the end

CONCLUSION

“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 looked out the window until I am done working?”

 “It was beautiful and simple as all truly great swindles are.”
 HOPE

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.”

Summing up the analysis of the story I want to say that this story helps to believe in kindness, love, friendship. O.Henry brilliantly uses the twist or surprise ending ( a technique that O. Henry is famous for ).It was the final realization that the last leaf was not real but a painting which seemed to have a magical healing power that renewed Johnsy's will to live and to defeat her pneumonia. Personification, symbolism and similes catch the reader’s attention and bring to us the main idea.

Stylistic devices of the story

So, it is high time to start analyse this story.

There are mane stylistic devices, that were used. Let's start with me!) It will be interesting!) 

  In style, the main focus is on the manners which are used by the writers in his work. Critics have to deal with the dialogues, vocabulary, metaphorical diction, syntax, kinds of imagery and kind of subject matter which is used by the writer.

 

PERSONIFICATION in The Last Leaf

 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.”

DIALOGUES

  The usage of dialogues is frequently existed in this story. Dialogues always occur between the two people who talk face to face. The mostly action of this story proceeds with the dialogues of Johnsy and Sue.

 

 “Try to sleep,” said Sue, I must call Behrman.”

                        “What is it, dear?” asked Sue.”

                        “Tell me as soon as you have finished,” said Johnsy.

 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…”

  PERSONIFICATION

 “The cold breath of autumn had stricken its leaves from the vine until its skeleton branches clung, almost bare, to the crumbling bricks”

Here the features of a person were ascribed to the autumn.

 “In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers.”

In these sentence the features of a person were ascribed to the disease.

 SIMILE

 Here the simile is used to show the objects, described here more clearly. The comparison of two objects helps us better imagine and understand described object or a person.

 “ as especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above ,as the hermit miner on an upturned kettle for a rock ,she was just like one of those tired leaves, she was lying white as statue ”.

ZEUGMA

 

Zeugma is used here to create humorous effect.

“So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents”, “ They had met at the table d'hte of an Eighth Street "Delmonico's," and found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so congenial that the joint studio resulted.” 

POLYSYNDETON

 

"Twelve," she said, and little later "eleven"; and then "ten," and "nine"; and then "eight" and "seven", almost together.”

It was used to make the sentence more rhythmical.

REPETITION

“Old-old, down-down, counting-counting”-used to show the strong emotions of the speaker.

CHARACTERS

The characters in this story are Sue, Johnsy and Mr. Behrman. Living in early 20th century in Greenwich Village are two young women artists, Sue and Johnsy. They met in May, six months previously, and decided to share a studio apartment. The story begins as Johnsy, near death from pneumonia, lies in bed waiting for the last leaf of an ivy vine on the brick wall she spies through her window to fall. Mr. Behrman, an old man who lives in the apartment below Sue and Johnsy, who enjoys drinking, works sometimes as an artist’s model, and as yet has made no progress over the past 40 years on painting his own masterpiece, becomes in typical authors fashion the hero. The evidence of his heroics is found the day before he dies from pneumonia.

 JOHNSY

- She suffers from pneumonia in this story. Her wish for death and her dialogues reflect her disparity for life. - Her word has no direct relation with Sue’s question, which shows her state of mind, the blank mind. It’s a vivid description of a dying Johnsy. - With her actions and condition we were able to realize that we have hope and we must believe and have a faith.

MR. BEHRMAN
- Though the hero appears only once and speaks twice in the whole story but he, successfully reveals his affection to two young artists and his noble spirit. - Though he was hard in the outside, he was full of gentle feelings in heart. - His love towards Johnsy and Sue was fraternal or fatherly affections.

SUE
- Sue who is caring nursing, tolerating, through perseverance and gentleness.
- Shows her fondness for her weak friend.
- She does her duty as a concerned friend.

 I think that’s the theme because Mr. Buhrman risks his life for Johnsy. I consider Mr. Buhrman chivalric because he was brave enough to go out there and paint the leaf on the wall for Johnsy and then gets pneumonia and dies just to lifts Johnsy’s spirits. Sue the care taker of Johnsy doesn’t like when she speaks negatively and doesn’t like it when all she does and wait for that last leaf to fall. She always is solicitously about Johnsy. She does whatever she can to take care of Johnsy. 
 This theme is important because when Mr. Buhrman paints the leaf on the wall he’s doing it just to give Johnsy hope. He also does it to stop her from thinking negatively about herself and to think positive. Each might Johnsy would look at those leaves and watch them fall one by one. Each time zephyrs came they knocked down leaves. When Mr. Buhrman painted that lea on the wall he did it so she wouldn’t die of negatively and disbelief. What Mr. Buhrman did helped her. 

