THE LAST LEAF SUMMARY

                                                                    THE LAST LEAF

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

American William Sydney Porter was born in 1862 and gained literary renown under the pseudonym O. Henry, whose hallmark was the ironic twist at the end of a short story.

ABOUT THE WORK:

 “The Last Leaf” is a story from his 1907 collection The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories. The majority of his stories are set in the “present” time frame relative to that in which he composed them, the early part of the twentieth century. 

SUMMARY:

“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. This might be the most obvious example of symbolism among those that appear in the story. In other instances, Henry compares art and literature and how they encourage their creators to push themselves and thus represent the sacrifices that artists and writers make in their lives that people in other walks of life are not aware of.

Behrman symbolizes, both literally and figuratively, the final sacrifice and as such is a validation of the commitment inherent in true friendship. The remaining leaf, the one that sustains Johnsy and changes her outlook on life and death, is not a leaf on the tree, but one painted by Behrman on the window. This becomes the old artist’s masterwork. He dies from the pneumonia he develops while painting the leaf outside in a storm—a symbol of his ultimate sacrifice for his friend. This final act of Behrman’s life not only helps Johnsy to recover, it is a life-affirming event for Behrman even as it leads to his death. Although money and the creation of a masterpiece had proved elusive, creating the simple, yet masterfully painted, leaf for Johnsy’s salvation completed his life’s work.

CONCLUSION:

The struggle between optimism and pessimism is another theme in “The Last Leaf.” Johnsy appears to have a pessimistic personality and the others must influence her to consider the possibility of recovering from her illness. Behrman does not appear to have much about which to feel optimistic, however the act of painting the leaf for Johnsy brings an optimist hue to his life.