Virginia Woolf's The Death Of The Moth

660 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Virginia woolf the death of the moth analysis

In Virginia Woolf’s The Death of the Moth the narrator tells the story of how she watched the small creature that is the moth in its seemingly strange actions, going from this window to another. She soon realizes, however, that the moth’s whole life was within that small area and that was all he could do with his life. This leads the narrator, and therefore the reader, to take away a very distinct message from the story. That message is, no matter how large or small a life a creature lives, their life is still valuable, because in life every creature is struggling against the same common enemy, death.
To create a sympathetic tone for the moth, and to get the reader to think about what is happening, Virginia makes sure to take great care to describe the events as full as needed to get the reader to connect with it as if they were the ones watching this moth. Through this by explaining the thoughts of narrator she gives the reader something to think about as well, in this case thinking about the peculiar life of the moth. Much emotion is brought forth from the way Virginia writes her story, from the way she describes and personifies the moth, putting forth theories of what it is thinking, to how the narrator considers the life it leads pitiful and curious all at the same time. …show more content…

She even puts emotion upon the moth, saying it must be content with it’s life and not understand the futility of it all, despite what the narrator considers to be a rather pitiful existence full of missed opportunities. Reflecting upon the life and purpose of the moth in the story is a way to get the reader to sympathise with this small creature they would otherwise think nothing of. By comparing the moth to other life forms it gives life a sense of equality, bringing back up the idea that all life is precious and deserves to be

Show More
Related

  • Sisters Fight for Freedom In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    for a wild ride through their lives from their point of view. "In the Time of the Butterflies" is about

    Read More

  • Analyzing Marie Howe's Poem 'Watching Television'

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    Her poem switches from positive to negative. She starts the poem with the story of the mother spider and her babies which has a happy ending, but then she goes into talking about herself. In Marie Howe’s essay, she says “…a white frame house, and rising, / and I thought of a room it was shining in, right then, / a room I might live in and can’t imagine yet.” From this quote we notice that she is imagining a house that she could possibly live in one day. Maybe it’s the man’s house and she is thinking one day she could live there with him, but not yet. She says “And this morning, I thought of a place on the ocean where no one is, / no boat, no fish jumping, / just sunlight gleaming on the water, humps of water that hardly break.” This quote provides a sense of loneliness, to think of a place on the beach that is deserted, there are no other people, little noise, and there is nothing there to keep you company. Then she says, “We argued about one thing, but really it was another,” this shows that there was a lack of communication between the two, which could cause Howe to feel like she was alone. Part of one of her quotes, “unbroken by footprints”, created a huge sense of loneliness. She is all alone, awaiting the return of the man she loves, and he hasn’t yet shown up. The fact that the path leading to the front door hasn’t been walked on in two days, would make the reader wonder if anyone besides the man would normally visit her, or if Howe has even left her home in those two days. The last line in her poem is “Anything I’ve tried to keep by force I’ve lost”, and she uses this to provide a sense of emptiness. The movement of her poem from positive to negative is what helps create that feeling of being

    Read More

  • The Butterflies Theme Of Sacrifice Essay

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alvarez, Julia. In The Time of the Butterflies. New York, NY: Penguin, 1994. Print Hardback. 31 Oct 2013 - 8 Dec 2013.

    Read More

  • Revelation and Rebirth in Helena Viramonte's The Moths

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is clearly apparent that "The Moths" is not only the title, but also an important piece of the story which embodies its central theme. The moths become the catalyst that gives identity to the grandmother and her granddaughter, bringing revelation, security, rebirth, and the desire to be reunited. The grandmother, in becoming a moth herself, leaves some of herself behind with her grandchild.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Chapter 17 of Chopin’s The Awakening

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    “It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant And Virginia Woolf

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story “The Death of the Moth,” Virginia Woolf illustrates the universal struggle between life and death. She portrays in passing the valiance of the struggle, of the fight of life against death, but she determines as well the futility of this struggle. Virginia Woolf’s purpose in writing was to depict the patheticness of life in the face of death. Woolf’s conclusion, “death is stronger than I am,” provides the focus of her argument. Throughout the piece, she has built up her case, lead to reader emotional states its concept of the power of death. The piece would begi...

    Read More

  • Water Symbolism In The Gangster We Are All Looking For

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    While staying at Mel’s home, the adolescent female narrator personifies the butterfly paperweight. The life cycle begins with the narrator “hearing” the butterfly sounds, and believing the butterfly is alive. The butterfly mirrors the narrator’s feelings of alienation and immobility amongst her ‘new family’ in America. She is convinced the butterfly is alive, although trapped inside thick glass (le 25). The thick glass mirrors the image of clear, still water. To the adolescent girl, the thick glass doesn’t stop the sounds of the butterfly from coming through; however, her father counteracts this with the idea of death, “…can’t do much for a dead butterfly” (le 31). In order to free the butterfly, the narrator throws the disk at a cabinet of glass animals, shattering the paperweight, as well as the glass animals. The shattering of the glass connects to the shattering of her being, and her experience in fragility. The idea of bringing the butterfly back to life was useless, as the motionless butterfly laid there “like someone expert at holding his breath or playing dead” (le 34). This sense of rebirth becomes ironic as the butterfly did not come back to life as either being reborn or as the manifestation of a ghostly spirit; instead its cyclic existence permeates through the narrator creating a transformative

