Introduction : "The Last Leaf" is a short story written by O.Henry,the noted and famous story writer in America. O.Henry is the pseudonym of William Sydney Porter. This great literary master has written a short story on the last leaf of an Ivy vine and has named his story as "The Last Leaf". The last leaf in this story is not an ordinary one as it bears much significance. The story of the last leaf makes durable and strong impression on the mind of all sorts of readers. Let us take a look on the subject matter of the story "The Last Leaf".
Story in brief : The plot of the story revolves round the three main characters : Johnsy and Sue, two young artists and Berhman,the old one.They all lived in a "squatty three-story brick" building at Greenwich village where the poor artists generally settled. Johnsy and Sue started a joint studio. Berhman ,a man of past sixty,lived on the ground floor. This apparently unsuccessful artist loved these two young artists very much and also protected them like a guardian.
Pneumonia attacked severely Johnsy who lay helplessly with a strange premonition of her impending death. She could see from her bed an old decaying ivy vine on the rough brick wall which was distinctly seen through the window, just few feet opposite. It was raining incessantly augmented with hard storm and consequently the leaves of that vine were dropping down one after another. This decaying of the leaves is somehow affected the weak mind of Johnsy who began to fancy that she must die with the falling of the last leaf of that ivy vine. Johnsy lost all sorts of interest of life and living and started counting the leaves backward. Doctor of physic who visited Johnsy declared that she might survive if she could regain the interest of living. Strangely enough, in spite of fierce gusts of wind during whole night the last leaf of that vine was hanging bravely on its position. Another strange thing happened - Johnsy got back the love and passion for life and living, she realized her mistake and admitted that " It is a sin to want to die." Johnsy recovered from her illness, vivified herself and the aspiration for painting 'the Bay of Naples' came back to her again.
Discussion : Such is the story of the last leaf and this story appears to be an improbable one. The matter of the last leaf may not come in the centre of such grave discussion. The question 'why is the last leaf so important' may arise. There is a story behind this story and the hero of this story is none other than the seemingly failure old artist Berhman. The last leaf of the ivy vine could not stand the might of the rain and storm of that ghastly night, it fell like the other ones. The old artist Berhman, defying the inclement and adverse wintry weather and at the cost of his life, painted a same leaf on the wet wall. He had to face the consequences of it. This old artist caught severe cold , could not avoid pneumonia as well as death.
It is known from the story that Berhman is trying to paint his masterpiece for twenty five years and for it the canvass, the colour and the brush are kept ready. Is is not Berhman's masterpiece. The last leaf painted by Berhman is no doubt his masterpiece. The last leaf declares the triumph of the old artist and his devotion to art. The last leaf servers as the cure-all as it saves the life of Johnsy. One thing I can not help mentioning that the last leaf has taken the life of another artist, the life of Berhman.
The last leaf at once manifests may things. It proves that art has the life saving power, art can vivify the dying artist. It is the proof of the sacrifice of an artist as it brings the message that an artist can even bet his life to save the life of another artist. We get the maxim from the last leaf that a true artist cares little for his life for the sake of art.
The last leaf remains at the centre of the story. The dramatic tension is created with the last leaf and the tension is also resolved with the last leaf. The last leaf shapes the theme of the story , steers it towards the completeness and ultimately sponsors the very lesson of the story. The subject matter and the theme of the story revolves round these two words "last leaf ". In a word, the "last leaf " forms the key-note of the story. So, The Last Leaf is definitely the most befitting and appropriate title for this story of O. Henry.
