The Harp Gwilan's Harn Analysis

Throughout life all people experience loss. This theme happens constantly in life. Humans lose their youth. Humans lose their family. Humans lose their friends. In “ Gwilan’s Harp”, “The Washwoman”, and “The Last Leaf” loss was a matter of perceiving life’s rough roads. First, in “Gwilan’s Harp” Gwilan lost important parts of her life. Gwilan had an unteachable gift. This gift she received was the talent of playing the harp and she could play as if she were David in the Holy Bible. She was traveling to a village one day, when her future husband (Torm) lost control of the reigns, sending her harp flying. The narrator explains the horror, “Gwilan had clutched the harp to her when the horse shied, but had lost hold of it in the smash” (Ursula K.
However, her son was ashamed of his mother. He didn’t even invite her to his wedding. The narrator, while describing her son’s cruelty says, “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” (Isaac B. Singer). She lost the most precious thing in her life, family. Loss played a major function in “The Washwoman”. Finally, loss played a major role in “The Last Leaf”. Sue was a Californian who moved to New York City. When she moved, she met her best friend, Johnsie. Sadly, Johnsie caught pneumonia and became very ill. Johnsie hoped to die and Sue slowly began to lose her best friend. Johnsie said to Sue that she wants to die, “Because I want to see the last leaf fall. I have done enough waiting. I have done enough thinking. I want to go sailing down, down, like one of those leaves”(O’ Henry). Johnsie wanted to die, but Sue kept hoping that the tragic loss passed, and it did. Clearly, loss happened to act as a matter of perception. Losses can lead to success and losses can lead to failure. Gwilan lost her harp, but she still married and had two sons. The washwoman lost her son’s respect and love, but