How is O Henry's The Last Leaf having a surprise ending?

Answer 1

Johnsy and Sue are artists who move into Greenwich Village in New York City. As Winter approaches and the weather gets colder, Johnsy becomes ill with pneumonia. She gets so sick that she believes that when the last leaf falls from the vine outside her window, she will die.

In the end the girls realized that the last leaf that still hung was a painting. They realised that the old artist, named Mr. Behrman, who lived in the same building as the girls, braved a storm one night to secretly paint a leaf on the wall - a leaf that would never fall, inspiring the young girl, Johnsy, to mentally fight her illness. Cold and wet from painting in the icy rain, he caught pneumonia and died.

Johnsy, whose condition was deteriorating daily, had given up on life but when she saw, that following morning, that the last leaf did not fall during that very stormy night, she stopped despairing about her illness and recovered completely.

The twist or surprise ending ( a technique that O. Henry is famous for ) was the final realization that the last leaf was not real but a painting which seemed to have a magical healing power that renewed Johnsy's will to live and to defeat her pneumonia.

The old adage, " Life follows art " applies to this short story. Perhaps, also "Mind over matter ", in her case as well.

Answer 2

"The Last Leaf" by O. Henry has a surprise ending because the character Behrman sacrifices his life to create a real leaf in place of the one that inspired Johnsy to live, ultimately saving her life through his selfless act. This twist reveals the depth of Behrman's character and the power of his love for his young friends.