Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Death of the Moth

A surprisingly interesting essay, The Death of the Moth contains a wide variety of rhetorical devices that make it powerful yet simple. Although it is relatively short, the author, Virginia Woolf, is still able to write a lovely, detailed story with a strong, underlying metaphor.

One of the most common tropes the author uses is simile. For example: “...until it looked as if a vast net with thousands of black knots in it had been cast up into the air; which, after a few moments sank slowly down upon the trees until ever twig seemed to have a knot at the end of it,” is a simile Woolf uses to describe a gathering of rooks in the trees outside her window. Also: “It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, had set it dancing and zig-zagging to show us the true nature of life,” is a simile used to illustrate the moth and the immense amount of energy it has.

Another device Woolf uses is parallelism, which occurs when she writes: “That was all he could do, in spite of the size of the downs, the width of the sky, the far-off smoke of houses, and the romantic voice, now and then, of a steamer out at sea.” A good example of hyperbole is present when the author describes: “One could only watch the extraordinary effort made by those tiny legs against an oncoming doom which could, had it chosen, have submerged an entire city, not merely a city, but masses of human beings...”

Throughout the essay, personification is used to add even more significance to the event occurring. Life, death, and the moth are personified, and by the addition of human-like characteristics, Woolf is able to represent abstract ideas in a more concrete manner. One example of this device is shown when she writes: “Yet the power was there all the same, massed outside indifferent, impersonal, not attending to anything in particular. Somehow it was opposed to the little hay-coloured moth.” Of course the forces of nature cannot really be opposed to any certain creature, yet this description helps you become sympathetic towards the moth in its struggle against this seemingly evil force. The moth is also personified throughout the essay, several examples are: “Nevertheless, the present specimen...seemed to be content with life,” “the insignificant little creature now knew death,” and “O yes, he seemed to say, death is stronger than I am.”

By using such a simple creature's struggle against death as a metaphor, Woolf creates a beautiful essay on the fragility and impermanence of life. Her simplicity and detail keeps her essay from becoming overcomplicated, overly dramatic, or depressing. It was a surprisingly light and meaningful essay on an event that most people would probably overlook.

5 comments:

Kelsey Svaren said...

I really enjoyed this essay too! the rhetorical devices and strategies that Virginia Woolf uses really adds to the story. I also thought your essay was well thought out and really did Virgina woolf justice.

Melissa said...

I thought your post was extremely in-depth and enlightening. I liked how you looked at it and analyzed it...it really got me thinking about how we seem to overlook the simple things in life. I hadn't thought about reading this essay until reading your post and now I plan to. I really enjoyed how you talked about personification and how it added to the event. Your writing style is very enjoyable and the way you look at a piece of writing is extremely unique and refreshing. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!

Carolyn Ranten said...

Once again, you are a genius. You write so professionally and good. Your use of examples to show rhetorical devices is absolutely amazing. It is obvious that you have a very keen eye for the devices! Well done.

Hansen said...

Indeed, the essay was surprisingly interesting. I agree with your entire post and from it I can tell that you understood what the author was trying to express. I do believe that your post will only help those who over-looked the essay and will cause people to read the essay if they have not already done so.

ashapiro said...

This seemingly boreing essay was completely turned around for me after the literary devices were exposed. The life of a moth is insignificant to most people, yet the it’s struggles are as real as our very own. You did a thourough job of explaining the parallels between this insects life and that of any other person. You were very clear and your ideas concrete.