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Vsuresh Posted 13 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing

Writing on the Last Leaf by O Henry

Please help me with your comments on this:

The story is set at an old Greenwich Village in little district west of Washington Square. The streets in the village are in complete disorder and also are not clean and this might have been the reason for pneumonia to attack some of the inhabitants. The studio which Jhonsy and Sue live is overlooking a bare, plain yard and a blank side of the brick house. There, they can see an old, decayed ivy vine. The cold autumn has stricken its leaves and the branches cling to the crumbling bricks. Thus, the place which seemed very dull, and besides, the cold weather of the autumn brought about the negative feelings in Jhonsy.

Jhonsy, Sue, Behrman and the doctor are the characters in the story. The main character is Jhonsy because the story is based Jhonsy’s thought that she would die when the last leaf of the ivy vine fell. In my opinion the story has two themes: The first one is that the will to live, while affected by diseases, is very important. When Jhonsy is affected by pneumonia, the doctor tells Sue that his medicines will not work if her friend does not want to live. At the end Jhonsy realizes the worth of life. The second theme is the sacrifice people do for the welfare of others. Behrman, though he is not related to Jhonsy and Sue, feels that he is their caretaker as they had no one else to take care of them. Finally when Jhonsy’s health condition is critical, he sacrifices his life in order to keep her alive.

O’ Henry calls Pneumonia a ravager, red-fisted, and short-breathed duffer which tells he is completely angry with the disease as it torments innocent lives. When he calls Jhonsy “A mite of a little woman” he lends out his sense of humor and is critical of the young lady being weak and vulnerable. As for his attitude toward Jhonsy and Sue he seems to be very balanced because he neither criticizes Jhonsy for the crazy imaginings nor praises Sue for her care for Jhonsy. His description of Behrman as he is a mastiff- in-waiting his tone is lively and strong probably he wanted to convey the strength of Behrman’s will to protect the two young women.
  

Top answer

Sorry, I only have time for one quick comment. The name is spelled Johnsy. Clive

  • Sorry, I only have time for one quick comment.
  • The name is spelled Johnsy.
  • Clive
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4 Answers
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Sorry, I only have time for one quick comment. The name is spelled Johnsy.

Clive
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vsureshThus, the place which seemed very dull, and besides, the cold weather of the autumn brought about the negative feelings in Jhonsy.
Thus, the place seemed very dull, and the cold, autumn weather put Johnsy in a very pessimistic mood.
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Thank you,Philip.

By the time I noticed it, the time for editing the post had crossed the limit.

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