Write a critical summary of O.Henry's short story "The Last Leaf"
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Autumn forms the background of this story about Sue and Johnsy, two young artists who share a flat on the third storey of an old house. It is the month of November and Johnsy is ill with pneumonia: she lies in bed all day, gazing out of the window. Sue is worried and calls a doctor for help. Even with medical treatment, there is no improvement in Johnsy’s condition.
One day, the doctor informs Sue that medicines can not help Johsny because the latter does not seem to want to live. Sue makes many attempts to divert Johnsy’s attention, but nothing works. Sue then brings her drawing board into Johnsy’s room and begins painting there.
She suddenly hears Johnsy whisper something. She rushes to Johnsy’s side and finds that Johnsy is counting backwards while gazing out of the window. Sue realises that Johnsy is observing an old ivy creeper outside her window that is shedding its leaves. Johnsy is counting its remaining leaves. Johnsy says that in just three days, the number of leaves have reduced from almost a hundred to just five. Johnsy is sure that when the tree sheds its last leaf, she will die.
Johnsy tells Sue that she wants to watch the last leaf fall. Sue says that she cannot draw the curtain because she needs the light to paint. But she asks Johnsy to not look out of the window. JoHnsy promises not to do so, but asks Sue to hurry so she can watch the last leaf fall and then die peacefully.
Sue goes to Behrman, a 60-year old artist who lives on the ground floor. His dream of painting a masterpiece is yet to be fulfilled. Sue shares her worries with him. She tells him that Johnsy has a high temperature and refuses to eat or drink anything. Behrman is puzzled at Johnsy’s behaviour and wants to see her. They go to Johsny’s room together and find her sleeping. Sue draws the curtains and they go to the next room. There is heavy rain and cold winds are blowing; they see that there is only a single leaf remaining on the ivy tree and it can fall at any moment. Behrman silently withdraws into his room.The next day, Johnsy asks Sue to draw the curtains. Sue is happy to find that a single leaf remains on the tree, in spite of the wind and rain. Johnsy is surprised but is sure that the leaf will fall soon. She wakes up every hour or so to look out of the window, but finds the leaf clinging to the tree. It even withstands another storm that evening.
Johnsy gazes at the leaf for a long time. She calls Sue and tells her that the last leaf has made her realise that she has been a bad person: for all the love and care that Sue has given her, she has not responded or willed herself to get better. The leaf has shown her that it is a sin to want to die. The two friends share a hug and Johnsy accepts the hot soup that Sue gives her. Johnsy combs her hair and smiles brightly. That afternoon, the doctor visits and says that since Johsny has found the will to live, she will recover soon. He also informs Sue that Behrman has pneumonia and has no hope of survival.
The next morning, Sue informs Johnsy that Behrman has died of pneumonia. He had been ill for two days. On the first day, the janitor found him on his bed, shivering and dressed in wet clothes and shoes. It seems that he had been out in the stormy night. A ladder and a lit lantern were found near his bed, along with green and yellow paints. Sue tells Johnsy to look out of the window at the last leaf: the leaf that does not flutter in the wind. She tells Johnsy that on the night the last leaf fell, Behrman painted this leaf — his masterpiece....
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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.
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