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Death Of The Moth Rhetorical Analysis

725 Words3 Pages

In the essay, “The Death of the Moth”, Virginia Woolf uses metaphor to convey that the relationship between life and death is one that is strange and fragile. Woolf tells the story of the life and death of a moth, one that is petite and insignificant. The moth is full of life, and lives life as if merry days and warm summers are the only things the moth knows. However, as the moth enters it’s last moments, it realizes that death is stronger than any other force. As the moth knew life seconds before, it has now deteriorated into death. The moth which had been so full of life, was now dead, showing that the line between life and death is one that is fragile and easy to cross without intention, or expectance. In the essay, Woolf uses metaphor to convey the relationship between life and death. At the beginning of the essay, the moth is full of prosperity and pleasure. Woolf says, “It was nothing but life.” (page 1). The moth lives his life, as if positivity is the only thing it knows. This creates the moth as an embodiment of life. As the others work in the sun, and appreciate the summers day, the moth flies around, its’s only concern in getting from corner to corner. The moth does not think about …show more content…

The moth which was once full of life, and excitement, was knocked over, and battles death to find its way upright. As the moth struggles to right itself, Woolf says, “The unmistakable tokens of death showed themselves.” The inanimate force of death is being represented as something animate, in a way personifying, that is causing a physical toll on the moth. Woolf uses this metaphor to show death as an object, which can consume life, and in this case, the moth. As we just knew the moth as a Lively, and nimble , we know know the moth as life that is weakening so rapidly. Woolf uses this metaphor to compare the beginning of life to the now deteriorating life of the

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