Please answer the following prompt in response to Virginia Woolf's "The Death of the Moth" (895-897).
How do you see nature? As benign, hostile, indifferent, restorative, or wondrous? An inspiration or an obstacle? In a poem entitled "The Tables Turned," William Wordsworth writes, "Come forth into the light of things / Let nature be your teacher." To what extent has nature been a teacher in your own life? Include in your response your own experiences and compare and contrast them to the perspectives expressed in Woolf's text. (Due 4/30)
Good prose is like a carefully woven net of language. Through it, we see a familiar but completely different world from the one we experience daily. In this new world, things are as same as they have been, but the interactions between them are not as ordinary as what we have seen. From observing the new association, we discover a new world which could be more real than the one we are living.
ReplyDelete"The death of the Moth" shows us such a world which appears trite and insignificant. There are moths, field, sun, hills, windows, birds and animals, people, house, urban, as well as an observer who stays both inside and outside this scenario. However, when the image of this scenario freezes at a dying moth, other objects serve as foils to it. A world that people have never experienced or seen unfolds; time is compressed, things familiar to us become strange; things distant are close at hand.
The moth-centered world is also a self-contained world. Although the world contains a lot of other objects, but at this moment, these things do not have any independent value. They only exist for a moth and act as setoff to contrast the death of the moth. Once the death of the moths comes, their mission will end. In this new world, the author presents us with a process of life. The course from birth to death in one moment spreads out before our eyes. It is a shock to us who are used to living in an unremarkable life. Time slowly goes by; we have turned blind eyes to life because it seems to have jumped out of the scope of what we can feel and exists only in our unconscious languages and behaviors. However, the message about life and death is released in an extremely simplified way by a moth and penetrates into our minds. In this sense, the life of moth ties with ours so that we learn through the experience of moth about a fragile but strong life.
In my opinion nature could be both an inspiration and an obstacle. it can inspire you to be better or be a hindrance to you achieving some goals you have set for yourself i.e death. The aspect of nature that has been a teacher to me are the birds of the air. They don't work, they don't worry about what to eat or what to wear yet they are alive and flying without a care in the world. they don't worry about death and every other thing that we as humans worry about. the lesson i learn from these creatures is not to worry about tomorrow, about what I'll wear, or eat. I'll do the best i can and leave the rest to God.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the moth is a sad and an eye opening one. it shows how death cannot be fought and that when its time to go, its time to go. it also shows how suddenly one's life could come to an end sometimes without any warning. everything seemed to be in order before the moth died and it all became calm after it died. this story simply taught me that i cant fight death when its time to die, that i can simply do all i can within the time i am alive and leave all else to God. the moth lived its life happily flying from one corner to another unsuspecting of its impending doom. death is like a thief, it just steals in when we are least suspecting and takes away a life we are unwilling to give up because we have so many more things we wish to do. sometimes we are blessed and granted a second chance in life like some people who have testified to dying and returning to earth but not everyone has the opportunity for a second chance at life. we can only be grateful for the life we have now
Nature can be looked as hostile and indifferent. Regardless of what is going on in the world Hurricane, Earth quick, Tornadoes, Tsunami nature carries on like nothing happen. There are many people suffering around the world due to the act of nature.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are others that benefit from these disastrous acts.
“The Death of the Moth” written by Virginia Woolf exemplifies nature running its course. Virginia Woolf writes about the brief life struggle of a Moth. The moth was flying from one side of the windowpane to the other, this represent that the moth is trapped. The moth is trying to get ‘a new life’ by going through the windowpane and run away from death. Woolf also makes comparisons of the life outside to the life of the moth. It was a beautiful summer day “The rooks too were keeping one of their annual festivities” (Woolf 895). This reflects that even though everything outside appears to be great it was not the same for the moth. As she watched the moth fly back and forth, up and down she realizes that the moth was actually in distress. Her first instinct was to help the moth but she decided to let nature take its course. She watched the moth struggle and become fatigued; she realized that the moth knew what was happening. The moth had accepted his fate, and instead of fighting to the last second, the moth stopped to lie down and take his last breath calmly.
