Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolfe Analysis

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One could only watch the extraordinary efforts 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; nothing, I knew, had any chance against death (Woolfe 2).

As the moth ceases to be a part of a much greater spectrum of activity, and goes from insignificant to the focal point of the essay, Woolfe’s tone becomes dramatized and deeply conflicted over her role in what was taking place. The way that the moth’s death evoked strong feelings from Woolfe displays her own fascination, and ultimately her insanity, at the concept of death. She was awestruck at the inescapable nature of death, and also at her helplessness before it.

The context of the essay is perhaps the greatest element; the fact that this essay of struggle for survival was not even printed before Woolfe’s suicide in 1941. Clearly Woolfe had a message to all people, but she was also undeniably struggling with her own perception of life and death. She describes the moth’s last moments in the phrase “it came over me that the failure and awkwardness were the approach of death”, which suggests that the literal, physical line between life and death were very blurred for Woolfe, who had trouble herself distinguishing when a person’s soul ceases to life and starts to die. The moth’s struggle against death symbolized her own suffering, which consisted of various mental disorders following her extensive education, death of her parents and siblings, and her series of nervous breakdowns throughout her life. Dillard herself overcame many obstacles (such as women suppression, mental disorders, and close deaths within her family), but ultimately she also succumbed to the same fate as the moth; she became quiet, isolated, and unassuming. Just as she justified herself and her lack of care for the moth in her line “It was useless to try to do anything”, she is also explaining that nobody can help her with her own struggles that she faces in life, despite her respect and reflective admiration for the moth’s “gigantic effort”.

Such is man’s own, general experience of life and death; for some it is hardly noticeable, and many people live without ever having a catharsis following the self-awareness of their proverbial plight to survive. When observing life, in even its most insignificant form, there is something that can be learned according to Woolfe, and there is a sense of empathy and pity for the “hard fate” she conveys awaiting living things in all its various forms, because it is a struggle that is unanimous amongst the biotic factors of the Earth. The only difference between humanity and nature is that in nature it is a simplistic process, and it is humanity that has made death into something that is complicated (through higher thinking and self-awareness) into something that more often than not strikes fear into the hearts of men and dilutes the experience of life.