In the story, “The Lesson of the Moth”, written by Don Marquis the story talks about a moth that sees a pretty flame and desides to go towards it. A very sophisticated cockroach asks the moth what does he think he’s doing, he will burn to death. The moth responded it’s worth dying if you’re happy and dying close to something beautiful. The cockroach tried to talk him out of it but at the end the moth fried. I say the theme of this story is to take risks and live your life close to beauty and happiness. Some phrases of the story that illustrates this theme are, “It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty” and “We wad all our life up into one little roll and then we shoot the roll that is what life is for”.

The moth’s philosophy about life is to live life to the fullest and take risks. The cockroaches philosophy about life is to stay safe and try to live as long as you can. I think the author believes in the philosophy of the moth’s. I can tell because the author seems to talk more about dying in beauty than playing it safe. At the end he also proved his point by making the moth die happily in the flame instead of staying away from it like the cockroach said. In the story the author illustrates himself going towards the moth’s philosophy by using phrases like, craving beauty and excitement, knowing the fire will kill the moth but it doesn’t matter, and it’s better to be a part of beauty and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of it.

The cockroach represents me because I like to live by the rules and play it safe as opposed to others that dedicate their whole life to taking risks. I also agree with half of what the moth says about dying close to beauty and happiness, but disagree with dying on purpose and living a short life.