The Last Leaf

The Last Leaf (Brief Summary)

Masdiqkzone - "The Last Leaf" is a short story by O. Henry published in 1907 in his collection The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories. Set in Greenwich Village, it depicts characters and themes typical of O. Henry's works.

Johnsy has fallen ill and is dying of pneumonia. She watches the leaves fall from a vine outside the window of her room, and decides that when the last leaf drops, she too will die, while Sue tries to tell her to stop thinking like that.

An old, frustrated artist named Behrman lives below Johnsy and Sue. He has been claiming that he will paint a masterpiece, even though he has never even attempted to start. Sue goes to him and tells him that her friend is dying of pneumonia, and that Johnsy claims she will die when the last leaf falls off of a vine outside her window. Behrman scoffs at this as foolishness, but—as he is protective of the two young artists—he decides to see Johnsy and the vine.

In the night, a very bad storm comes and wind is howling and rain is splattering against the window. Sue closes the curtains and tells Johnsy to go to sleep, even though there is still one leaf left on the vine. Johnsy protests but Sue insists on doing so because she doesn't want Johnsy to see the last leaf fall. In the morning, Johnsy wants to see the vine, to be sure that all the leaves are gone, but to their surprise, there is still one leaf left.

While Johnsy is surprised that it is still there, she insists it will fall that day. But it doesn't, nor does it fall through the night nor the next day. Johnsy believes that the leaf stayed there to show how wicked she was, and that she sinned in wanting to die. She regains her will to live, and makes a full recovery throughout the day.

In the afternoon, a doctor talks to Sue. The doctor says that Mr. Behrman has come down with pneumonia and, as there is nothing to be done for him, he is being taken to the hospital to be made comfortable in his final hours. A janitor had found him helpless with pain, and his shoes and clothing were wet and icy cold. The janitor couldn't figure out where he had been on that stormy night, though she had found a lantern that was still lit, a ladder that had been moved, some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it. "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."

Summary 

Living in early 20th century Greenwich Village are two young women artists, Sue and Johnsy (familiar for Joanna). They met in May, six months previously, and decided to share a studio apartment. Stalking their artist colony in November is "Mr. Pneumonia." The story begins as Johnsy, near death from pneumonia, lies in bed waiting for the last leaf of an ivy vine on the brick wall she spies through her window to fall.

"I’m tired of thinking," says Johnsy. "I want to turn loose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves"(16). However, an unexpected hero arrives to save Johnsy. It’s not the brusque doctor who gives her only one in ten chances to survive, raising them to one in five if Sue can get her to hope for something important like a man, not her true desire to "paint the Bay of Naples some day" (14).

Mr. Behrman, an old man who lives in the apartment below Sue and Johnsy, who enjoys drinking, works sometimes as an artist’s model, and as yet has made no progress over the past 40 years on painting his own masterpiece, becomes in typical O. Henry fashion the hero. The evidence of his heroics are found the day before he dies from pneumonia: outside Johnsy’s window are a ladder, a lantern still lighted "some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it . . . it’s Behrman’s masterpiece--he painted it [a leaf] there the night that the last leaf fell"(19), Sue informs Johnsy.

Commentary 

There are two interesting things I found in this story in addition to the general theme of death and dying. First, there is the ambiguity surrounding the relationship of the two women. I believe that they may have been lovers, but it was something that the author only felt comfortable hinting at.

Summary II

The story is set in the studio apartment of two young, female painters who live together, in Greenwhich village, America, a place which was made famous by a painter who used motifs from this place. It is a popular place for young artists, because of the low rent on the apartments, and nice atmosphere.

Outside, there is a storm, and one of the girls, Johnsy, is very ill, and bedridden. She thinks she is going to die when the last leaf on the ivy vine outside her window falls. The doctor gives her small chances of survival. Her roomate, Sue, prevents her from continuing to count leaves that night. She goes to get an old man called Behrman. The next day, there is still an ivy leaf outside the window. Johnsy realises she is being stupid, waiting to die like that, when the leaf does not fall, and starts to get better. The same day Johnsy gets better, Behrman dies. We discover that the last leaf on the ivy plant was painted onto the window by Behrman. Sue is the main character of this story, she is a young painter in Greenwhich Village, and shares an apartment with Johnsy, whom she met earlier that year, in May. She is very fond of Johnsy, and is quite distressed when she hears of her fancy: That she will die as the last leaf falls off the ivy plant outside. Sue is quite a quick thinker, and finds a solution to the problem very quickly, although  perhaps she does not think too far ahead – at least if she was the one who talked Behrman into going out into the terrible weather – she should have known he could get sick.

        Johnsy, or Johanna, is, although not the main character, perhaps the most important character. The conflict revolves around her, and none of the story would have happened if she was not there, hadnot caught pneumonia, and not been delerious with fever. She believes that when the last leaf on the ivy vine outside her window falls off, she will die, and she wants to die. Sue tells the doctor that Johnsy has always wanted to oneday paint the Bay of Naples. 

Symbolism: 

The last leaf symbolizes life and death. Before winter came, the tree was full of green, luscious leaves. And as time passes by, the leaves decayed and fell. The last leaf remained strong, just like Johnsy, and it only fell when it knew it was Mr. Behrman’s time to go. 

Summary: 

       "The Last Leaf" is a story about 2 female roommates and aspiring artists that live in Greenwich village. One of them, Johnsy, gets sick with pneumonia, and the doctor doesn't give her much of a chance. Johnsy's roommate, Sue, keeps watch over her and notices her counting. She asks why, and Johnsy replies that she is counting the "Leaves on the ivy vine. When the last one falls, [Johnsy] must go, too." Soon, there is only one leaf on the vine, and Sue is in despair that it will fall, and Johnsy will die. She expresses her fears to the unconventional and often grumpy old man that lives downstairs, Mr. Behrman. He comes up and sits with her for a while. The next morning, Sue opens the blinds to find the leaf still there, and Johnsy recovers. Later it is revealed that it was painted there by Behrman, who then, from exposure to Johnsy, and the cold, died of pneumonia at the old age of 60 years old.