Similarities Between The Death Of The Moth And Annie Dillard
Death is inevitable; the end of existence is a fixed event that will ensue all life. Nevertheless, life perseveres against the odds of the world. The struggle for survival is examined in Virginia Woolf’s The Death of the Moth and Annie Dillard’s Polyphemus Moth, both in which a moth - seemingly insignificant lifeforms - engages in a match with death. Although both moths face adversity and fight to live, the certainty of death is confirmed when the Woolf’s moth’s natural passing comes. The two moths share a commonality: the primitive instinct to live. Moths use their wings to fly, to travel, to find food and shelter. However, when a moth’s wings are “a single nightmare clump still wracked with useless, frantic convulsions” (Dillard), the wings …show more content…
The ongoing battle against the world continues as the Polyphemus moth crawls “down the driveway...hunched...on six furred feet, forever” (Dillard); despite the torture of not being able to fly and the unlikeness of survival, Dillard’s moth does not falter. However, the plain moth of Woolf’s illustration accepts defeat against the world, proving that “death is stronger” than any purpose or want of life. The Polyphemus moth is innocent and pure, having just begun its life. Although unlikely, there is still a chance that the Polyphemus moth may live to see another day. In spite of the fact that the Polyphemus moth “[heaves] himself down the asphalt driveway...unwavering” (Dillard), in the end, death will claim the moth, just not yet. Woolf’s moth, however, passes away in mid-September, Unlike the Polyphemus moth, Woolf’s moth is given assistance by the narrator’s pencil but still “could [not]...raise himself” (Woolf). The contrasting perspectives of the different works reveal the innocence and desperation during the beginning of a struggle and the wise acceptance and defeat at the end of life. Dillard’s subjective connection with the Polyphemus moth is emotional while Woolf’s intellectual objective examination of the moth’s death is
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