 People today would take self sacrifices for someone. Like parent for instance. They would do anything for their children or their loved ones. They would make sure no matter what the kids and loved ones are always secure and well. Kids also care for their brothers or sisters if they have any because if someone was to on your little brother/sister you would take a self sacrifice for them. These are how people make self sacrifices in our time period. Back then they might not have that many people take self sacrifices for other people. When Mr. Buhrman dies Johnsy realizes that this is meant to stop being negative and to give hope because the last leaf will never fall. 
  Mr. Buhrman knows how Johnsy is everyday. She is morbid and always looks at that vine. He knew how important that vine was to her. He did whatever he could to keep him alive and give her hope, even if it takes his life. Each time she looked out that window the last leaf would still be there and she would get more hope and would speak more positively about herself. That mean he gave a self sacrifice for Johnsy. 
 I thought what Mr. Buhrman did was very respectful. I thought when he was first introduced in this passage that he was mean but in the end I found out he was a very nice man. This theme was true about everything. He was doing a self sacrifice so that Johnsy wouldn’t die and wouldn’t give up hope. If I was Mr. Buhrman I would have don’t the same thing I always say you come before me. That’s exactly what Mr. Buhrman did. I always do stuff to be respectful to my loved ones and I always do what I need to do to help them. If I ever have to take a self sacrifice I would and I know my love ones would do it for me too. I’m happy that he would do something just to help to keep someone’s hope and beliefs up and not down. I’m also very proud of Sue also takes a self sacrifice for Johnsy. Sue always stays home and does whatever she can to keep very good care of Johnsy she cooks, she stays home, and she doesn’t leave to do something else. She doesn’t ever leave Johnsy. I’m pound of these characters and I hope that someday I could make a self sacrifice and be the one to help someone too. 

 

The plot of "The Last Leaf"

In the short story “The Last Leaf,” by O. Henry, Sue and Johnsy met and decided to share a flat in May. In December, pneumonia started making the rounds in their neighborhood.  Johnsy got sick, and the Doctor told Sue that Johnsy had a 1 in 10 chance in surviving depending upon her attitude. Sue moved her painting supplies into Johnsy room to keep her company, and became puzzled when Johnsy started saying “ . . .twelve, eleven, ten . . .” She was counting leaves on the vine outside of their window, and she informed Sue that she expected to die when the last leaf fell.
Shortly thereafter, Sue was asking their old German neighbor Mr. Behrman to pose for her painting, and they got into a discussion about Johnsy, and she told Behrman that Johnsy expected to die when the last leaf fell from the vine. Behrman who was an artist who’d never painted a master piece agreed to sit for Sue, but when they look at the window at the vine they notice that the pounding rain and ice has knocked the last leaf off of the vine.  After painting Behrman, Sue falls asleep. The next day when Johnsy demands the blinds be raised so that she can see the vine, she notices there is still a leaf. The leaf stays and stays, and Johnsy decides she’ll survive. The next day they learn that Behrman has died of pneumonia, and Sue tells Johnsy the leaf Behrman painted outside the window was his life’s masterpiece.

Greenwich Village... the village of low rents and high arts

 The setting of the story takes place in a place called Greenwich Village, which is in New York. It is really in only one place in this short story, and it is inside Sue and Johnsy's house.

 Grove Court is well-noted for being the setting to O. Henry’s “The Last Leaf.”  In 1907, this short story was included in the collection The Trimmed Lamp. 

O. Henry begins his story: “In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called ‘places.’  These ‘places’ make strange angles and curves. One Street crosses itself a time or two….So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents.” 
 In 1952 a film, O. Henry’s Full House, was made, depicting several of his short stories.  “The Last Leaf” was one story included and was filmed at Grove Court.

William Sydney Porter 

(September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, 

was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings.

 When people try to describe O. Henry’s writing style, they always use the term “smile with tears,” which implies his twisted way of thoughts and endings about every story. These stories usually end in a humorous but also cruel kind of way. It’s absolutely useful to elevate the artistic thought in writing a thoughtful story.

When O. Henry writes, he has a touch that is unbelievable, the way he makes everything fall together. Each line is unique in a way because he writes like he talks. 

 O. Henry is famed for his 'twist' endings, and as such, many of his short stories fall into a formula.

His excellent story is The Last Leaf, in which a symbolic article of hope becomes another's doom.

 His tales are always primally plot driven, but that does not mean he didn't occasionally limn great characters - they're just few and far between. Good, bad, or in between, O. Henry is an American original - just make sure you take him in lite doses. 

 O. Henry has always been a favorite in American literature for his acute perspective of the creatures living in society, and his peculiar style of the twisted ending. Smile with tears and laugh with touched heart--what more can we ask from life’s stories?

My curiosity ^^

I agree that there are many interesting and worthy short stories of the famous authors who deserve to be read, but I like this one, selected earlier story. I was delighted with it ​​since childhood. When I was petite I read it and, of course, the meaning was not entirely clear to me. And now appeared a possibility to make a stylistic analysis of it. I get from it a great delectation , indeed.

Welcome to my Blog!

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