Analysis Of Gwilan's Harp By Helen Keller

“What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” Helen Keller. Helen Keller describes what it feels like for someone to lose someone else they loved dearly; she says once someone loves someone else intensely they never fully loose them even if they run or pass away, but if they never really loved the someone else, all will be lost. For many people, it seems hard to let go of someone they love, but as they learn that life moves on things have to change, and if they hold on to the grief they might feel, things will not end up the way they pictured. Although, some people might hang on to the last thread of hope they have of that person ever coming back, they still have the memories which come
more dearly than before when they could create new ones. It is not healthy for someone to hang on and dope around all day wondering when their life will end because they do not know what to do with their life now that the one person they loved so dearly goes away. They need to realize the depth to life, not just people, money, and things, they need to realize that Jesus, the most amazing savior ever, makes them whole again. Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Bashevis, and “The Last Leaf” by O’Henry all demonstrate similar themes throughout; the theme of loss.

To begin with, “Gwilan’s Harp” demonstrates loss throughout the whole story.
Not only does Gwilan loose her harp, but also her ability to play. One day, when she and Torm are traveling to a festival, the horse sees a bear in the woods out of the corner of its eye. Seeing the bear, the horse jumps and ends up crashing the cart Gwilan and Torm were riding on, crushes Gwilan’s harp, as well as breaks her wrist. Gwilan becomes deeply distressed because she does not know what to do with her life now that the harp has broken. “She saw Torm on the road in the sunlight kneeling by the broken harp... she saw that the time for rambling and roving was over and gone.” (LeGuin). Gwilan feels mentally attached to her harp because it had passed down from her mother, her mother’s mother, and so on, but when it becomes crushed underneath the cart she needs to find a new life for herself. Gwilan feels the loss of her harp deeply as she moves on with her
life.

Further, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Bashevis also displays great loss during the story. The Washwoman, a proud, independent gentile, spends her hours cleaning the laundry of others, which she considers a hard-working job. Throughout the story the Isaac Bashevis demonstrates how the Washwoman loves her son dearly, but though her son gets married, he never even invites his mother to his own wedding. “The son had not invited the old mother to his wedding, but she went to the church and waited at the steps to see her son lead the ‘young lady’ to the altar.” (Bashevis). Her son feels shameful of his mother and does not want her part of his life, but the Washwoman’s attitude towards him remains loving; she does not resent her son for this action. The Washwoman experiences loss from her son by him not inviting her to his own wedding.

Next, “The Last Leaf” by O’Henry, shows loss to the reader throughout the story.
Johnsy, a young ambitious artist, catches pneumonia one day, while her friend takes care of her, she looks out her window. Outside of her window, she watches an ivy vine, as one leaf after another fall to the ground, she believes as the last leaf falls to the ground she will also fall and die. One day, her roommate Sue, talks to their friend from downstairs, old Behrman, and asks him to paint something for her. He braves the storm, and paints an ivy vine with the one last leaf onto Johnsy’s window so when she wakes up, she still sees it there. “Didn’t you wonder why it never fluttered or moved... it’s Behrman’s masterpiece – he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.” (O’Henry). While he sits outside during the night he catches pneumonia and dies a few days later. The two girls feel the loss of their friend deeply, but they knew he wanted to paint a masterpiece before he died, which he did; he painted a masterpiece that saved a
life.

In conclusion, all the stories, although not similar, demonstrate loss in different ways that makes one pause to think. Often times people may not see all the ways others might experience loss, but they only think of it as death. In these stories the writers all display different ways to experience it. Although many people do not understand the depth of loss, many see it as a difficult thing to go through, but do not know how to deal with it. Some people ponder and think about it asking themselves how they can deal with their loss in their own lives. Will they take memories and treasure them or will they lay around all day wondering how their life is supposed to move on?