Jose Desilva
In my opinion of nature, I don’t think I really have one. It’s something that is all around me but not something I feel negative or positive feelings towards. I wouldn’t call myself a nature kind of girl because I strongly disfavor bugs and animals. I’m not the type of person who will see a bug in a room and think not to kill it but to set it free. If I see a bug it’s a goner, because I can’t take the chance of setting it free and it coming back to crawl on me. Nature is neither an inspiration nor an obstacle. It may sound like it’s an obstacle to me but it doesn’t stop me from doing my daily routines. Nature can be an inspiration to people who find peace of mind and relaxation from being outside and surrounded by plant life, trees, and animals. Nature can also be an obstacle for people in times of inclement weather and people whom nature does hinder their daily routine.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if I can say that nature has been a teacher in my life. I know nature is something you can’t control. I have always heard the saying “let nature run its course”, which means let things happen naturally without interference and whatever happens, happens. Nature like life is something that you can’t time and it’s unpredictable. Things come and go, grow and change at the times nature sees fit. In Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of the Moth” nature and life ran its course and the moth could not control, no matter how hard it tried, when its life would end. The last line of the poem reads “O yes, he seemed to say, death is stronger than I am” (Woolf 897). Death is stronger than all of us whether animal or human. When it’s your time to go nature will have its way. You can try as you may to prolong the inevitable but in the end the will of nature will always come out on top. In nature things are bound to happen not only concerning death but nature will bring adversity into life at times when you least expect it but it’s up to the individual to let it make you or break you. The moth was just fine as it was flying around the room from corner to corner but adversity hit and the moth could not overcome the struggle. Just like me when I sometimes try to avoid a problem I have with a person but that problem is continuously thrown in my face to a point where I can no longer avoid it, so I deal with it. Problems and changes are inevitable in life because it’s all a part of nature; so on second thought maybe nature has been a teacher in my life.
I see nature as wondrous and an inspiration. When I look around and pay attention to the natural aspect of nature, it confirms for me that we live in a world that was intricately designed by a Creator and that it did not just came into existence by chance. The spectacular environment of waterfalls, mountains, lakes, sunsets, and the creatures that surround us—though not as advanced in intelligence like humans, they have their own astonishing ways of life; all these things amaze and inspire me allowing me to focus on the beauty that surrounds us.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is the simple things in life that motivate us and the simple lessons that transform us. In “The Death of the Moth” by Virginia Woolf, her attention was captured by the movements of a moth. Though not as beautiful as a butterfly, yet it drew her focus and interrupted her from her regular life for a few hours from morning until midday. She was able to gather some inspiration and lessons learnt—she took note of how the moth “seemed to be content with life” (Woolf 895), and “his zest in enjoying his meagre opportunities to the full” (Woolf 896). She viewed the moth as “a tiny bead of pure life…to show us the true nature of life” (Woolf 896), she was in awe of how this little creature between dancing and struggling just as in life we have moments of joy and sadness. Also, sometimes no matter how hard we try to resist, inevitably we have to face death someday. Even from a simple tiny creature like a moth, the author was reminded that “death is stronger.” Just as the author watched on as the butterfly died, we sometimes experience death in our own lives many times through our loved ones who have passed on and leave us to mourn for them. It is almost as if that experience of death teaches us to make the most of our lives while we can so when our time comes we can be accepting of death and have no regrets about our lives. In my own life, those moments have caused me to reflect and be reminded of how fragile life is. It has reminded me to appreciate the time God has given us and not to take things for granted. My first significant experience of death of a loved one was when my father died, and as a young teenager at that time it had a tremendous impact on my life. Indeed death is strong, it can either break you down or make you stronger—depending on how you choose to let the experience change you.
Nature is wondrous and astonishing. It is something to appreciate and applaud in the sense that it affects everyone in a different way; some may love to smell the flowers while some may be allergic to the pollen. In these simple ways it defines us all. In my opinion, when one stares out a window onto the world and becomes entrapped with its almost philosophical effect that is when we think the most clearly. Nature has taught me to take my time and not hurry with my everyday life, because nature itself does not hurry and yet it gets everything done.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at nature, especially when I gaze into the ether of space, I realize how small and insignificant I am in comparison to the rest of it, but it does not deter me to give up on everything instead it motivates me to carry on and gain some semblance of significance, much like the moth in Virginia Woolf’s “The death of the Moth”. The story makes us privy to the wonder of the world and life and then the forcefulness and overwhelming power of death, something that no one can escape. The moth exerts all its energy into is life and this ironically causes its death, this can be a commentary on human life also, we focus our energy so much on making life better and doing it faster that we don’t take the time to appreciate what we have in the moment.
