The Moths by Helena Maria Viramontes

1. What do you think about this narrator? Do you like her? Why or why not?

I find the narrator to be quite mean and troubled and yet she is self-aware of her deficiencies. I am not certain that I like her but I am drawn to understanding the reasons behind her actions. Her actions toward her Abuelita are very loving including the diminutive name she gives her grandmother. In Spanish Abuelita literally means “little grandmother” and is more of a term of endearment. Though the narrator is rather cold (she states that she never kisses her mother or grandmother) and does not bestow affection she is able to recognize where it would be appropriate to give it. She does have softness toward her family internally that she does not express due to inability until she is overcome at the death of her grandmother.

2. On page 771, the narrator describes herself by listing the qualities she lacks. What do we learn about her? What does this approach to self-description, or self-assessment reveal about the way she thinks?

Because of the way she is treated by her family, as an outcast, she adopts a self-deprecating attitude toward herself. We learn that she is not as dainty as her sisters and does not engage in the same activities as they do such as embroidery. She thinks of herself as a lesser part of her family and states that she is not "pretty or nice" like her older sisters. The narrator is the youngest of a group of sisters and is bullied by them and her father for being different, for not conforming. She distances herself to find some sanity within her family unit. Thankfully, her Abuelita is able to make her feel useful and appreciated. The narrator does not think very highly of herself and this is reinforced through violent home behavior that ends when she leaves her home, this is why she finds such solace in her Abuelita's house.

3. There are many references to the narrator’s hands throughout the story. Choose one excerpt and analyze it. Think about how her hands are described, what they are able to do and what they are not able to do. What do we learn about the character through this description of her hands?

"My hands were too big to handle the fineries of crocheting or embroidery and I always pricked my fingers or knotted my colored threads time and time again while my sisters laughed and called me Bull Hands with their cute water-like voices."

The narrator has large and strong hands as compared to her sisters. She tries to participate in the activities that young woman are meant to but she is unable to achieve the wanted result. Her sisters call her Bull Hands meaning that they are large and clumsy. The narrator is teased for her appearance and called Bull Hands by others and not just her sisters. Like anyone who is bullied she suffers from a low self image and retaliates with aggression and violence. Her hands may not be able to create an embroidery masterpiece but they are able to help her Abuelita create and sustain a marvelous garden. She can hammer holes in coffee cans easily for seedlings and pack the red clay from under the rosebushes into the cans to allow the seedlings to flourish. She was much more able to assist in these duties in a practical sense but still admonished for her perfectly strong and hardworking hands.

4. If you were to come up with a simile to characterize your own hands, what would it be? What are the things your hands are good at? What are the things your hands are not good at? Now think about the narrator’s “bull-hands.” What does this reveal about the girl? In your opinion, does this description fit her or not? Explain why.

I would have Dove Hands: small, white, soft, and delicate. My hands are deft at small things, tedium, untangling knots, and soothing my children. My hands are not strong and are unable to unscrew tight lids with out great struggle, they are unable to hold onto tools tightly for periods of time. My hands do not tell the story of who I am. My hands are the hands of a firefighter, of a farmer, of a guitar player, and of a cook. Sometimes they are pretty other times they are calloused and dirty. I do not believe that the narrators hands tell her complete story. There is so much more to her than we are told through her hands and through this story. She is a tortured soul who is not sure what her best is yet. She is clouded by a domineering family and the teasing of her peers. We are led to believe that the narrator is a simple, unattractive, and aggressive girl yet she holds great feeling and sensitivity in her and we see the outpouring of this at the close of the story when she is washing the body of her recently passed grandmother.

6. It seemed that the girl thought her Ama sent her out of the house to care for her Abuelita to keep her out of trouble. Do you think there was more to this? In what ways was the narrator the best daughter to care for Mama Luna? In what ways was she perhaps the worst one to care for her? I don't believe there was an ulterior motive for Ama sending the narrator out to her Abuelita's. It kept her away from her father's and sisters' wrath and equally kept her from lashing out at them. It was a way to keep the peace and lend a helping hand to Abuelita. She was the one who was most adept at helping around the house of her Abuelita because the dirty gardening, cooking, and heavy lifting did not bother her. She respected Abuelita and ensured that things were done right since she felt so at home with her grandmother and was the granddaughter that spent the most time with Abuelita. There were also impediments to her being chosen to care for Abuelita because she did these things without a visible emotional attachment. Though she cared deep down, she did not show her emotions. This lack of affection and softness might have compromised the overall care she provided to her Abuelita.

7. Why moths? Explore the symbolism of the moth as used in this story. Moths were used (p. 771) as an ingredient in a healing balm, and moths came out of dead Abuelita’s mouth (p. 774). Why not butterflies or another flying insect?

The moths could depict angels. Their wings are wispy and light, and they are attracted to light that could be equated to the light of heaven. The balm that her Aubuelita makes with moth wings to soothe her hands could depict encouraging the problem of her swelling hands to take flight. Abuelita had told her granddaughter a story about "moths that lay within the soul and slowly eat the spirit up." The release of the moths at the end reveal that the moths within Abuelita had eaten away the remains of her soul and began their ascent up to heaven to finish laying her to rest. I believe that moths are used because they eat away at things like food and clothing. Other flying insects do not systematically eat away at things over a period of time and are not as categorically attracted to light making moths a perfect fit for the symbolism in this story.