Death of a Moth

Death. The final stop, every man's destination, kicking the bucket, hitting the dusty trail, falling and never getting back up, an everlasting blink, the last breath, the longest journey. There are many words, phrases, and saying we use to describe death. But ultimately, we know nothing of it. We know that death is the last stop for all living things, there's no escaping it. One can deter it, for a time, but never stop it. Nothing in the physical world, is excempt from death.

Death of a moth describes the titanic struggle of a moth against this vastly powerful foe called Death. A tiny moth, an insignificant lifeform by human standards, fights against a foe no man could ever stand face to face with. The author, observes as this moth fights against the cold claws of death. She does nothing, simply observes as the life escapes this tiny moth, this tiny bead of life.

I will not begin to explain my understanding of the author's opinion on the moth's struggle; She has clearly given her opinion. Now I will voice my own. The moth is semblent to ourselves; In our final moments, we are like that moth. We struggle against that powerful titan called Death, we attempt to usurp it, to beguile it, to pacify it. But to no avail, though we struggle against it, we falter, though we attempt to stand against it, it is like a single solitary straw struggling against the winds of a mighty maelstrom. There is no surviving it, but the moth kept fighting.

There is something so awe-inspiring about the story. Something so powerful, a message so subtle, and yet so deliberate that it is all too easy to miss, and all at the same time, all too easy to comprehend. And it is the struggle the moth puts up, not at the beginning, but at the end. As it lays on its back, seemingly defeated by death. All hope of survival gone, the tiny was all but defeated. As the Author seemed to concede to the idea it was dead, the tiny being went against the odds. It violently struggled one last time to rectify itself, and succeeded.

How can any one not be awe-inspired by such a thing? The breathtaking moment... The moth struggled against the odds, and won. Death took it all the same, but the moth rectified itself. It put itself right-side up. Though I am a firm believer that what is most important is how one lives, and not how they die, I cannot be help but be moved by the final effort this moth put out, to simply turn itself right-side up. This tiny moth, this seemingly insignificant creature, made of elements we could purchase for but a dollar, struggled against death, and managed, to die with dignity. It is befuddling, how this tiny creature managed to put up such a struggle, and yet, so many of our own die without so much of a fight. When things become difficult, we begin to accept our fate, and simply perish. But this tiny thing, despite the odds against it, still managed to rectify himself.

It's amusing to think, that a moth could struggle against death, and still manage to die with dignity.

But so many of our own, fade away without a struggle. To think that a moth could manage to do what man often will not... Fight against death, and retain its dignity, to the end.