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The Last Leaf Summary, Explanation
About the Poet
O. Henry (1862-1910) was an American short story writer. His stories are known for their surprise endings. His stories reflect his own experiences in Texas and New York and include plot twists or unexpected changes in the plot. Two of his most famous stories are “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief”.
| Poet Name | O. Henry |
| Born | 11 September 1862, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | 5 June 1910, New York, New York, United States |
| Full Name | William Sydney Porter |
| Short Stories | The Gift of the Magi, The Last Leaf |
The Last Leaf Introduction
The Last Leaf is a short story by O. Henry. It tells the story of an old artist who saves the life of a young artist, dying of pneumonia, by giving her the will to live. In the process of saving her, the old artist falls ill and dies.
The Last Leaf Summary of the Lesson
Sue and Johnsy are two young artists, sharing a small flat on the third story of an old house. Once Johnsy falls very seriously ill in November. She has pneumonia. Soon she gives up hope for survival. The doctor who attends her does not see any positive change in her condition.
One day he tells Sue that Johnsy’s chance of survival is limited unless she has something to hope for. She has made up her mind that she is not going to get well. If she loses her hope to live, medicines will do nothing. Sue tries her best to make Johnsy take interest in things around her.
But there is no response from Johnsy. She always lies still on her bed looking at an ivy plant through the window gradually losing its leaves, and has taken it in her mind that she will die when the last leaf falls.
Sue continues to convince Johnsy that she is foolish to pin her destiny to the survival of the last leaf on the vine. The old ivy leaves have nothing to do with her getting well. The doctor is confident that she will get better. Johnsy is too depressed to say anything.
She keeps on counting the remaining leaves on the creeper. One day Sue informs Behrman, an old fellow artist, who is their downstairs-neighbor, about this and he is annoyed that Johnsy has such little hope. He is aware of her wish to die when the last leaf falls.
Behrman comes to their room and finds Johnsy asleep. Sue draws the curtain together and they go to the next room. She peeps out through the window and sees only one leaf on the creeper which seems to fall anytime because it is raining heavily and icy cold wind is blowing.
Behrman does not say a word. He goes back to his room and decides to do something for Johnsy’s life. He paints a similar leaf and sticks it on the creeper while Johnsy is sleeping. But working in open during extreme cold and heavy rain cost his life. He dies of pneumonia.
Next morning, after a vicious storm, Johnsy sees the last remaining leaf still clinging to the creeper. She is filled with hope. She decides that she wants to continue living. She thinks that there must be a reason that the leaf has refused to die, and it is a sin to want to die.
Johnsy soon recovers from her illness.
After some time, Sue informs Johnsy that Behrman had died of pneumonia contracted while being out in the wet and cold, painting the last leaf. Behrman had finllay painted his long-promised masterpiece—the leaf which saved Johnsy’s life, sacrificing his own in the process.
What is the main idea of the last leaf?
The main idea in the short story “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry is the power of hope and belief. In Johnsy’s belief that the painted leaf is real and hasn’t fallen, she is able to recover, no longer believing she will die when the last leaf falls.
How does the last leaf end?
The O’ Henry Twist
O’ Henry is famous for surprise endings or “twists” in his stories. In The Last Leaf, Johnsy seems to be dying of pneumonia when the story begins, but it is Mr Behrman who dies in the end, while Johnsy survives.
Is the last leaf a true story?
The story is set in Greenwich Village during a pneumonia epidemic. It tells the story of an old artist who saves the life of a young neighbouring artist, dying of pneumonia, by giving her the will to live.
What is the surprise ending in the last leaf?
The surprise at the end of O. Henry’s “The Last Leaf” is very simply that the leaf was not real but had been painted on the wall. The reader is thoroughly fooled by being led to believe that the last leaf is real and that somehow it has clung to life throughout a violent storm.
What lesson do you learn from the story the last leaf?
The moral of the story the last leaf by o Henry is that even if we have to face bad things, we should always help our loved ones. The Last Leaf is a story with a lot of values. It is true that a real friend is one who helps you in need. In the story, Sue and Johnsy were good friends and artists.
What is the main conflict in the last leaf?
Sue and Johnsy have a conflict over Johnsy looking out of the room at the vine as it loses its leaves. Sue wants Johnsy to look away from the wall, but Johnsy is waiting for the last leaf to fall so that she can die.
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