THE MOTH AS AN ILLUSION TO (SYMBOL OF) MOTHER

The meanings of the image of the moth are examined. The use of the mot h as both victim and predator, with allusive and symbolic reference to parent and child, is elucidated. My emphasis is on, the equation of t he moth by children with their intrapsychic registration of a destruct ive yet vulnerable parent (usually mother) whom the child both wants t o destroy and feels it cannot live without. This simple thesis is made use of chiefly to explicate aspects of the life and works of the grea t American writer, Elizabeth Bishop.