"Death of a Moth" --- Woolfe

   While Virginia Woolf's "Death of a Moth" is considered by many to be an impressive piece of writing, I on the other hand, couldn't help but find it oppressive. After reading the text, I couldn't help but cringe at how wordy it was. Also, it was written at a time when Woolf was contemplating death herself. Eventually she did commit suicide by drowning herself. I believe that may have had an effect on her ability to write the story of the moth. In her view, death seems to be inevitable, which it is, but to welcome it early just seems to be a waste. The moth fought to live out his life, even to the bitter end. She manages to capture that especially well, yet she used the words "pathetic" and "helpless" far too often in my opinion. Somebody needed to give that moth a smile. Yes, death was coming for him, yet he stared it in the face and kept kicking, for what little time he had left. To look down on the little guy after he had fought so hard to live seemed to be out of place. Yes, moths are small and somewhat overlooked in the grand scheme of life. Yet, for Woolf to take such a pessimistic view of the small life in front of her shows us exactly how little regard for life that she had left that late in her own life. In the story, she seems to express the same goal as the moth: to avoid death. However, unlike the moth, in her own life, she failed to fight to do so. She gave in. Yes, Woolf did have some mental issues of her own that contributed to her death, and yet I feel that they are no excuse. If she can view life in such a way, why not fight to live out and enjoy her own life? However little or great the amount of it that seems to be remaining, fighting to live out life is always important, no matter how close you are to the end.