THE LAST LEAF

By: O. Henry

Group Members
Kancharla Harsha, Keshav Baheti, Meghmala Mukherjee, Neelesh Shukla,
Nitin Jeswani, Pradeep Ahirwar, Pragalbhi Joshi, Pranav Budihal, Pranjal
Tiwari, Rachit Goyal

One street crosses itself a time or two

Visit the same place again; a sense of dj vu
The streets are interconnected.

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.
Art people had certain specifications they
adhered to , because they got inspiration from it.
The financial condition of the art people was not
good.

At the top of a squatty, three brick- story Sue

and Johnsy had their studio
Sue and Johnsy worked together.
Their economic condition was not good.

Over on the east side this ravager strode

boldly, smiting his victims by scores , but his feet
trod slowly through the maze of narrow and
moss grown places
A mysterious person, possibly a murderer has
entered the city.
The person has entered surreptitiously from the
least preferred pathways.

 Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a

chivalric old gentleman.
Did not conform to the stereotypes.
Did not have etiquettes with regard to women
One morning, the busy doctor invited Sue into
the hallway with a shaggy, gray eyebrow.
The doctor had something to tell Sue which
could not be said in front of Johnsy.
The doctor was so busy that he didnt have the
time to look after his appearance.
The doctor was also old and maybe stressed
due to increase in number of pneumonic
patients.

And that chance is for her to want to live.

Johnsy had a slim chance of survival.
She did not want to live.
She did not have any reasons to live for.
Has she anything on her mind worth thinking
twice- a man for instance?
The doctor doesnt think painting is a worthy
profession or is worth living for.
Shows a bit of his misogynistic traits.
The doctor thinks that women only a few
things to think over, which is predominantly
about men, marriage, household and children.

If you get her to ask one question about the

new winter styles in cloak sleeves, I will
promise you one-in-five chances for her,
instead of one-in-ten.
The doctor refers to that if Johnsy is
remotely interested in something worldly,
there is a better chance of survival for her.
The doctor again makes a general statement
about the likes and dislikes of women
The doctor presumes that Johnsy is
interested in fashion, without even properly
knowing her.

I will promise you a one-in-five chance for her

instead of one-in-ten.
The doctor is be talking about the better
probability of survival of Johnsy.
The doctor might be asking for some task to be
done or some precaution that has to be taken so
that the chances are raised from 10% to 20%.
Young artists must pave their way to Art by
drawing pictures for magazine stories that young
authors write to pave their way to literature.
It shows how artists try to get established.
It may be a sort of advice for someone who
wants to be a successful artist.

As sue was sketching a pair of elegant

horseshow riding trousers and a monocle of
the figure of the hero, an Idaho cowboy, she
heard a low sound, several times repeated.
The low sound might be disturbing Sue a lot.
The story is about Idaho cow boys.
Johnsys eyes were open wide. She was
looking out the window and counting-counting
backwards.
She was doing a sort of countdown.
She is eagerly waiting for something which
the end of the countdown will bring.

Twelve, she said, and little later eleven; and

then ten, and nine; and then eight and
seven, almost together.
She is doing a countdown.
She is talking about some task which has to
be done as soon as the countdown gets over.
Sue looked solicitously out of the window Sue is eagerly looking out for somebodys
arrival.
She might have found something interesting
to look upon.

There are only five left now. The countdown in almost over.
There were more than five objects
before.

Dont be a goosey She is telling Johnsy not to be foolish.

Sue maybe belittling Johnsy.

"You needn't get any more wine," said Johnsy,

keeping her eyes fixed out the window. "There goes
another. No, I don't want any broth. That leaves just
four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets
dark. Then I'll go, too."
She was shocked by the fall of another leaf.
Johnsy is waiting to die as soon as the last leaf falls.
"Johnsy, dear," said Sue, bending over her, "will you
promise me to keep your eyes closed, and not look
out the window until I am done working? I must
hand those drawings in by to-morrow. I need the
light, or I would draw the shade down."
Sue wants to concentrate on her painting.
She has to complete it by evening otherwise she
would not be able to work in dark night.

"Couldn't you draw in the other room?" asked

Johnsy, coldly.
Johnsy wants that Sue concentrate only on
her drawing, not on the falling leaves.
Johnsy doesnt want to annoy her.
"I'd rather be here by you," said Sue. "Beside,
I don't want you to keep looking at those silly
ivy leaves."
Sue doesnt want to leave the room.
Sue wants to divert Johnsys mind from the
thoughts to death to something more
pleasant.

"Tell me as soon as you have finished," said Johnsy,

closing her eyes, and lying white and still as fallen statue,
"because I want to see the last one fall. I'm tired of
waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold
on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of
those poor, tired leaves."
Johnsy is in great pain.
Johnsy wants to die as she cannot hold her illness further.

"Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Behrman up to be my

model for the old hermit miner. I'll not be gone a minute.
Don't try to move 'til I come back."
She wants Johnsy to take rest as she was ill.
Sue wants to divert Johnsys mind to anything else, other
than the thought of falling ivy leaves.
She wants to call Behrman as she wants him to help her.

Sue found Behrman smelling

strongly of juniper berries in his
dimly lighted den below. In one
corner was a blank canvas on an
easel that had been waiting there for
twenty-five years to receive the first
line of the masterpiece.
Behrman always wanted his
masterpiece, but it has been 25
years now.
Behrman likes to eat juniper berries.

Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming,

shouted his contempt and derision for such idiotic
imaginings.
In Behrmans point of view, Johnsys imagination is just
ridiculous.
Even after being quite old, he still thinks prudently.
"Vass!" he cried. "Is dere people in de world mit der
foolishness to die because leafs dey drop off from a
confounded vine? I haf not heard of such a thing. No, I
will not bose as a model for your fool hermitdunderhead. Vy do you allow dot silly pusiness to come
in der brain of her? Ach, dot poor leetle Miss Yohnsy.
His original accent is still quite strong.
He considers Johnsy's thinking as foolish.

