Literary Analysis
“The Lesson of
the Moth” Literary Analysis
In the poem, “the lesson of the moth” by Don Marquis, teaches the idea of passion through varying ideals of two different characters. One of the main characters, (who is also the narrator of the story) is Archy the cockroach. The other character is the Moth, who is essentially creating the overall metaphor of living with passion through killing himself by a candle. On the outside, the work seems like a particularly odd and morbid poem, but once it is picked apart, there are many profound meanings associated with the characters.
When one lives his or hers life similarly to the moth, one must be completely submerged in the beauty in order to live a truly meaningful life. The moth states that,
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
It is easy to see that the Moth believes that life is only meaningful when it entails a relentless pursuit of passion. An example of this is a man named Dan Osman who was a free solo climber. He accomplished free climbs such as Bears Reach and New River Gorge. When Osman was 35, he died while doing an extreme stunt of performing a controlled free-fall off of the Leaning Tower rock formation in Yosemite National Park. He embodied the mentality of somebody who completely submerged themselves in their true passion. Osman spent the majority of his life doing dangerous climbs and died young because of it. But, he died doing what he loved; he died submerged in the beauty.
On the other hand, there is the perspective of Archy the cockroach. Archy is more focused on living life a little bit slower and not as passionately, but still getting the opportunity to experience new opportunities and learn what makes one’s life worth it. In his terms, it is living in a way that provides “half the happiness and twice the longevity”. The average human is a perfect example of somebody who lives their life in this manner. Most people, regardless of their gender, race, age or any other defining factor, tend to live in a way that touches on happiness and passion but doesn’t completely delve into it. By living in this style, somebody is more enabled to experience a vast array of things and see which pleases them most. It may not provide complete and utter contempt, but it does provide longevity and options. Even though Archy has a much calmer mentality than the moth, the very end of the poem does reveal a hidden desire to want something as badly as the moth wanted to be a part of the flame. This is a very key factor because it discloses that there is a yearning to live with a more extreme mentality for the sake of wanting more.
There were strong connections between “The Lesson of the Moth” and a podcast on NPR by Mike Rowe about how pursuing our passion won’t necessarily make us successful. Rowe discussed the idea that it is actually people with “dirty jobs” that can disrupt the pre-existing notion that passion matters. He says that, “many of the happiest people in the country have jobs that no one would ever identify as a pre-existing passion.” Although Rowe does acknowledge that some people can do well when following their passions, it is fairly rare that it occurs. He argues that the “blue collar workers”, are the backbone of our country. If everybody followed their passions, we would not have people to do the dirty, yet extremely important work. The connections that I found between the two sources were that they were both completely focused on passion. Though it was different aspects, both the article and the podcast brought up ideas that aren’t necessarily associated with passion.
After reading “The Lesson of the Moth” and dissecting its deeper meaning, I realize that I am much more oriented to living the same way that Archy does. I connect more with taking life slower but figuring out its meaning through various experiences. I understand that people have different desires for things in life, so it is important to live a meaningful life in a manner that is most suiting for one’s personal preference. Some people won’t get what they truly desire unless they are going full out, 100% of the time, and even though they may burn out from it, it doesn’t matter because of the accomplishment of constantly working toward doing what they love. “The Lesson of the Moth” was a thought-provoking insight on things that occur every day, for every person, but are rarely considered.
In the poem, “the lesson of the moth” by Don Marquis, teaches the idea of passion through varying ideals of two different characters. One of the main characters, (who is also the narrator of the story) is Archy the cockroach. The other character is the Moth, who is essentially creating the overall metaphor of living with passion through killing himself by a candle. On the outside, the work seems like a particularly odd and morbid poem, but once it is picked apart, there are many profound meanings associated with the characters.
When one lives his or hers life similarly to the moth, one must be completely submerged in the beauty in order to live a truly meaningful life. The moth states that,
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
It is easy to see that the Moth believes that life is only meaningful when it entails a relentless pursuit of passion. An example of this is a man named Dan Osman who was a free solo climber. He accomplished free climbs such as Bears Reach and New River Gorge. When Osman was 35, he died while doing an extreme stunt of performing a controlled free-fall off of the Leaning Tower rock formation in Yosemite National Park. He embodied the mentality of somebody who completely submerged themselves in their true passion. Osman spent the majority of his life doing dangerous climbs and died young because of it. But, he died doing what he loved; he died submerged in the beauty.
On the other hand, there is the perspective of Archy the cockroach. Archy is more focused on living life a little bit slower and not as passionately, but still getting the opportunity to experience new opportunities and learn what makes one’s life worth it. In his terms, it is living in a way that provides “half the happiness and twice the longevity”. The average human is a perfect example of somebody who lives their life in this manner. Most people, regardless of their gender, race, age or any other defining factor, tend to live in a way that touches on happiness and passion but doesn’t completely delve into it. By living in this style, somebody is more enabled to experience a vast array of things and see which pleases them most. It may not provide complete and utter contempt, but it does provide longevity and options. Even though Archy has a much calmer mentality than the moth, the very end of the poem does reveal a hidden desire to want something as badly as the moth wanted to be a part of the flame. This is a very key factor because it discloses that there is a yearning to live with a more extreme mentality for the sake of wanting more.
There were strong connections between “The Lesson of the Moth” and a podcast on NPR by Mike Rowe about how pursuing our passion won’t necessarily make us successful. Rowe discussed the idea that it is actually people with “dirty jobs” that can disrupt the pre-existing notion that passion matters. He says that, “many of the happiest people in the country have jobs that no one would ever identify as a pre-existing passion.” Although Rowe does acknowledge that some people can do well when following their passions, it is fairly rare that it occurs. He argues that the “blue collar workers”, are the backbone of our country. If everybody followed their passions, we would not have people to do the dirty, yet extremely important work. The connections that I found between the two sources were that they were both completely focused on passion. Though it was different aspects, both the article and the podcast brought up ideas that aren’t necessarily associated with passion.
After reading “The Lesson of the Moth” and dissecting its deeper meaning, I realize that I am much more oriented to living the same way that Archy does. I connect more with taking life slower but figuring out its meaning through various experiences. I understand that people have different desires for things in life, so it is important to live a meaningful life in a manner that is most suiting for one’s personal preference. Some people won’t get what they truly desire unless they are going full out, 100% of the time, and even though they may burn out from it, it doesn’t matter because of the accomplishment of constantly working toward doing what they love. “The Lesson of the Moth” was a thought-provoking insight on things that occur every day, for every person, but are rarely considered.