Living Like Weasels, Shooting An Elephant, And Virginia Woolf

In “On Natural Death,” Thomas appeals to the readers by contemplating the subject of death with an academic approach that includes facts, data, and information. Thomas successfully transforms death from an awkward, emotional subject to a more comfortable intellectual one. This engages the readers by placing contemplation of death and dying within the confines of a more manageable and rational context. His gradual exhumation of death eases the audience into pondering the subject in the absence of emotional stress. The essay transitions from the death of an elm tree to that of a mouse. This is followed by Thomas giving a significant amount of attention to a scientific explanation of death, and then finally the description of the near death experience of a human. This use of an academic appeal moves the audience to a comfort zone with the subject of death and circumvents the common response of avoidance. The reader is simultaneously desensitized to the gravity of subject matter and given permission to consider death and dying without the normal societal negative stigma associated with the subject.

In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.

The movements and struggle of the moth affect each of the authors differently. Dillard describes the moth's death as if it were glorious: "She burned for two hours without changing, without swaying or kneeling — only glowing within, like a fire glimpsed through silhouetted walls, like a hallow saint, like a flame-faced virgin gone to God, while I read by her light, kindled, while Rimbaud in Paris burnt out his brain in a thousand poems, while night pooled wetly at my feet." She sees the moths death as a stage of life that is as important as any other stage. In her death, the moth enlightens and inspires Dillard. The light by which she read about Rimbaud was magnified. In a sense the moth sacrificed herself for Dillard. Woolf, however, sees the moth in her essay in a much different light. The moth is perceived as a creature that is struggling for a freedom that it will never receive. Woolf describes him as "pathetic," saying that he is an example of the "true nature of

"The Death of the Moth," written by Virginia Woolf, explains the brief life of a moth corresponding with the true nature of life and death. In this essay, Woolf puts the moth in a role that represents life. Woolf makes comparisons of the life outside to the life of the moth. The theme is the mystery of death and the correspondence of the life of the moth with the true nature of life. The images created by Woolf are presented that appeal to the eye. For instance, the moth's body during the death is appealing to the eye. The image makes the reader more interested. The essence of true life is energy. As Woolf describes, "I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible. He was

Contrary to many people, including Woolf’s, beliefs, death is not the end of life. The moth becomes bigger than itself. It was a normal moth, yet its untimely death benefitted Dillard. Though reading a book may not be considered great, Dillard enjoys it, and would not have been able to enjoy it without the ultimate sacrifice performed by the mere moth, which became bigger in a single moment.

Annie Dillard’s piece “The Death of the Moth”, is about Dillard being reminded of the death of a moth she observes and how it relates to herself, this piece is a great depiction of the impact of life and death. Dillard describes her surroundings living in a rural area and within her bathroom is a spider which Dillard reminds of a moth that she killed in her past when she sees the web that the spider has spun and how it has caught many bugs including two moths. She is intrigued by the dead moth’s bodies and givings a vivid description of the bodies While describing the moth’s dead torn body she relates it to a personal experience from her past where she watched a moth die with candle two years ago. Dillard described the burning moth in vivid

Many people attempt to avoid death, and many times those people are successful; however, more often than not, when people face the predicament of dying, they are not fortunate enough to escape the misfortune. Whether a person surpasses the curse of death at one point in time, eventually they will come to meet death; death is inevitable. Virginia Woolf, author of the essay, “The Death of the Moth,” captures the message death is inevitable. Throughout the essay, Woolf follows the short life of a day moth. In following the moth, Woolf comes to the realization that regardless of what she attempts to do to proliferate the decay of the moth, the moth will still succumb to death. To encapsulate the theme in the essay, Woolf uses numerous

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” by Pearl Poet sends a very strong message to the audience regarding the similarities that human beings have with animals, something that is often ignored. While it is undeniable that in terms of wisdom and characteristics, human beings are very much more dynamic and superior than any other animal, it is also a fact that there are many cases that can be named where other living beings displayed considerable similarities with human beings. In this work, the author tried to portray those similarities by stressing on the human and animal instincts and how each of these living beings try their best to save themselves from grave dangers. It is very much evident from this storyline that in terms of

In the short stories, the “Death of the Moth,” Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf discover a moth flying and observes it. The short versions has two versions and both author tries to explore the theme of life and death and explains their perspectives on it. Both of the short stories have similar titles, but both pieces exhibit several differences. Annie Dillard starts off her short story by beginning the death of the moth and realizes the value of life. Virginia Woolf tells us that she sees the moth as a pathetic creature and sees that death is a powerful force that no one can stand up to. Both authors go into great detail pertaining to life and death.

‘“One could not help watching him. One, was, indeed, conscious of a queer feeling of pity for him. The possibilities of pleasure seemed that morning so enormous and so various that to have only a moth’s part in life, and a day moth’s at that, appeared a hard fate, and his zest in enjoying his meager opportunities to the full, pathetic’” (Woolf 1). She continually pities the fact that the moth continues to make the most of his desperate and futile situation. No matter his frailty and impending doom, the moth continues to carelessly dance around the windowpane, either because he is unaware that he will soon die, or because he chooses not to care about his demise. However, Woolf begins to realize that the moth’s strength is failing him, and she comes to the cold conclusion that he is at death’s door. Not soon after that, the moth senses that his strength is failing him, but even upon knowing his inevitable death, the moth continues to fight. Woolf’s heart goes out to the insect. ‘“It was superb this last protest, and so frantic that he succeeded at last in righting himself. One’s sympathies, of course, were all on the side of life (Woolf 2)’”. She resolves to root for the moth, and applaud his final protest against death. By the use of her writing style, Woolf has caused the audience to root for the moth’s final efforts along with her. By getting so emotionally

In her essay, Woolf resorts to a melancholic, even a sad tone. Watching the moth and its unsuccessful attempts to get out of the windowpane to where life goes on, Woolf feels towards him “a kind of pity” (195). The word “pity” pops up in the work constantly, which puts reader into sympathetic mood. Then, describing the moth’s last effort to escape from the glass trap and her useless try to help it, Woolf uses a helpless tone. As well as the moth, she gives up. There is no way one “had any chance against death” (Woolf 195). These words evoke a hopeless feeling that there is no way out, no matter how hard we try.

By biological logic, we human beings will face death sooner or later in our life and death has its very own ways to approach us - a sudden deadly strike, a critical sickness, a tragic accident, a prolonged endurance of brutal treatment, or just an aging biological end. To deal with the prospect of death come different passive or active reactions; some may be scared and anxious to see death, some try to run away from it, and some by their own choice make death come faster. But Viktor Frankl, through his work Man’s Search for Meaning, and Bryan Doyle; in his essay “His Last Game” show us choices to confront the death, bring it to our deepest feelings, meaningful satisfaction. To me, the spirit of the prisoners at deadly concentration camps, Frankl’s Logotherapy theory of “. . . striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.” (99), as well as the calmness of Doyle’s brother on his last ride, like an awaken bell, remind us of how precious life is, how we should find the significance in every act of living, determine to live a meaningful life at any circumstances; hence, when death comes, we can accept it without anxiety nor regrets.

Woolf’s essay is based on the symbolic meaning of the moth which she explicitly identifies as “little or nothing but life” (Woolf 57). Therefore, this “tiny bead of pure life” exists to “show us the true nature of life” which begins animated, innocent, and energetic, but eventually dwindles because it is overcome by “an oncoming doom” known as death (57). Juxtaposition is used because the moth is portrayed as a “tiny” and “pure” form of life while death is an unavoidable “doom.” The figurative meaning of this literal situation is examined as she says, “When there was nobody to care or to know, this gigantic effort on the part of an insignificant little moth, against a power of such magnitude, to retain what no one else valued or desired to keep, moved one strangely” (58). Here, Woolf is watching a small seemingly “insignificant” moth struggle to live while also observing the omnipotent

Two of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” are both written about life’s stopping point, death. Although the poems are written by the same poet, both poems view death in a different manner. Between the two poems, one views death as having an everlasting life while the other anticipates everlasting life, only to realize it does not exist. While both poems are about death, both poems also illustrate that the outcome of death is a mysterious experience that can only be speculated upon with the anticipation of everlasting life.

     The character of the moth and the way that Woolf’s story unfolds makes you, as a reader, feel as if you are there actually watching the moth die. Her descriptions of the moth’s flight and the struggle against death as he lived his life that day involves you in the mourning of someone or something you love dying. You feel every movement that Woolf saw in the moth’s life that day by reading this essay. As Woolf describes how the moth “flew vigorously to one corner of his compartment, and after waiting there a second, flew across to the other, “ you can feel the moth’s movements (1178).