I find nature to be a very wondrous and inspirational thing. It is considered to be the circle of life and it teaches us to fight through obstacles that occur. It shows that no matter we go through, the sun will always come out tomorrow to brighten up our day. Nature has a lot to offer, it is beauty with out boundaries. It shows unconventional beauty. Many people do not have the time to appreciate things in life or even see the beauty that surrounds them.
ReplyDeleteNature is the most amusing thing in life for me at the present time. I can now say that I want to smell the roses or hear the birds chirping. This is because i stopped feeling the pressure from society bringing me down and overwhelming me. Nature is my way of escaping the stress of everyday life. I can honestly say that I enjoy the little things in life and their struggle to survive. Just like the moth using up all his energy on the window in the story told by Woolf, it shows that life is short. Instead of fussing and fighting we should enjoy it to the fullest because the end of it is inevitable and we never know when it will creep up on us.
I believe nature is wondrous and sometimes hostile. It is wondrous because it plays a major role in everybody’s life, whether it’s a human being or an animal. As life grows, we start becoming more and more dependent on nature. We realize how important these things such as trees, sun, moon, and water are for a living thing to survive. It is nature, which teaches every thing as one originates. It cultivates the importance of life and the things that comes and goes. Whenever a person is distressed or heartbroken, he will always try to forget every thing and get along with nature just to relax himself from the problems. Nature gets hostile because it never helps you solve or treat problems. It is you who should sort out ways and face struggle without any ones help, in the end the only price you receive from the nature is “death”. Similarly, in “The Death of the Moth” written by Virginia Woolf, he explains how a moth struggles to get a life. It flies around everywhere and tries to escape from death, but the nature just stand and ignores to help it. I personally think nature is beautiful thing to have but at the same time it’s of no use. I believe nature is like time. Some times it goes in favor and sometimes it acts mean. Whenever I am sad or dejected I always feel comfortable to get my self-alone and feel free from the problems. The only time I feel sad about nature is when I think about the struggle I face to sort out problems and in the end I realize it is of no use.
ReplyDeleteI see nature as wondrous and powerful. Wondrous because it’s like art very beautiful and powerful because of how stable it is especially the trees and how they grow taller and taller with time despite the change in weather. It is also full of Inspiration that could be found all around nature because there are a lot of details that make up nature. Nature has been a tremendous part of my life and taught me so much and helped make me who I ‘am today. My family always took me on road trips since I was little just to experience nature; whether it is a forest or lake I’ve been lucky to have these experiences with nature. Nature has played the teacher role in my life because it’s a place I find the most peace and I think much more clearly when in that setting. In Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of the Moth” she describes nature as “indifferent [and] impersonal” (897) she identifies nature as an energy that doesn’t seem to care about anything living in it. She also writes “O yes, he seemed to say, death is stronger than I am” (Woolf 897) she indicates that nature is a very powerful thing that no one can escape from.
ReplyDeleteIn my observation nature is a wonder to behold,just to know that everything we see in the physical around us came from the unknown/nature. Nature has been a force/teacher in my life in that I always let the force of nature inspire me be it good or bad. When an orchid blooms and gives to us beauty at its height of his life he is giving us all that he is, then he dies. Everything in life is only for a period. So love nature and all that it gives to us life and death.
ReplyDeleteIn the essay "The Death of the Moth" by Virginia Woolf, the theme is death. The antagonist is death, the protagonist is life which is the moth. But death and life is natural, meaning they are both forces of nature. The writer acknowledges death as the enemy. The writer is observing nature in its' fullest form as an insignificant moth struggles with his life that is coming to an end on the inside while life on the outside carries on, "The same energy which inspired the rooks, the ploughmen, the horses, [...],sent the moth fluttering from side to side of his square of the window pane"(Woolf 896). Is the same energy which is bringing the moth's life to an end. We die all the time. So love nature and all that it gives to us.
