The Death of The Moth: By: Virginia Woolf

You might also like

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 4

The Death Of The Moth

by: Virginia Woolf


Critique paper

Virginia Woolf, a prolific author, wrote the essay "The Death of


the Moth" in 1941 and had it published after her death in 1942.
Following a lifetime battle with mental illness brought on by numerous
personal losses, Woolf committed suicide. This essay on mortality and
the enigma of life's meaning is made more poignant by the author's
personal story.The central idea of "Death of a Moth" is that all living
things, including Woolf, are propelled by the same force of life as the
moth. Virginia Woolf used the big theme of "Life and Death," which
was written in the form of a story about a moth's death, to introduce
an intriguing theme to an amazing work of literature. In this first-
person narrative essay, the speaker observes the moth's effort to
break free of her windowpane before death finally claims it.

The article begins by exploring the identity and relationship of


the day moth to nature; it finishes with the insect's demise. The view
from Woolf's window is a bucolic picture filled with poetic imagery,
featuring horses, birds "soaring," and an Earth that "gleamed with
moisture" (Paragraph 1). However, the moth that is flying around her
window is what Woolf finds to be the most fascinating. She finds the
moth's "vigorously" fluttering "from one corner of his
compartment...across to the other" as she sees it to be both beautiful
and sad (Paragraph 2). Woolf conveys an emotional link to the moth's
pitiful joy at its meager life and pitiful agony at its end through
anthropomorphism and metaphor. She imparts humanity to the "frail
and diminutive" moth by asking why nature would bestow such drive
and energy on a being so constrained by its capabilities (Paragraph 2).

Because Woolf combines a personal account and narrative


techniques to explain her topics, "The Death of a Moth" is a narrative
essay. Woolf's exploration of Life and Death is framed by the plot of an
ordinary fall day. In order to examine her experience from a larger
perspective, narrative conflict is provided by Woolf's description of
seeing a moth's last moments of existence before passing away.
Woolf illustrates her ideas via figurative language, such as
metaphor. A metaphor for life is a farmer laboring in his field and a
flock of birds. Later, the farmer and birds are not to be seen while the
moth lies dying.

In "The Death of a Moth," published in 1942, Woolf gives the


insect a "he" identity. The reader is moved to feel empathy for the
moth as a result of the personification of the moth. As Woolf claims,
"one's sympathies... were all on the side of life" (1942) as the moth
struggles with its impending demise. Secondly, for being constrained
into its existence as a moth.
The detached tone of "The Death of a Moth" might put some readers
off, but it actually works well with the essay's vacillating passive and
active voice to give the impression that the reader has been
transported into a daydream. While sitting and reading a book, Woolf
is detached from the activity going on around her. She keeps an eye on
the wildlife in the tree and the activity in the field. She observes the
moth fly past the window. Although Woolf is aware of the life around
her and that it attracts her attention away from the book, she does not
actively engage in it beyond offering commentary. Woolf distances
herself from herself in "The Death of a Moth" when it comes to life,
referring to herself as "one" 1942

The only time Woolf actively engages is when death is


involved; she now speaks of herself in the first person and makes a
feeble effort to stop the moth from flipping over on its back. Woolf
observes the moth's "simple activities with a sort of pity" while it is
alive, but the moth "lay most decently... and composed" when it is
dead (1942).

The Death of the Moth compares the insignificant short


struggle and life of a moth to the daily struggles of human life. Moth as
a symbol of human and it relates to human’s struggle to survive and
how human will encounter death as well. When we encounter death,
we become the same creature, no matter what our status in the world
before. Hence, nobody can escape death, it’s inevitable and
unescapable. Overall it's a great essay and will definitely recommend
it for everyone to read, it contains a lot of lesson.
The Last Leaf
By: O. Henry
Critique paper
With the published words of O. Henry's "The Last Leaf" from
1906 is particularly noteworthy since it is an industry-wide leap into
the full scope of the narrative. This kind of literacy not only discusses
having a sympathetic relationship with the environment, but also uses
that medium to instill hope and will in someone's life when many of us
could not imagine that possibility. Remarkably, the story will explain
how something so unimportant could play a role in bringing
significance. O. Henry is renowned for his ability to depict plots with
humor, dark, and explosive ends, and he excels particularly on this
one. He also included his personal circumstances into the "The Last
Leaf" storyline, demonstrating that his life is already a compelling
enough narrative to merit reading. It's possible that the author is the
protagonist in his own writing, much like how Henry was also an artist
and had to wander around. A praise is precisely what the story
deserved as we go more into it's general components and
organizational framework.

"The Last Leaf" is all about the two women met in spring at the
restaurant on Eighth Street, Greenwich Village. They both came from a
different state in US but eventually became friends because of they're
similarities. Then an unexpected thing happened in winter, the young
women, Johnsy became critically ill due to pneumonia. She believes
that when the ivy vine on the wall outside her window would lose all
it's leaves, she would die too. However, their neighbor, Behrman, an
artist, tricks her by painting a leaf on the wall. Johnsy recovers.
However, Behrman caught pneumonia while painting the leaf. As a
result, he dies.

The one that is italicized is the one the author picked as the
media that will be used indirectly. Moreover, this choice is artistic, and
really amazed me. The author's use of art allowed him to express his
literary talent, resulting in a writing style that had never been seen
before. The setting should be given more credit for Henry's labor than
the other components. Because the entire scene is set in winter, the
author used nostalgia to target the readers' emotional capability while
yet creating a nice atmosphere. The audience was able to follow along
whenever there was a shift in the story's location. It was simpler to
relate to the readers because he persuaded them to create their own
imaginative point in their minds.

Henry built each character up component by component to fill


in any leftover gaps with the other characters. Like how Johnsy was
losing her will to live and Sue was determined to keep her alive. By
adding a twisti to the conclusion, Henry was able to fill in the blanks.
He introduced a figure to the public who had already existed but was
only revealed afterwards. What was lacking at the beginning was filled
in at the end thanks to this "twist character". The primary features and
the overall characterization are just too effectively integrated.

When introducing a complex run in the plot, Henry made it


simple for the reader to understand the order of events. Sincerity
dictates that the audience could see what was being defined
throughout the story, therefore there is transparency. A COMPULSION
also played a significant role because this plot style is known for
amplifying the suspense, particularly in the few remaining scenes.
Additionally, the author intended for each section of the information
to relate to one another in a variety of ways in order to create an
unexpected flow in the conclusion. Despite the fact that there was a
serious issue in the story, it was resolved by providing closure in the
conclusion. In addition, the events were equally balanced and showed
a strong coherence as the story reached its peak. And the simple
notion of employing a leaf as the centerpiece of the story's overall
framework repositions literacy's capacity for verbal entertainment.
There isn't a formal phrase for this, however I can describe Henry's
plot as somewhat calming but innovative.

In contrast to his other works, this Henry masterwork has a


whole different objective. to perhaps possess the same resolve and
hope that the protagonist of the tale did. All I can say is that it has a
lasting impact on both of its target audiences, proving that it is a long-
term success. Most of its readers continue to find peace and serenity
in it now.We can read, but some of us take a long time to understand
things, and that is what O. Henry's "The Last Leaf" didn't urge us to do.
A straightforward and elegant structure that directly affected us into
our physical and psychological beings, not that it just did its sole
purpose, but we also witnessed ourselves unfold together as our eyes
matched with the story's final few sentences.

You might also like