Also in “The Death of a Moth,” Dillard not only continues to use the symbolism of candles throughout the narrative, she also mentions the number of candles or wicks numerically throughout her writing. When on the mountains, Dillard first only refers to “the candle” (7) when the moth begins burning from its flame. Later on, the author writes that the candle the moth continues to fuel “had two wicks, two flames of identical light, side by side” (8). At the very end, Dillard writes “I have three candles here on the table which I disentangle from the plants and light when visitors come” (10). This deliberate use of numbers that are in numerical order throughout the essay seem to suggest progression for the author. This most likely signifies the resolution Dillard reaches by the end of the essay from her conflicted thoughts throughout. Finally, a large portion of the essay consists of incredibly detailed and morbid imagery of the burning moth. The detailing Dillard uses to describe the moth capitalizes on the symbol the moth holds in the essay and how it impacts the rest of the author’s thoughts. In “Death of a Moth,” there are multiple instances of interesting and deliberate uses of capitalization and punctuation. To begin with, capitalized of non-proper noun appears when Dillard first mentions the burning moth, “…except that I have had some experience with the figure Moth reduced to a nub” (4). This use of the word moth is the only one and word that is capitalized in the middle of the sentence, despite other moths being mentioned beforehand. This creates a significance on the single moth in particular that Dillard is referring to. The pivotal moth is the moth that ends up burning and dying in her candle. By the use of capitalization, the author is differentiating the moths in her bathroom and the other moths that had gone near her candle from the moth that is at the heart of the symbolism and argument in her story. Secondly, Dillard employs parentheses when she presents the question about dedicating yourself to writing to her students, “(You, Nick? Will you? Margaret? Randy? Why do I want them to
…show more content…
When she sees the moths in the bathroom, the author writes, “…a dorsal curve of thorax and abdomen, and a smooth pair of cerci by which I knew his name” (4). By showing her knowledge in the earwig’ anatomy, Dillard enforces her credibility for when she describes the burning of the moth later on. The fact that the author also mentions that she teaches a writing class also makes the reader believe she is a credible source and knows what she is talking about from experience. Secondly, Dillard uses logos by discussing topic that logically make sense. By continually mentions that she is alone and using the example of Rimbaud, the reader can logically see that being a writing get in the way of other aspect of a person’s life, by giving two real-life examples of its impact. Dillard displays this by giving examples of how writing consumes every moment of her life, “(I have two hands, don’t I? And all this energy, for as long as I can remember. I’ll do it in the evenings, after skiing, or on the way home from the bank, or after the children are asleep…)”
When she sees the moths in the bathroom, the author writes, “…a dorsal curve of thorax and abdomen, and a smooth pair of cerci by which I knew his name” (4). By showing her knowledge in the earwig’ anatomy, Dillard enforces her credibility for when she describes the burning of the moth later on. The fact that the author also mentions that she teaches a writing class also makes the reader believe she is a credible source and knows what she is talking about from experience. Secondly, Dillard uses logos by discussing topic that logically make sense. By continually mentions that she is alone and using the example of Rimbaud, the reader can logically see that being a writing get in the way of other aspect of a person’s life, by giving two real-life examples of its impact. Dillard displays this by giving examples of how writing consumes every moment of her life, “(I have two hands, don’t I? And all this energy, for as long as I can remember. I’ll do it in the evenings, after skiing, or on the way home from the bank, or after the children are asleep…)”