In my perspective nature is; benign, wondrous and inspirational. When analyzing it, the first word that comes to mind is, natural. It has become accepted and common that “natural” is a rare thing. Somewhere along the years the majority of the human species began to take nature for granted, we’ve become so adapted to manmade mechanisms and creations that we lost our knowledge of the importance of it. We tend to minimize the value of nature; from the light and energy produced and provided from the sun, to the oxygen and protection from the trees, as well as the hydrologic cycle that continuously produces the movement of water. Nature has taught me that after death, life is always guaranteed, for anything. The plants and flowers die every winter, yet comeback every spring. Nothing in nature is ever truly gone forever. Though her perspective may differ from mine Author, Virginia Woolf explores this lesson in “The Death of the Moth”. She focuses on one particular moth, which stands as a symbol for life, for specifically the struggle of life. There was much significance to what Woolf said to be “The insignificant little creature” (897). The moth struggled to survive, even though it faced death it never gave in to it. The moth continued to try until as Woolf writes “The body relaxed, and instantly grew stiff. The struggle was over”(897). Through the actions of the moth readers learn that though death is always expected, we should make the best out of the time we have.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I see nature as a very important part of human life. Before there was any kind of technology or great nations thriving, there was only nature and nature has provided food and shelter for us. To me, nature is considered an inspiration rather than an obstacle. Nature provides us with so much so be considered something as bothersome as an obstacle. Nature shows us the good and the bad of the world from beautiful butterflies and waterfalls, to hurricanes and earthquakes. The difficulties nature presents us serves as motivation to eventually overcome and conquer. “The Death of a Moth” shows us the small overlooked parts of nature. The story speaks of ploughman, horses and rooks being around this one little moth. To me, the story is showing me a small side of nature that can be interpreted as something much larger. This moth is trying to survive too, just like how we do day by day. Just because the moth is small, should it be overlooked and ignored? The moth is a part of nature as are we. We all have “life” in us and regardless of it being a human or moth, when they die it still means life has departed from the living world, from nature. In my own experience, nature has taught me many things as well. I learn about the natural disasters of nature and the beauty of life. Nature has taught me to adapt to these things, and taught me how to survive. Nature teaches me to work hard, because there are creatures in nature that work hard day by day to survive and keep the balance of nature. Taking the time and observing nature, the significance of life around us becomes clearer and clearer. Each life has a purpose and a job to do the help other life throughout the planet and beyond. Just because the moth is small does not mean we should ignore it. The moth adds to the beauty of nature and more. So when a moth dies, don’t let its efforts and existence be ignored.
ReplyDeleteVirginia Woolf, “The Death of the Moth”, is a story that symbolizes the contrast between life and death. She describes a Moth full of life trying to go through a windowpane to reach the outdoors and then it dies after several futile attempts. The window can also be used to symbolize the barrier humans face in their everyday struggles. Just like the window was preventing the Moth from experiencing nature. Woolf admired the moth’s courage in the face of death by saying, “The moth having righted himself now lay most decently and uncomplainingly composed. O yes, he seemed to say, death is stronger than I am.
ReplyDeleteWoolf story brought to light the fact that death can come knocking at our doors at any time. The moth accepted its fate with dignity and humans should free themselves from the burden of society, live and enjoy nature, before death comes and all we can do is accept our fate. Nature is an inspiration, pity for the moth is one’s feeling when reading how “he flew vigorously to one corner of his compartment, and, after waiting there a second, flew across to the other.” The moth’s energy and determination to get out and experience nature, should serve as an example for humans who allow their minds to control their lives and are blinded by nature’s beauty.
Nature as a teacher is wondrous. The energy one feels when enjoying nature could be compared to Woolf’s feeling as she watched the moth and taught “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 zigzagging to show us the true nature of life.” Nature and death is part of our lives and culture. As much as we try to avoid death it will win, hence life should be enjoyed while we are still alive.
