‘The Last Leaf’, a marvelous
story by O. Henry, depicts the treasury of life and the inevitability of faith
to tackle the hindrances we battle through our life. The value of the life is
the cynosure of the story where all things go back and revolve around it. The
sequence of events is smoothly carved in with the supporting details. The story
starts with a whimsical setting called the ‘places’ and the description of the
present situation of Johnsy, the main character. The melodramatic and
picturesque setting of the story connects to the negative status of Johnsy
facing life and death subject matter. The setting also helps to describe the
resources at hand to ‘combat’ the pneumonia mentioned later in the story
because they are in a small district where they find themselves unable to treat
it effectively with traditional methods.
The story begins as Johnsy, a young
girl victimized by pneumonia, lies in bed waiting for the last leaf of an ivy
vine on the brick wall she spies through her window, to fall. She watches each
leaf fall. She is very pessimistic about her health and says that with the fall
of the last leaf, she will die. Mr. Behrman, an old man considers himself as a
frustrated but magnificent painter who is just waiting for the right opportunity
to create his first masterpiece. He daubs the last leaf on the wall after the
real one falls. At the end, he is able to finish his masterpiece, a real one
not because it is fabulous but it serves as a tree of hope for Johnsy to fight
against what many believe as an unbeatable illness. Then he catches pneumonia
and dies.
‘The Last Leaf’ is the true
depiction of O. Henry’s writing traits: skillful plot and twist ending. As the
story moves on, the reader cannot expect such a heroic act from Mr. Behrman who
sacrifices his life and makes a special appearance in the end to show the
sacrificial masterpiece. The leaf becomes his masterpiece because he paints it
with the passion to save a life, the courage and determination to make an art
not to prove himself but to help others prove that life is something to enjoy
and fight for.
The action of Mr. Behrman
appears to be chivalric in nature, thus, forming the major theme of the story:
theme of the sincere friendship and the selfless sacrifice. He risks his life
for Johnsy. He sacrifices his life so that she may not die of pessimism and
disbelief. Sue, friend of Johnsy, becomes the
representation of sincere friendship. She always stays home and does whatever
she can to keep very good care of Johnsy.
Imagery employed in “The Last
Leaf” whether it is sight imagery or sound imagery go hand in go with the theme
of death and dying. It helps to set the mood, and tone of the story that
assists in imposing the author’s theme and motive upon the reader. An example
of sight imagery is how Johnsy seems to feel about the ivy vine outside her
window, she feels as though the leaves on the vine are her clock to death.
The sound and touch imagery is revealed when Johnsy and Sue both
describe the howling wind outside as “beating rain and fierce gusts of wind
that had endured through the livelong night, there yet stood out against the
brick wall one ivy leaf.” The images such as ‘a bare, dreary yard’ and ‘a
persistent, cold rain’ enhance the effect of something unwelcoming in the
situation.
O. Henry in his artistic and
unique style of writing brings home the idea how a person, no matter, how
hopeless he/she is, can become a symbol of hope and courage to others. Hence,
‘The Last Leaf’, the story of passion, hope and personal sacrifice, inculcates
the spirit of selfless sacrifice and optimism in its readers.
Themes:
Death:
Last leaf is a short story that
entails the treasury of life and the existence of faith and hope. It need to
the importance of living and how we deal with the hindrances we battle through
our life story. It is a moving story across the traps that come across us in
the most significant parts of our lives, the value of life is the centerpiece
of story, where all the things go back and revolve…Apart of this story gives us
a hint that God is the only one who knows that whether we ride on with life and
chances or trail on and be drawn against the judgment, the melodramatic and
picturesque setting of the story connects to the negative status of main
character facing life and death subject matter.
The title of this story conveys the
theme of death. Last means very close to death or closely to be end. The life
or growth of the tree or plant may be guessed through its branches and the
condition of leaves. There were almost a hundred leaves clinging with the stem
but they were falling due to autumn season. Autumn is the mortal season for
leaves. At the same time Johnsy fell ill due to Pneumonia. Pneumonia is the
symbol of death for human being and old Behrman dies of it.
“When the last one falls I must go, too.”
“Mr. Behrman died of Pneumonia
today in the hospital.”
Pessimism and
Optimism:
The system of this universe is based
on two opposite things i.e. day and night, black and white, good and bad, hope
and frustration etc. ‘The Last Leaf’ is very symbolic story which conveys the
theme of Pessimism and Optimism. Pessimism deals with the darken aspects of
life. As optimism is totally against to pessimism, it deals with the positive
ways of life. It also can be said that optimism and pessimism are the two sides
of a single coin. Johnsy always leads her life as a pessimist. Sue consoles
Johnsy and she consults a painter to paint the fancy of Johnsy in an optimist
way.
“When the last one falls I must go, too.”
–P
“She was looking out the window and
counting-counting backward.” –P
“It is a sin to want to die.” –O
Johnsy the main character seems to
be a very pessimistic person. She has lost the entire positive attitude in life
due to her disease and she is waiting for her death.
“Your little
lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well.”
That is the first step of Johnsy
that she has made up her mind that she will die when the last leaf falls. That
signifies the mental and psychological condition of her and is describing the
theme of pessimistic.
“She was
looking out of window and counting -counting backwards”
The psychological disturbances shown
by O’ Henry in these lines as she is tired of waiting that when the last leaf falls,
she will be near to death.
“When the last
one falls I must go, too.”
Here in these lines Henry has showed
extreme pessimism.
