017
The Lesson of the Moth In the poem “The lesson of the moth”, Don Marquis tells a story of a moth who has a weird attraction to a bright light. The author uses a cockroach who finds a moth trying to break into a light bulb to get inside to the light to get his point across. When he had asked the moth why he keeps trying to break into the bright light the moth says “it is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while so we wad all our life up into one little roll and then we shoot the roll that is what life is for it is better to be a part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of beauty”. (Marquis). I felt like the message the author had for his readers is great because I felt like he was saying that if you don't have something worth living for then what is the point to continue to live for if you have nothing to motovaite you to keep going. …show more content…

For example, the author uses ethos in the poem by saying " I would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity". (Marquis). Which I agree and disagree with because there are those days when you dont want to live your life to the fullest and take it day by day but then again as a person you should have them moments when you live as if it might be your last day, and I think thats what the author was trying to say when he says " But at the sametime I wish there was something I wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself". (Marquis). Which when the author says that I think he does not agree with the moth living his life to the fullest but he admaires how much passion the moth has for the bright even knowing that as soon as he touches it he would die but die

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