Compare and contrast - Essay Example

Teachers Eng 111-4237 Compare and Contrast Death of a Moth The two Virginia Wolf and Annie Dillard wrote two different essays, but with the same title “Death of a moth”. The two essays depicted two separate occasions, which both Wolf and Dillard witnessed two moths on the verge of death. Wolf and Dillard describe what the moths went through during their dying process. The two essays portray an allegory depicting the conflicts experienced between two moths and their deaths; it exemplifies the two approaches of facing death.

This paper compares and contrasts the events in the essays “Death of a Moth” by Virginia Wolf and “Death of a Moth” by Annie Dillard. The two writers Dillard and Wolf have given their different essays the theme of how death is approached or embraced. Since death is an ultimate circumstance, which is unavoidable, the question raised is on how to face it (Iowa Council of Teachers of English 49). Death is the antagonist in the two essays. Answers on how to face death vary since having a conflict against death or embracing and accepting peaceful death can be options.

The climax of the essay comes when the two moths face their death. Dillard in her essay has portrayed an approach to death, which involves struggling and running away. Contrarily, Woolf has given death an acceptable approach in that death is experienced calmly (Woolf 7). The two essays by Annie Dillard and Virginia Wolf compare superficially in that they have a similar title “death of a moth”, which go on to exemplify the theme of conflict with death. In the two essays, the writers have focused on depicting how the moths face their death.

The moths are the characters of the essays propelling the theme being addressed (Woolf 8). The essays also compare in that the moths seem to be conscious of the fate waiting, which in this case is death. The two essays are also similar because they show that it does not matter the form of death or approach of dying, death is definitive (Iowa Council of Teachers of English 51). Woolf’s moth rotates around the window; its life has been limited around the window pane, which happens to be the same spot where it meets its death.

Dillard’s moth meets its death after being burnt by a candle flame while flying around it. In the two essays, the approaches to death are different taking into consideration the description from Woolf and Dillard (Iowa Council of Teachers of English 52). In wolf’s essay, she portrays the moth in a way that it accepts death the moth is brave enough to embrace death in a dignified manner. Contrarily, in Dillard’s essay, she portrays the moth in a manner that it fights back and rejects death.

In the eventuality, the essays differ in that Dillard’s moth experiences a disastrous and violent death as a result of rejecting death, while Woolf’s moth experiences death in a calm and easy a manner since it had accepted to die. The depiction by Dillard that the moth continues to burn for hours is a symbol that death is still considered as part of life; this is different from Woolf, who depicts the moth’s death as finality (Woolf 9). ConclusionVirginia Woolf and Annie Dillard have essays, which share the title “Death of a moth”.

In the essays, they have used the character of a moth a simple creature, to depict the power of death, which is a complex eventuality. The two writers have used moths to show the different ways in which human things face death. In particular, Woolf illustrates a moth accepts its fate of dying in a clam and easy manner, contrary to how Dillard illustrates a moth’s great effort to resist death. The writers use dialogue to help the readers understand the moths’ situations. The essays have a major comparison in that an approach to death does not matter, it is an eventual process.

Works CitedIowa Council of Teachers of English. Iowa English bulletin. Iowa City: University of Iowa, 1976. PrintWoolf V. The death of the moth and other essays. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. Print