Question

short summary on the story 'the last leaf' by O' Henry

Answer 1

 “The Last Leaf” takes place during the second decade of the twentieth century in New York City’s Greenwich Village and has as its central characters an old artist, Behrman, whose path crosses with that of a young artist, Johnsy, and who gives her an incentive to live when she becomes seriously ill. A third artist, Sue, is another young woman with whom Johnsy lives. Johnsy contracts pneumonia and is convinced that she will die when the last of the leaves have fallen from a tree that she can see outside of her window. Sue wishes she could do something to help her friend, but is powerless, to do anything that would alter her fate. The last leaf, however, never seems to fall.

“The Last Leaf” is deceptively simple. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that it is actually a deep exploration of friendship and the commitments and self-sacrifices that are central to such relationships. Told in the third person, “The Last Leaf” shows the three artists to be of one mind in a sense. Sue is committed to the piece she is working on throughout the story. Behrman continues to work on an unfinished, in truth nonexistent, masterpiece. Johnsy, although an artist, is not as committed to her art as are the other two, but she is single-mindedly committed to accepting that her death will come with the falling of the final leaf from the ivy vine. They all share an ability to remain focused on a goal, and it may not be significant whether their goals are the same or not.

That Johnsy and Sue share a friendship comes as no surprise. They are similar with similar interests. Sue demonstrates her commitment to friendship by wanting to help Johnsy get well. When Behrman first enters the story he seems to be something of a cranky old man. It soon becomes clear that he is more than that and has a true liking for both young women, most probably because he shares their interest in art and can understand the sacrifices and commitments living an artist’s life entails. After a doctor visits Johnsy, the theme of commitment is underscored. He reveals that there is not much he can do for her unless she commits herself to recovering. She has mostly given up hope, and the doctor believes that focusing on getting well would serve her better than looking at the leaves and waiting for them to fall.

The leaves Johnsy watches tumble from the vine lead her into sadness, but Behrman paints one that comes to represent hope as it leads to some improvement in her condition when she finds that the final leaf has not fallen. 

Answer 2

Answer:

The Last Leaf, short story by O. Henry, published in 1907 in his collection The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories. “The Last Leaf” concerns Johnsy, a poor young woman who is seriously ill with pneumonia. She believes that when the ivy vine on the wall outside her window loses all its leaves, she will also die. Her neighbour Behrman, an artist, tricks her by painting a leaf on the wall. Johnsy recovers, but (in a twist typical of O. Henry) Behrman, who caught pneumonia while painting the leaf, dies.

Explanation: