Plot of the last leaf by ohenry?

Answer 1

The plot revolves around two artist girls - Sue and Johnsy - who have their own 'studio' in quaint old Greenwich Village. What they have was a relationship fostered on mutual trust and their common tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves! All went hunky dory till Johnsy fell ill with pneumonia one cold November month. The disease seemed to drain out the last streaks of will and womanly taste from her being. She lay all day on her bed awaiting her death, looking out of the window listlessly. The doctor put her chances at one-in-ten, which he swelled up to one-in-five if Sue managed to get Johnsy to ask 'one question about the new winter styles in cloak sleeves'! Here the author tries to cook up humor from a woman's natural eye for fashion. Distressed by the doctor's verdict Sue cried a Japanese napkin to a pulp - another typical womanly reaction! She, at no cost, wanted to lose a friend who had so much in common with her and who had, for the past one year, been her staunch companion in everything from her artistic conquests to her personal trivia. With a heavy heart she gathered her drawing board and paintbrush (and a great amount of will) and made her way into Johnsy's room. Johnsy lay there still as death itself. Sue began working on an illustration for a magazine story. 'Young artists must pave their way to art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that Young authors write to pave their way to Literature!' Here the author has skillfully drawn a comparison between the two classes of strugglers and brought to light how the two, despite being so different in their genres, together make a wonderful piece! How many of us have actually read up a story because the illustrations were appealing?! Coming back to the story, our heroine Sue sat there in the room sketching with determination, trying to drown her sorrow into her art. Suddenly the sound of low moans broke her trance. She went quickly to Johnsy's bedside. She was lying there eyes open wide and fixed outside the window. She was counting - counting backwards! Sue's solicitous glances found that Johnsy had her eyes on an old, old vine, the leaves of which had been ripped off its body, exposing the rotting skeleton. It had been losing leaves at an alarming rate, from over a hundred leaves on it three days ago to five just then. In her desperation Johnsy cried out that her life would betray her the day the last leaf fell! Her friend rebuked her with magnificent scorn, calling her a scatterbrain! She declared that she wouldn't leave the room until she saw the last leaf fall off, which she was sure would happen before dark, and prove Johnsy's paranoid fears unfounded. On the ground floor of Sue's studio lived old Behrman. He was over sixty and sported a long Michael Angelo Moses beard dangling over an impish body. A failure in art - his drawing board had waited forty years to receive the first line of the great masterpiece he planned to create! It was still waiting. He made both ends meet by serving as a model to young artists. And Sue was his regular customer. Later that day Sue went over to Behrman to get him to pose for an art piece. Close as she was to him, she poured out her heart about Johnsy to him. The old man was visibly stupefied at what he heard and blabbered about illogical people of the world. Nevertheless, Sue went back home once her work was done.Days passed and the old vine started making small steps to becoming bald! As each day came and went, its leaves bid adieu one after the other. And Johnsy…her belief was becoming a reality! She was slowly slipping away into death.So the leaves fell one after the other until one very last! Johnsy busied herself bidding her final farewell to the world. Days slipped away like sand; soon and fast, but the last leaf refused to fall off, determined not to betray its naked host! Rain, shine or the twilight, nothing could possibly make it part ways with the vine. The young woman waited and she waited still and then her patience wore off. The concluded that God didn't want her in his kingdom and realized that asking for death was a sin. For the first time through her illness she asked for her broth without waiting for Sue to jostle it down her throat. Soon she was her true self again - up and about! One afternoon as the two girls sat knitting, Sue broke the news of old Behrman's death from pneumonia. He was found cold and wet and in pain…and beside him was a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it. No one had wondered why the last leaf never fluttered, never moved...Behrman had finally delivered his masterpiece! He had painted it the night the last leaf fell!

Answer 2

"The Last Leaf" by O. Henry is a short story that revolves around two young struggling artists, Johnsy and Sue, living in Greenwich Village. Johnsy falls ill with pneumonia and loses hope, believing she will die when the last ivy leaf falls from the vine outside her window. However, a reclusive artist in their building creates a painting of the ivy leaf that remains, giving Johnsy hope and symbolizing the power of art and friendship.

Answer 3

Exposition:

Greenwich village is an old town where people enthralled by paintings and art came. At the topmost floor of an squeaky three-story building lived Sue and Johnsy (nickname for Joanna). They met at a restaurant where they found out that they share the same interests when it comes to art and food.

Rising Action:

Six months after Sue and Johnsy started with their joint studio, Johnsy was sick with pneumonia, like others in their town. She had very little chance to live, and Sue was saddened. Johnsy said that if the last leaf on the Ivy vine fell, she would pass away. Sue went on to do an art piece, while she requested Johnsy not to look at what she was painting. She preceded and called Behrmen, Behrmen was an old guy, but after hearing Johnsy's plan, he was upset. He went on to go to the duo's room, and did something with the thought of Sue.

Climax:

After the sun rose, Johnsy saw the ivy vine and no leaf fell. She was shocked, and watched the leaf for a very one time. Finally, Johnsy realized that she had been a Bad Girl because of that thought. She finally ate food after not eating because she thought that she would pass away already.

Falling Action:

The doctor arrived at their art studio. He said that Johnsy's condition is improving at a very good rate. However, the doctor said that Behrman is also having difficulty because of pneumonia. He went on to Behrman's studio and tried to treat him. The next day, the doctor came once again and said to Sue : "She's out of danger. You won. Nutrition and care now -- that's all."

Denouement:

While Sue was talking to Johnsy, they went on and talked about Behrman. He died at the hospital ago, despite being ill in a measly two days. The janitor found him in a bad condition, mainly because his clothing were wet and icy cold. They found a lantern beside him, together with equipment for painting. Sue instructed her to look at the window, and ask her why she thinks that the last leaf never fell. It never fell because it was Behrman's masterpiece, and he painted it the night the last leaf fell.

Answer 4

There are many elements in the short story the last leaf.One of the elements that i used for one of my write ups was irony.

Answer 5

Self Sacrifice