Thematic Content

IMPORTANT NOTE: hover over the image for its connection to "The Moths."

What oppresses women in The Moths and Other Stories is the cultural, social, and religious expectations of women brought upon by a predominately patriarchal family. The theme of female adolescence is ever present and explored within “The Moths” as well other stories in this collection. In “The Moths” this theme is explored through the narrator’s lack in fulfilling the traditional expectations that come with being a Chicana/Latina female. The underlying theme of women’s oppression although is present in this story, the young female narrator challenges her family’s expectations in a way that breaks the stereotypical role of feminist women.

JoAnn Pavletich and Margot Gayle Backus discuss this similar issue. Although it is about females' embodying masculine traits in "Neighbors" (also part of The Moths and Other Stories), the female narrator from “The Moths” also seems to have masculine features: for example, her “bull hands”(Viramontes 29). Ironically, it is her masculine features such as her hands that allow her to help heal her Abuelita: transforming from what should be a hero to a heroine, and challenging patriarchy just as Pavletich and Backus discuss.

It is important to note however, that this story also explores another theme: the transformative power of love. It is by the story’s end that we see the narrator transform, filled with repressed emotions that seem to escape as she bathes her deceased grandmother with love. The forces of an oppressive household, in contrast with Mama Luna’s refuge of a household unleashes the impact it has on Chicana/Latina mothers, daughters, and wives. It is the moment the narrator says, “There, there, Abuelita, I said… I heard you” (Viramontes 32) that Viramontes words take their form through the narrator of “The Moths;”

“it simply is amazing to me to see people rise to the potential of their grace in order to survive. I try to honor these unnamed heroes always. I know plenty. We need to acknowledge them, honor them, learn from them in order to live our own lives in a state of grace. To learn hope and the possibility of human will” (Viramontes).

The narrator not only honors her Abuelita, but also learns from her, and undergoes a transformation that seems to create hope within the reader of this story. It is by the story's end that readers see the power of connection and love between Abuelita and the narrator.