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Critical Analysis: The Last Leaf by: O. Henry (Yap)


Khrissarah Charlize M. Yap
11-Onesta (HUMSS)

The Last Leaf
By: O. Henry

“The Last Leaf” is a short story written by O. Henry, a story that depicts the morbidity of death and of the fancies that come with the idea of it. The story focuses on Johnsy, a starving artist who focuses on the idea of leaving this world by the means of blowing away like a leaf because of a strong gust of wind, which is further exemplified by the main character; willing herself to death, waiting for the final leaf to fall, so that she can finally go to eternal rest.

The characters have shown individuality and showcased their own ideologies when it came to death, like how Old Behrman believes that wishing death upon oneself is simply foolish. Johnsy also shows how much she contrasts this idea by her fancies of finally leaving the material earth, mostly affected by the sickness it made her delusional and started imagining herself what the world would be like if she were dead. It is interesting how the characters are in somewhat the same situation, yet they feel differently in regards to their situation. The story has also given the characters the proper introduction and an ample enough time to develop, since short stories like these often suffer from poor character introduction, and the reader often doesn’t care about the characters. But in the story, Henry was able to garner the readers’ sympathy with Johnsy’s situation, which is a notable strength in this piece. As for the general flow of the story, the pacing is quite slow since each origin and character needed to be explained in detail. Nevertheless, the story itself is very interesting and is able to grab the reader’s attention long enough to want to know whether or not Johnsy dies in the end. The use of vocabulary in this piece is also quite off-setting, especially how Old Behrman’s dialogue is delivered. Although I do think it’s relevant for the character’s individuality, it unnecessary to make readers find it difficult to read his lines; Henry could’ve found a different way of doing this.

In conclusion, “The Last Leaf” is definietely a piece worth reading and should be acknowledged for its creative symbolism and ways of describing death and of the struggles knowing that death will come to us eventually. It is a piece that has aged beautifully and should be given the credit it deserves.

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