    Read More

  • The Theme Of The Bass The River And Sheila Mant

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main traits of the narrator are that the narrator is very observant with things that interest him, and is determined to find out everything about them in either through fascination or to use that information to his advantage. For example, the narrator knows many aspects of Sheila Mant’s mood through observation, “I had learned all of her moods/ if she lay flat on the diving board with her hand trailing idly in the water, she was pensive, not to be disturbed” (Wetherell 1), the narrator had a big crushed on Sheila, so he decided to learn everything about her, even knowing how her moods change based on observation her body language, which shows immense dedication. However, despite being deep in love with Sheila, the narrator had also great love

    Read More

  • Virginia Woolf And Annie Dillard: Symbolism Of A Moth

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    Atypical things and creatures have been used in the form of symbolism for different stories and poems, and in the case of Virginia Woolf and Annie Dillard, it has been the paltry creature of the moth to represent serious, significant subjects. Virginia Woolf uses a moth as a symbol for life, and as the moth is confined inside the windowpane, he struggles to live and eventually dies. This symbolizes the struggle to circumvent death, as life is treasurable. In the case of Annie Dillard, the moth is attracted to the candle flame, and ends up being burnt and shriveled by the flame. However, while the moth is being scorched, the flame burns brighter, denoting that everyone does have purpose after death, but this story also has religious meaning. Both authors, Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf, use the same creature to signify different meanings and storylines.

    Read More

  • Cathedral By John Dillard Analysis

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    By explaining in great detail about the flame and how the moth burned for two hours which gives the impression that day time shall never come. Dillard gets across to us the sudden flare of the moth as it first hits the flame, as if a “flame-faced virgin gone to god” as if it was a beautiful sight to see the moth burst up in flames.

    Read More

  • Essay On Racism By Brent Staples

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    The relationship between life and death is explored in Woolf’s piece, “The Death of a Moth.” Woolf’s own epiphany is presented in her piece; she invites her reader, through her stylistic devices, to experience the way in which she realized what the meaning of life and death meant to her. Woolf’s techniques allow her audience to further their own understanding of death and encourages them consider their own existence.

    Read More

  • The Language and Syntax of The Yellow Wallpaper

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    In contrast, syntax provides a new perspective to the narrator s behavior as sentence structure draws attention to her erratic behavior.  By her last entry, the narrator s sentences have become short and simple.  Paragraphs 227 through 238 contain few adjectives resulting in limited descriptions yet her short sentences emphasize her actions providing plenty of imagery.  The syntax quickly pulls the reader through the end as the narrator reaches an end to her madness.

    Read More

  • Death Of The Moth Rhetorical Analysis

    1636 Words  | 4 Pages

    She describes the September morning as “mild, benignant, yet with a keener breath than the summer months.” She then goes on to describe the field outside her window, using word choice that is quite the opposite of words that would be used to describe a depressing story. She depicts the exact opposite of death, and creates a feeling of joy, happiness, and life to the world outside her room. After this, she goes into great detail about the “festivities” of the rooks among the treetops, and how they “soared round the treetops until it looked as if a vast net with thousands of black knots in it had been cast up into the air”. There is so much going on around her that “it was difficult to keep the eyes strictly turned upon the book.” Descriptions like these are no way to describe a seemingly depressing story about a moth, but by using these, joyful descriptions, Woolf connects everything happening outside to a single strand of energy. These images set a lively tone for the world around her, and now allow her to further introduce the moth into the story.

    Read More

  • Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the major thematic concerns are those involving perception versus reality. In the beginning of the play, both couples seem to be average, loving couples of the nineteen-fifties. Even George and Martha seem to be playful in their insults toward each other. Things do not start to turn until George warns Martha not to “start in about the bit with the kid”, after which both of them begin to get more hostile toward each other. Even then, their antagonism of each other did not reach the feverish pitch that it had by the end of the play.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: Kew Gardens

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Kew Gardens, Virginia Woolf takes advantage of the liminal quality of the short story in order to highlight the suspended world that she creates in the garden. For Woolf, the lyrical short story’s subversion of traditional narrative structure allows her to focus on creating a world rather than a plot. Further, the short story creates a liminal space by the very nature of its form. Caught in a space where it is not considered a poem or a novel, the short story exists as undefined. The liminality of the short story, however, is both liberating and restricting. Woolf explores this feature in order to suggest the unsustainable nature of Kew Gardens. While Woolf utilizes the form of the short story to create a liminal, impressionistic space that eradicates the boundaries between human and nature, she also uses the transitory quality of the short story to suggest that such a space can only exist for a short duration due to the restrictions of the imposing outside world.

    Read More

More about Virginia Woolf's The Death Of The Moth

Open Document