Moths

The concept of the moths in Helena Maria Viramontes’ short story The Moths has several meanings. Viramontes first mentions moths when she is describing the ointment that Abuelita uses to shape the narrator’s hands back to size. The ointment is a “balm out of dried moth wings and Vicks.” Initially is seems Abuelita is representative of the past and everything that is traditional. However, in this instance she uses both traditional (moth wings) and modern (Vicks) elements to turn the hands. This demonstrates integration between modern and traditional society, the old and the new. On the other hand, moths also represent a conflict with modern technology. Viramontes writes that transitions are “necessary for rebirths, and when the time came, just when I switched on the light in the kitchen to open Abuelita’s can of soup, it was probably then that she died (27).” Moths are attracted to light; they circle artificial lights and human light sources affect their navigation. As moths are led by the light, the narrator is being led by Abuelita. When the narrator is holding her grandmother in the tub she describes, “Then the moths came. Small, gray ones that came from her soul and out through her mouth fluttering to light, circling the single dull light bulb of the bathroom (28).” The moths also represent decay and therefore death: “Moths that lay within the soul and slowly eat the spirit (28).” The moths can also be seen as a release of Abuelita’s soul and moving towards the light. Abuelita is also called Mama Luna. Luna is another word for the moon, which guides moths. In this sense, the moths may be following Mama Luna / Abuelita’s soul; or rather the concept of transmogrification. Transmogrification would be the idea that the soul turns into the moths and are therefore heading towards the light. Transmigration is the belief in the soul passing from one to another. This image is symbolic of the moths carrying the grandmother’s soul to the girl. If this is the case, then this image can also be interpreted as the narrator’s rebirth. Furthermore, they are in the bath tub which is symbolic of a baptism. If Abuelita’s soul has been carried to her, then the narrator is a “half-born” who has passed through one stage of initiation into becoming a Curandera. This tradition is passed down to her from her grandmother.

Jessica von Fremd