William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) was a prolific American short story writer who published under the alias of 'O. Henry.' His first collection of short stories, Cabbages and Kings, appeared in 1904. Three more collections appeared after his death, with the last one (Waifs and Strays) published in 1917.
The precise number of short stories O. Henry wrote in the last decade of his life is unknown, although estimates vary from 270 stories to more than 600 stories. One of his best loved tales is “The Last Leaf,” which appeared in book form (along with 24 other stories) during 1907.
“The Last Leaf” Appears in The Trimmed Lamp (1907)
The Trimmed Lamp was O. Henry's third collection of short stories, and his second book to focus on the 'Four Million' inhabitants of old New York City. In a 1909 interview, O. Henry advised aspiring writers to “write stories that please yourself.”
For O. Henry, the stories that best pleased him were not tales about the rich and powerful who lived in turn-of-the-century New York, but slice-of-life extracts from the daily routines of ordinary working-class people. As such, The Trimmed Lamp contains stories about shop girls, clerks, tramps, waitresses, and petty thieves.
In “The Last Leaf,” O. Henry examined the intertwining lives of three struggling artists.
'Mr. Pneumonia' Touches Four Characters
“The Last Leaf” has four characters:
- Joanna (or 'Johnsy') — a young female artist from California who is stricken with pneumonia before the story begins.
- Sue (or 'Sudie') — a young female artist from Maine, who shares a small studio with Johnsy at the top of a three-story brick building in Greenwich Village.
- The Busy Doctor — an unnamed physician with a “shaggy, gray eyebrow;” at once brusque and tender, he dispenses wisdom as easily as he does medicine.
- Behrman — an old painter who lived on the ground floor of the same building; he “disliked softness” in others and was “always about to paint a masterpiece.”
The only other character is not a human being, but a personification of the disease that threatens Johnsy's life. 'Mr. Pneumonia' was not a “a chivalric old gentleman,” but a “cold, unseen stranger . . . [who] stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers.” It is this character that not only sets the plot in motion, but also provides a framework for the twin themes of the story.
Plot of “The Last Leaf”
The construction of “The Last Leaf” is a model of simplicity. As the story opens, Johnsy already has contracted pneumonia and is struggling to survive. Despite steadfast medical care, she has lost the will to live. Throughout her illness, she has become obsessed with an old ivy vine, slowly stricken of its leaves by the “cold breath of autumn.” Once the last leaf falls, Johnsy is convinced that she will “turn loose [her] hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves.”
As silly as this ideé fixe seems, the doctor informs Sue that Johnsy has lost the one essential element needed for a full recovery — the will to live. Sue tries to get Johnsy interested in other things, but fails. Excusing herself, Sue go downstairs to confide in Old Behrman. Predictably, the old painter scoffs at the superstition about the ivy vine, but slowly begins to appreciate the dangers of Johnsy's fixation once he returns upstairs with Sue.
The next morning, Johnsy awakens and demands to see the old ivy vine. She is astonished to see one solitary leaf still there, hanging “bravely from the branch.” Johnsy insists the last leaf will fall during the day, and she along with it, “as one by one the ties that bound her to friendship and to earth were loosed.” And yet the leaf does not fall that day, which suddenly brings Johnsy to her senses and restores in her the will to live.
In a final irony, Sue learns that the leaf responsible for Johnsy's recovery was not real, but painted on the wall by Behrman during a severe night storm. Releasing his hold on Johnsy, 'Mr. Pneumonia' claims the life of Old Behrman instead.
Selfishness vs. Sacrifice in “The Last Leaf”
As a writer, O. Henry had several weaknesses. Sometimes he used long complicated words where simpler words would do. Other times. O. Henry tended to bury characters beneath the mechanics of storytelling, or his famous 'trick endings.'
“The Last Leaf” has none of those shortcomings. The language is simple, but not sparse. Not much is said about Johnsy's personality, but little has to be said. With a few deft strokes, O. Henry portrays Johnsy as someone headstrong as well as a bit selfish. On the other hand, Sue is sketched as someone loyal, caring, and devoted.
Balancing the theme of selfishness is the counter-theme of sacrifice. For 25 years, Old Behrman lived with a “blank canvas on an easel” that was waiting to receive his masterpiece. Not until he appreciates the seriousness of Johnsy's ideé fixe is he motivated to make one final sacrifice.
By painting a simple leaf that has to look 'real,' Behrman's last painting was his finest — even if it cost him his life. In this way, O. Henry showed how the gift of love from a failed artist was powerful enough to overcome selfishness.
References
-------. 1909 (April 4). “O. Henry on himself, life, and other things; for the first time the author of 'The Four Million' tells a bit of the 'Story of My Life.'” The New York Times. New York, NY. page SM9.
Porter WS. 1907. The Last Leaf. The Trimmed Lamp. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company.
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