“It is the last
one, said Johnsy “I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the
wind. It will fall today, and I shall die at the same time.”
These words uttered by Johnsy again
show her desperate and chaotic state of mind. She has supposed the things which
have no logic and waiting for her death, or waiting for the last leaf to fall.
Self-Sacrifice:
Mr. Behrman risks his life for
Johnsy. He has sacrificed his own life, to give life to Johnsy the painting he
made at the wall, shows his self sacrificing, kind and noble nature.
He himself catches the pneumonia and
dies, but he didn’t let Johnsy die.
With the character of Mr. Buhrmann,
O’ Henry is showing the sacrificing nature of a man and it gives us a message
that self sacrificing is a great deed and one has to be kind and gentle towards
others.
“Mr. Buhrmann
died of pneumonia today in hospital.”
Hope:
Theme of hope is very nicely
presented in this story. Doctor is a very optimistic person and he tries to
make Johnsy realize that is she has made her mind that she will die when the
last leaf falls that could be harmful for her. He told her that he can only
provide her medicine and that is effective as 50 cent, the next situation is in
her hand.
“I subtract 50
percent from the curative power of medicines.”
If you will get
her to ask one question about the new writer styles in cloak sleeves I will
promise you one-in-five chance for her, instead of”
So O’ Henry conveys message one
never let go for hope and optimist approach in life. It is our state of mind
which can bring worse or better for us in our lives
“Sudie, someday
I hope to paint the bay of Naples”
These lines show Johnsy’s desires
and aspirations. It gives the picture of hope and this hope in life gives us
the spirit of living in this world.
Hope is also one of the major themes
in ‘The Last Leaf’. The system of this universe is running at the idea of hope.
We dream for future life due to hope. For example, if an old man is seriously
ill still he is dreaming for his recovery because of hope. He does not think
about the black or fatal bird. The significance of the leaf is life and
nurture. Leaf is the hope of life for tree or plant. When Johnsy sees the
painted leaf against the wall through the window then she says,
“Something has
made that last leaf stay there to show me a how wicked I was. It is a sin to
want to die.”
The Doctor said to Sue, “She’s out of
danger. You’ve won.”
Love and
Friendship:
In last leaf O’ Henry describes
friendship and bondage between two friends. They care and love each other, and Sue
supports Johnsy morally when she falls ill. She proves to be great support for
Johnsy and she tries her level best to bring back Johnsy towards life and in
the world of optimism.
“Dear, Dear!”
said she, learning her won face down to the pillow” think of me, if you won’t
think of yourself. What would I do?”
These lines show the effective
relationship between two friends. Mr. Behrman also shows great deal of love for
these girls. Although he is bit careless person but he really cared for Johnsy
and his love is shown by his painting for the sake of Johnsy’s life.
“The last leaf” shows the theme of
friendship and sacrifice. Friendship is such a relationship that is completed
with the ties of sacrifice, sincerity, love, loyalties etc. Sue is friend of
Johnsy and she progresses this relation through sacrifices.
Said Sue, “Will
you promise me to keep your eyes close, and not look out the window until I am
done working?”
The Last Leaf
Summary
‘The last leaf’ consists of four
human characters; JOHNSY, SUE, DOCTOR and BEHRMAN, and a non-living character
Mr. Pneumonia. Johnsy and Sue are roommates. Johnsy falls ill and she bounds
herself with such a fancy that she will die with the falling of last ivy leaf.
But Sue, the very optimist, consults the painter, Behrman, to paint an ivy leaf
against the wall. Behrman paints such a leaf which is clinging to its stem
against the wall. At last, Johnsy recovers her health. But Behrman dies of
pneumonia in the hospital.
Figures of
Speech
Personification
A variety of Figurative or
metaphorical language in which things or ideas are treated as if they were
human beings, with human attributes and feelings is called Personification. In
the very first line of this story “the Last Leaf”, streets are personified by
the writer but there streets symbolize human passions and relationships.
“The streets
run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called ‘places’.”
Pneumonia is a serious kind of disease and may
become the cause of death. Johnsy falls ill due to the prey of pneumonia. While
Behrman dies of it.
“Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a
chivalric old gentleman.”
Simile/Metaphor
These deal with the relatedness of one thing
to other with direct or indirect reference. Simile is the relatedness by ‘as’
or ‘like’. But metaphor is direct relation of one thing to the other on the
behalf of some quality. For example,
“Johnsy was lying white
and still as a fallen statue.”
“Behrman had a
Michael Angelo’s Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along the
body of an imp.”
Comparison
It is a technique used by O’ Henry
to explain things through contrast and comparison. It is based on the quality
or quantity of something. Art and literature are very close to each other but
the writer compares them on the level of their functions. He pleads,
“Young artists
must pave their way to art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young
authors write to pave their way to literature.”
Symbolism/Imagery
This story also does have the
devices of symbolism and imagery. Leaf deals with life, nutrition and growth as
well. The symbol of shoes and icy cold is also used in this story. Shoes are
the symbol of oppression, tyranny and death as well. The writer uses this
symbol to show the death of Mr. Behrman.
“His shoes and clothing were wet
through and icy cold.”
Imagery is also very close to symbolism but it
appeals to senses and feelings. There is a lot of color imagery in this story.
“I have something to tell you,
white mouse.”
The image of white mouse is used for Johnsy
because she recovers her health now. The white color presents innocence and
purity.
“Johnsy was contentedly knitting a very blue
and very useless woolen shoulder scarf.”
“Old Behrman, with his red eyes…”