I see nature as very restorative and hostile. Nature can be very beautiful and calming for people. It offers many beautiful views, flowers, trees, and is home to many creatures. Yet nature can also be very hostile. It can cause many troubles for humans and animals such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides and many more hostile acts of nature. Yet just as quickly as the sky can turn dark, it can turn blue, reminding us that the sun will once again shine. Just like individual people nature offers positivity and negativity. This is a huge lesson I have learned in my life. When I was younger and went on a family vacation to visit relatives in Greece. There I would remember watching my uncle fish. I would watch the fish try to swing back and forth on the rods, trying to get out of the buckets, attempting anyway to survive. In “The Death of the Moth” Virginia Woolf writes, “The body relaxed, and instantly grew stiff. The struggle was over. The insignificant little creature now knew death” (897). This is part of the lesson I have learned from nature, positive and negativity. My uncle now had a fish for food which he saw as positive, while negatively the fish lost his life. This small act of catching a fish is a lesson I learned about the circle of life and how humans need nature, just as much as nature needs humans to protect it.
ReplyDeleteNature is something that surrounds us everyday, yet sometimes we forget the beauty it holds. In today’s society, people are so busy with the rush of their daily lives, that no one really stops and stare at the environment that surrounds them. We live in a wondrous world, enriched with beauty beyond words, yet we forget to acknowledge the life that surrounds us.
ReplyDeleteAlthough nature holds great beauty, it can become an obstacle in our daily lives. In the 21st century, people have certain errands to run, however, sometimes Mother Nature gets in the way. For example, one may need to get to work to making a living so that they can support their family however, there’s a blizzard. Due to this blizzard, an unforeseen natural disturbance, that person is unable to go to work, and therefore they become financially unstable, and can’t support their family.
In the story, William Wordsworth explains how death cannot be escaped. As our lives continue, as each day passes we see death as a little thing but the minute we have an epiphany about death we can realize something big. Death can come today tomorrow, or even the next hour, but no one can tell because of how no one knows the future. Death is an inescapable event that no matter how hard tried no one can escape, despite being the richest person alive, having the most amazing doctors, being the most healthiest person alive, death is one thing that no one has control over.
I consider nature as wondrous and inspirational because it has the ability to give life even to the smallest things. Sometimes we do not appreciate the beautiful and amazing things that are around us. For example, how amazing is that a small creature such as a moth, is a living being like us. As Virginia Woolf says on her essay "The Death of the Moth”, “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 zigzagging to show us the true nature of life” (896). Woolf’s essay describes life from the view of a smallest creature, a moth. She intends to show that there are other living beings beside humans on nature. In this line she is telling how a tiny moth show signs of life by moving all around. It also teaches people a lesson by fighting against death. She writes, “ 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” (Woolf 897). As any other living creature, moths also died and they also have the courage to fight against it. This is an example of how nature is like a teacher for us because an “insignificant” creature is giving us lesson of power and valor.
ReplyDeleteNature is more wondrous than destructive or hostile. It is certainly benign because all living things depend on nature for survival. Virginia Woolf's "The Death of the Moth", we get to experience the wondrous form of nature expressed through a seemingly short life of a moth. The observations of the narattor made me think deeply about the circle of life, and how in the end we have to die in order to give back to nature and ensure continuation of life. The moth's last struggles are reminisant of how all living beings in nature must struggle in order to survive, till when they can fight no more, they give up on life and simply integrate back into nature.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator tried to save the moth at one point but held back in order to allow nature take it's course (Woolf, 897). In my own experience, as a teenager, I remember coming across a frog locked in the jaws of a young black snake. The frog kicked pathetically sruggling to get free of the grip. The snake only held on tighter, undistructed by the frogs efforts or my presence. Rather than stay put and watch the facination unfolding before my eyes, I quickly asked for a hoe and without thinking cut off the snake's head setting the frog free as the snake's lifeless body fell back into it's hole.Staring into the snake's lifeless eyes, I was suddly overcome with great sadness and pity. I deeply regreted my decicion at choping off the snake's head and seting the frog free.Even though I apologised to the snake, I knew nothing would bring it back to life and the best I could do was burry it's head and wish it the best in it's afterlife. To date, I still feel I should have just let nature take it's course without interupting. This painfully reminds me that it is mankind that is destructve to nature. If we could control our greed and treat nature right, then it does treat us back right in return.