Death Of A Moth Analysis

As individuals, we each have our way in creating our own work of art. Whether it is the same subject for a painting, writing assignment, or a drawing the exclusiveness in the craftsmanship is always noticeable. In the essay "The Death Of A Moth", both Woolf and Dillard, exemplify this idea of having the same subject but bringing a different meaning to their muse. They each begin their essay in different settings, as well as expressing their thoughts in unique ways; they end with the moth holding different values to their works. With all this taken into account, their essays had a similar theme that they were trying to get across to their readers.
Woolf begins her essay by giving the reader a clear image to when and where her encounter with the moth will take place. She uses much more descriptive words and phrases to describe the surroundings, giving the reader a clear view in their mind of what to imagine. She writes, “The plough was already scoring the field opposite the window, and where the share had been, the earth was pressed flat and gleamed with moisture.” She places the moth, who symbolize people, stuck between the window, signifying the things that are in the way of reaching one 's goal, and the outside world, as the goal or the thing that aspires the moth to continue to

Both authors took the moth and used it in ways that were very different, yet they made sure to keep it in close connection with the theme of life and death. They each were able to show the moth symbolized people whereas the window was the obstacles it faced to reach a goal or dream, in Woolf’s essay, and the candle was what came after the death of the moth in Dillard’s essay. They were both able to capture the beauty in the moth, its aspiration to continue with life and go on and do things and how the moth became death in the end. They were able never to lose sight in where they were taking the story while giving different meanings to the things they were using to give a deeper