"The Moths" Bio. info. and Questions

1. How do you interpret/support the recurring theme of gentleness vs. roughness?
2. Why is the narrator so fearless when it comes to death?
3. In what ways does each character in the story confirm or deny traditional gender roles?
4. What do hands symbolize throughout the story?


Helena Maria Viramontes was born in California into a Mexican-American family. She grew up around the Chicano movement, which was focused on protesting unequal conditions in East Los Angeles public schools. This would in part shape her career as a writer. She first went to college at the Immaculate Heart College to earn her BA in English literature. She later attended the University of California Irvine where she earned her graduate degree in creative writing.


Literary Contributions

Criticisms:

Beyond Stereotypes: A Critical Analysis of Chicana Literature (Contributor, 1985).

Chicana Creativity and Criticism (Contributor and editor, 1988).

Novels:

Under the Feet of Jesus (1995).

Their Dogs Came with Them (2007).

Short Story Collections:

Cuentos: Stories by Latinas (Contributor, 1983).

The Moths and Other Stories (1985). Includes "The Moths".