“THE DEATH OF THE MOTH” AND THE METAMORPHOSIS 

Virginia Woolf knew how to transfer her thoughts into language. She translated abstract movements of her mind into carefully organized environments that anyone can access. No other artist has mastered this feat with such ease. Others who have attempted this, like Joyce and (in a different way) Plato, have been preoccupied by what their minds produced so that the result sometimes feels jumbled and late and confused.

Woolf was not distracted. Her words flow off paper into our minds with directness and a remembrance of love. She makes public a profound, crystal goodness.

Kafka achieved the same unveiling of thought, but with an emphasis on fear.

In Woolf’s short story, by watching with love and attention, we are transformed into an insect. In Kafka’s story, we are informed that we must become an insect whether we want to or not.

In both cases, we are greatly improved by having made the transformation.