symbolism
Symbolism in “The Last Leaf”
“A cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers” (Henry 1). This unseen stranger dominates the topic as the story goes on. Throughout the story the main character, Johnsy, has two major involvements with hope; one positive, one negative. The story begins with Johnsy’s negative experience as she thinks she will die once the last leaf falls. As the story continues Johnsy begins to reacquire hope once she realizes that the last leaf isn’t going to fall from the vine. In the story, “The Last Leaf,” O. Henry utilizes the leaves on an ivy vine to illustrate Johnsy’s positive and negative experiences with hope. By making the leaves plunge from the vine, Henry writes in his short story about how Johnsy is losing hope to survive. In the story, Johnsy is extremely ill with pneumonia making her unable to do activities she enjoys, such as painting. Johnsy lays in bed everyday losing more hope as time goes on. Her roommate, good friend and caretaker, Sue, tries to encourage Johnsy to keep her head up as she fights through the sickness. She sadly explains to Sue, “‘When the last [leaf] falls, I must go, too’” (Henry 2). Johnsy becomes so attached to the vine full of leaves that she starts seeing her own life in the life span of the plant. However, when the leaves start to fall off, she feels as if her life is dwindling, too. The main character wouldn’t feel this way if she didn’t have pneumonia, but because she is terminally ill her emotions are bundled up with the vine. Johnsy explains, “‘I want to turn loose on my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves’” (Henry 2). This bedridden artist is longing for a reason to live, and her roommate tries to help by involving their neighbor, Behrman. Thinking Behrman didn’t do anything, people had found him bedridden, too, with pneumonia. He got this by painting a
“A cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers” (Henry 1). This unseen stranger dominates the topic as the story goes on. Throughout the story the main character, Johnsy, has two major involvements with hope; one positive, one negative. The story begins with Johnsy’s negative experience as she thinks she will die once the last leaf falls. As the story continues Johnsy begins to reacquire hope once she realizes that the last leaf isn’t going to fall from the vine. In the story, “The Last Leaf,” O. Henry utilizes the leaves on an ivy vine to illustrate Johnsy’s positive and negative experiences with hope. By making the leaves plunge from the vine, Henry writes in his short story about how Johnsy is losing hope to survive. In the story, Johnsy is extremely ill with pneumonia making her unable to do activities she enjoys, such as painting. Johnsy lays in bed everyday losing more hope as time goes on. Her roommate, good friend and caretaker, Sue, tries to encourage Johnsy to keep her head up as she fights through the sickness. She sadly explains to Sue, “‘When the last [leaf] falls, I must go, too’” (Henry 2). Johnsy becomes so attached to the vine full of leaves that she starts seeing her own life in the life span of the plant. However, when the leaves start to fall off, she feels as if her life is dwindling, too. The main character wouldn’t feel this way if she didn’t have pneumonia, but because she is terminally ill her emotions are bundled up with the vine. Johnsy explains, “‘I want to turn loose on my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves’” (Henry 2). This bedridden artist is longing for a reason to live, and her roommate tries to help by involving their neighbor, Behrman. Thinking Behrman didn’t do anything, people had found him bedridden, too, with pneumonia. He got this by painting a