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!

Welcome to my Blog!

I hope to share with you here a little about me and what I have gone through in my life.

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Как один из листьев...

Мне хочется освободиться от всего, что меня держит, – лететь, лететь все ниже и ниже, как один из этих бедных, усталых листьев.

Последний лист плюща...

Посмотри в окно, дорогая, на последний лист плюща. Тебя не удивляло, что он не дрожит и не шевелится от ветра? Да, милая, это и есть шедевр Бермана – он написал его в ту ночь, когда слетел последний лист.

O. HENRY, THE LAST LEAF

This story takes place in New York City where two young women share an apartment. They, like all the tenents in their building, are artists who earn their daily break making drawings for magazine advertisements. All the artists, though, hope to paint a masterpiece, someday.

One of the girls has come down with pneumonia. She isn't in a hospital (as she would be today) but is being nursed by her room-mate. The doctor has visited the apartment and advises the healthy girl that her ill friend will only recover if she has the will to live.

The sick girl is in bed staring out the window. On this rainy November day, she is staring through the window watching leaves fall from a vine on the opposite building wall. She announces that when the last leaf falls, she will die.

The nurse is in a panic. She does her best to bring some cheer, to infuse her friend with the will to live. The sick girl refuses to improve.

The healthy girl visits an old artist who lives downstairs. She tells the old drunk that their friend needs a reason to live. He scoffs at this suggestion, and our nurse goes home dejected.

The next day, the last leaf is still on the vine. And, the next day, it's still there. Our patient begins to improve. The doctor visits and gives her a much better chance of survival. But, he lets her know that the old man downstairs is now stricken with pneumonia.

They found him in his room sick, wet, and cold. Outside was a ladder and his pallette of paints where he had painted a single leaf on the wall. It was the last leaf that had given hope to the sick girl, that had given her the will to live.

Positive aspects of this story for young readers:

-The will to live is a powerful force. Adults may have seen this in their own experience, but children may not have an understanding of this truth.

-We observe the self-sacrifice of one girl for her friend. And, in the surprise ending, the old man (an alcoholic) makes the ultimate sacrifice for the girl. Like all the artists in the building , he had planned and hoped to someday paint a masterpiece - and he did.

-We may have some dream or aspiration, we plan to be famous and remembered for the ages. In reality, our "masterpiece" may have its good effect for only a few people.


This story is available on the internet from The Gutenberg Project at promo.net in the book The Trimmed Leaf at no cost.