"She is very ill and weak," said Sue,

"and the fever has left her mind morbid
and full of strange fancies. Very well, Mr.
Behrman, if you do not care to pose for
me, you needn't. But I think you are a
horrid old - old flibbertigibbet."
According to Sue, Johnsy is imagining
rubbish thing due to her fever, which
will subside once she gets better.
According to Sue, Mr. Behrman is a rude
person and doesnt have any emotions.

You are just like a woman! yelled

Behrman.
Behrman is teasing Sue.
He might be insulting Sue.

Someday I vill baint a masterpiece,

and ve shall all go away
He is trying to prove that he is
talented.
He is hoping for the best.

What would I do
Sue is trying to show that she is
selfish.
She is not comfortable with the way
the conversation is moving.
The ivy leaf was still there.
There was still hope alive for Johnsy.
Johnsy had expected the leaf to fall
during the heavy rain and wind.

It is a sin to want to die :

It brings religion and faith into context.
Johnsy realizes her mistake of wanting to die
and thinks this is Gods way of punishing her.
Some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples:
Johnsy has started to think about the future.
She expresses her ambitions that she intends to
fulfill in her lifetime.
Taking Sues thin, shaking hand :
This shows the concern that Sue had for Johnsy.
Sue had almost given up hope for Johnsy, to see
her healthy made her very emotional.

 Shes out of danger. You Won :

Shows the victory achieved by Sue
against Johnsys desire for death.
Johnsys change of thought had a great
effect on her health.
Put one arm around her, pillows and all:
) Sue is trying to comfort Johnsy.
) The pillows show how serious Johnsys
illness really was and how weak it has left
her.

 It is Behrmans masterpiece- he
painted it there the night the last leaf
fell :
Finally, Behrman did manage to
draw his long awaited masterpiece.
Behrman knew he was old and his
time was coming. He wanted to give
a new lease of life to Johnsy, so in
order to do that, he gave up his own
life.

Life and Death for a Single

Leaf
To properly understand the story, we must have a
number of presuppositions in our mind. Firstly, the
title The Last Leaf brings the presupposition that
the story would revolve around greenery and has
something to do with kinds of flora. Secondly, the
word Last in the title also demands a
presupposition that there were many leaves and that
now it is a matter of a single leaf. Now, another
thought enters our mind as to why the author
particular emphasized on the last leaf. This brings in
another presupposition that the whole story must
revolve around the last leaf, or the last leaf must play
a major part in the story. Another presupposition that
comes into our minds is that the last leaf must
symbolize something at a deeper level.

This leads to the presupposition that the leaf

may symbolize a single person left out from
amongst many other who have lost out and died.
The last leaf could also symbolize the strength
that the leaf had to hold on to the stem even
after all the other leaves have fallen off.
In hindsight we can safely conclude that the
meaning that the author wanted to derive was
the same as was presupposed. The story
revolves around the life of Johnsy and how she
based her time of death on the falling of a single
leaf. The last leaf holds on and so does her life.
Johnsy and Sue are to young artists living
together in New York.
Johnsy falls ill with
pneumonia and the doctor who treats says that

"She has one chance in - let us say, ten". We

can assume that once Johnsy hears this, she
loses hope and looks out the window where
she found an old ivy vine tree which was
shedding its leaves. Johnsy strongly believes
that she would die when the last leaf of the
vine falls. But her neighbor Mr. Behrman
who claims to do a masterpiece of art one
day but never actually does, tries to help
her. But on the day the last leaf never falls
and Johnsy sees it clinging to the vine and
feels that she was wrong, tells Sue
"Something has made that last leaf stay
there to show me how wicked I was. It is a
sin to want to die.

On the day the last leaf fell Behrman had

painted a leaf on the to hope to Johnsy such that
she recover from pneumonia and lives her life..
But he catches pneumonia as he paints the leaf
standing in the rain and string wind. When Sue
comes to know of the truth she tells Johnsy look
out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the
wall. Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or
moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's
Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it there the
night that the last leaf fell. The author of the
story tries to convey that hope, friends and the
will to live are important factors in ones life.
Attaching her hope on the fall of the last leaf and
the strong will of wanting her to live by Sue,
Johnsy may not have survived.

Moreover in this story, the neighbor, Mr.

Behrman, makes the ultimate sacrifice through
his neighborly care giving as he stands in the
rain to paint the leaf and ends up dying because
of pneumonia. This convinces us that there are
still many whose lives are either saved or at least
the quality of their lives are significantly
improved by the caring acts of friends and
neighbors.
On careful analysis of the story and reading
between the lines we understand it in a better
way. The implicatures suggest the poor economic
condition of Johnsy, Sue and Behrman. They also
tell us about the eccentric ways of the artists.

The author has personified the disease of Pneumonia

as a cold murderer . Also, the doctor is a chauvinist as
he feels that women only think of marriage and
husband. He has also drawn a relation between young
artists and young authors. Johnsys prediction that she
will die as soon as the last leaf will fall off becomes
redundant as Mr. Berhman mocks it and gives her the
ultimate hope by painting the last leaf on the vine to
make it permanent. It also underlines Mr. Behrmans
ways as to how he has been boasting about painting a
masterpiece someday whereas he hadnt painted any.
He also coaches young professionals whereas he is not
a good master himself, and goes by life by posing
cheaply for young artists. The irony in the story is that
Mr. Behrman, who did not believe Johnsys theory,
concedes to it just to give her a new lease of life, but
in the process gives himself up to Pneumonia.