Question

theme of sacrifice in last leaf

Answer 1

O. Henry brings out the themes of selflessness and sacrifice in his story 'The Last Leaf'. Sue and Johnsy, both from California are striving to succeed as artists. How they help and support one another reveals their selflessness. Unfortunately, Johnsy gets pneumonia and relates her sickness to the falling ivy leaves as it is autumn she can see from her window the ivy vine during the fall. She somehow feels that she would die when the last leaf would fall. An old, frustrated artist Behrman lives in the same building asJohnsy and Sue. He longs to paint a masterpiece and has even attempted to do so. Sue goes to him and tells him that her friend is dying of pneumonia, and that Johnsy claims that when the last leaf falls off the vine outside her window, she will die, Behrman scoffs at this as foolishness, but as he is protective of the two young girls-he decides to see Johnsy and the vine.

In the night, a very bad storm comes and wind the wind is howling and the rain is splattering against the window. Sue closes the curtains and tells Johnsy to go to sleep, even though there was still one leaf left on the vine. Johnsy protests but Sue insists on doing so because she doesn’t want Johnsy to see the last leaf fall. In the morning, Johnsy wants to see the vine to be sure that all the leaves are gone, but to their surprise, there is still one leaf left. She regains her will to live, and makes a full recovery throughout the day.

In the afternoon, doctor talks to Sue. Behrman painted a masterpiece; he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell. Unfortunately, he dies after his attempt to paint his masterpiece. He lays his life for saving Johnsy's life.

Answer 2

Answer:

Friendship and sacrifice meet in O. Henry's story about two friends and a cranky old man who dwell in "quaint old Greenwich Village."

Sue from Maine and Joanna from California move together into "a joint studio" at the top of a three-story brick dwelling. When Joanna, called "Johnsy" by her friend Sue, becomes gravely ill, the doctor estimates her chances of survival are one in ten. "And that chance is for her to want to live," he tells Sue. Before he departs, he urges Sue to find someone or something to motivate Johnsy to survive.

Afraid for Johnsy, her loving friend tries to stir the weakened young woman's desire to live. However, as Sue later sits at her drawing board working on a magazine illustration, she hears Johnsy counting. When she asks her friend what she is counting, Johnsy replies that she has been counting the ivy leaves outside on a building as they fall off their vine in the bitter cold.

Explanation: