Why Is Helena Maria Viramontes Short Story Called The Moths

Viramontes uses symbols as a way of illustrating the oppression women feel to the narrator. The sun, the moths, and the bird of paradise are symbols to represent aspects of life to the

One of the major symbols in the poem is the flame in which the moth is willing to die for. It implies that there are things that certain people

Right after Simon reaches the shelter, he squats down and looks at the clearing; where he realizes that “nothing moved but a pair of gaudy butterflies that danced round each other” (58). The quiet ambience is further reinforced with the words “nothing moved”, as it connotes a level of silence and calmness. Even the diction of the word “butterflies” adds a positive connotation to the image as One can also see visual imagery in this part of the passage. The reader can visually imagine the beauty of the butterflies fluttering and “dancing” in the scenery while nothing else moves. This imagery, along with the diction helps the reader picture a very peaceful and placid place. Later in the passage, as the Sun starts to set and darkness begins to pour out in the sky, the “candle-buds opened their wide white flowers glimmering under the light that pricked down from the first stars” (59). Positive diction is also used here. The word “white” further represents this sense of peace and also purity of the

Watching the hopeless death of the vulnerable moth leaves Woolf contemplating her own life, as she compares the moth to herself, and the human race. The moth, caught in a windowsill, is compared to the outside world by Woolf; while the moth flutters and exhibits life,

Dillard also accomplishes to draw a strong parallel between herself and the symbol of this essay. As Dillard reads by candlelight, a “golden female Moth, a biggish one” flies into her candle, bringing itself to its own demise. Dillard closely analyzes this majestic Moth that has suddenly flapped itself to the center of her world. In paragraph five, after she has witnessed the Moth burn into bits and pieces, Dillard says “that candle had two wicks, two winding flames of identical light, side by side”. Dillard then begins to draw similarities between herself and the ill-fated moth. The moth was “golden” and “biggish” before she had flew into the fire, much like the writer that Dillard was like before she became a victim of writer's block. Dillard also draws a connection to religious figures in paragraph six, when she says “She burned... like a hollow saint, like a flame-faced virgin gone to God.” A parallel that can be

There are stories that have been written that can be similar and different in many ways. This can be seen through the story, “Death of a Moth” by Virginia Woolf and Annie Dillard. Both writers share a similar topic, though their style of narration can compare and differ in many ways. A theme throughout the story is death. Both authors take on a different view of death. While death can be seen as a haunting experience or the end of a life. There are other interpretations that can be made on this one topic. Both authors have twists in their stories with different ideas, which aid to reveal their narration and expression regarding death.

During the 1930s - 1960s in the Dominican Republic there was a dictatorship going on by Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo ran the Dominican Republic as his own personal possession. He and his friends held nearly 60 percent of the country's resources. If things didn’t go Trujillo’s way then that person who broke the law would be either prisoned or vanished. In her book, “In the Time of the Butterflies”, Julia Alvarez explores many different themes, such as Family, Courage, and Freedom. Each of the Mirabal sisters had different personalities. Patria the oldest sister was the most religious. Dedé the second eldest was the only sister who survived. Minerva the third Mirabal sister was the one who was more wrapped up in the revolution. Maria Teresa the youngest of the sisters just wanted to be like her oldest sisters.The butterfly is a symbol for the main characters, the Mirabal sisters. Butterflies are unique, they represent freedom, and they have a very short life span. The Mirabal sisters, much like the butterflies were unique, and died young. They had to sacrifice their lives in order to be free like butterflies.

The moths first made an appearance as healing method for the narrator's ‘bull hands’, her Abuelita made a “balm out of dried moth wings and Vicks and rubbed [her] hands, shaped them back to size and it was the strangest feeling” (3). Immediately the moths are associated with healing. The dead moth wings are used to heal the wellbeing of the narrator. Later, the moths are part of the grandmother’s death, as “small, gray ones that came from her soul and out through her mouth flutter[ed] to light” (16). At the beginning of the story the moths appeared as resources to heal the narrator, now they are shown

In the short story, The Moths Helena Maria Viramontes uses characterization and symbols to shine light on gender roles and maturity especially for women in the Hispanic culture. This short story was published in 1985 and during this time gender roles were changing. The number of women obtaining a higher education increased, it became more common for women to resist the stay at home and watch the children lifestyle. Hispanics in the US during this time felt like they were losing self-identity due to harsh laws passed by the United States. Knowing this information while I read this story was meaningful because it gave me a better understanding on what the narrator and her family were going through.

While Starling speaks with Dr. Lecture in attempt to receive more information about Jame Gumb, Dr. Lecture talks about an insect as he says, “It’s a term from the dead religion of psychoanalysis. An imago is an image of the parent buried in the unconscious from infancy and bound with infantile affect” (149). Jame felt a connection with caterpillars that is linked with his mother, causing him to want to be a woman. His ‘imago’ is his mother who is centered in his unconscious due to the neglect and abandonment he received from her as a child. Jame's fantasies of his mother overpowered his mind, causing him to act on those fantasies to be like his mother.

Her eyes, usually blue, are red. Close examination of the faux skull markings on the moth’s head, reveals the skull to be made up of seven naked women. The moth and its cousin the butterfly are probably the most important thematic symbols

Caterpillars are innocent creatures that have inspired an author to write a piece about their daily life. In the poem “The Caterpillar” by Anna Barbauld discusses two themes which are a realistic theme and the hidden theme. Imagery helps with all the themes present in the poem. One example of imagery is “the silver line that streaks thy back” (line 4). “The Caterpillar” talks about an insect that seems just like any other insect but the way she writes about it is as if she is glorifying caterpillars.

Firstly, Mutant Samurai; The power of the government on the basis of the samurai, show by the samurai. The rulers of the guys are a group of mutant warrior. They have the right, but not to give them the right people to do things. When the peasants to the government report was driven out, by farmers, and that of the rulers as a general is in after the robber robbed the village to drive to, and put the robbers found no rice, eggs, swept away! Samurai have these variations for the moth, and their days will not last.

This is supported in the poem by the description of the moth as a "rigid satin cloth." The satin cloth can be seen like a bridal dress, suggestions of good, but the negativity of "rigid" implies perhaps on the lining of a coffin where a rigid body would lie. In the second part of the octave the speaker describes the scene again. He compares the scene and the assorted characters to "a witch's broth" (line 6), and Carter claims that this part introduces ironies regarding the observer's feelings towards the scene he saw. The speaker views those characters as "assorted characters of death and blight" (line 4). But they are there to "begin the morning right" (line 5) - a positive saying which you wouldn't exact to hear associated with death and blight. This juxtaposing of "blight" and "right" emphasizes the irony. How can the morning be "right" if the scene culminate in death?

A butterfly’s life starts out as a caterpillar, then a chrysalis, and finally the adult butterfly. In the novel The Butterfly and the Violin, Adele Von Bron start her life out as a caterpillar as Austria’s sweetheart who very dependent on her family. She then became like a chrysalis, when she began to help the Jewish family by feeding them and trying to help them escape. Towards the end of the novel is when she transformed into a butterfly, because she had suffered with the struggles of the camp and met Omara which helped her to become a strong and independent woman. In The Butterfly and the Violin, Kristy Cambron uses the butterfly as a symbol to show the relation between Adele’s life and the life of a butterfly.