Blessing Bess Otobo

The Moth's On A Changing Bark Blessing Bess Otobo

The Moths On A Changing reflects the lofty pride of humans as well as their lack of interest in people of other cultures through the analogy of the Peppered Moths. The story for the book was inspired by a University anthropology class Ms. Otobo attended. She learned that, in Manchester, England, the Peppered Moths named Onyx were eaten almost to extinction by birds because their dark wings stood out against the lichens-covered bark that was their habitat; while the silvery Peppered Moths were spared because the color of their wings hid them from their predators. Interestingly, when industrial pollution killed the lichen-covered bark in the forest, turning the natural white color of the lichens to dark color thereby making the silver Moths visible, the dark Peppered Moths became invisible to the birds and were spared. Ms. Bess Blessing Otobo used the story of the Moths to talk about our environment and to illustrate that sometimes, people are oblivious to the plight of others as long as the problem does not affect them and even when it does, if the people involved are different in cultural affiliation, it's unlikely that the problem will be addressed.