SUBMITTED BY : SAMINA RASHID

SUBMITTED TO : MAAM MEMOONA

DEGREE : BS- ENGLISH

SUBJECT : PROSE

ASSIGNMENT : 01

SEMSTER : 6th

SECTIOM : B

DATE : 18, September, 2017

 Assignment Topic : Write a note on
"Themes" ,
"Characters" , "Symbols" of
the
story "The Last Leaf".

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE Of POET :

"The Last Leaf" is a short story written by O' Henry
( William Sydney Porter). He was born in Green bro, North
Caroline. He wrote 300 short stories and an award namely "O'
Henry Award" was introduces in his honor and is given to the
writer of the year.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE STORY :

"The Last Leaf" is a based on true friendship, sacrifice
and hope. The is a story that gives the readers a message that
one should never give up and should try hard till the end. A
deadly disease called "Pneumonia" attacked the "District of
Washington Square". People were dieing of this disease. The
main character of the story namely "Sue, Johnsy and
Behrman", live in the same building and are in good terms with
each other. Johnsy who is a good friend of Sue is also suffering
from this disease. Both the girls are artist so is Behrman. The
doctor tells Sue that the chances of Johnsy survival are very less
beacsue she has made her mind already that she is going to die,
there is no hope left inside her that can make her optimistic
towards life so we are helpless. On the other hand, Johnsy
starts counting the leafs of the tree and starts believing that she
would die when "The Last Leaf" would fell down. She stays
there in a room just watching a that praticular tree's leaves,
counting them as they fell down one after the other but there is
"The Last leaf" that is not falling like the rest of the leaves were.
This thing starts giving her hope that maybe she can get back to
life be cause when a single leaf can stand and bare this harsh
winters than why can't I. Mr. Behrman who was himself
suffering from pneumonia went outside to paint "The Last Leaf"
and could not resist that harsh weather and dies while making
Sue optimistic about life and its beauty. Let's discuss the main
characters of the story to understand them in a better way.

MAIN CHARACTERS OF THE STORY :

Sue
Johnsy
Mr. Behrman
SUE :
One of the main characters includes "Sue" who became
friend to Johnny when they met each other and found out that
they share same taste in "Arts, chicory salad and bishop
sleeves". When the deadly disease pneumonia attacked the
people including her friend Johnsy, Sue was the one who always
supported her and stayed on her side. She tried hard to divert
her mind from the tree she was counting on. She dedicated her
time for her friend and took good care of her until she was out
of danger. She asks Behrman to help her in making Johnsy
hopeful. Hence she does her best in order to keep her friend
alive.

JOHNSY :
The main charcter of the story "Johnsy" is the one who
became hopeless when she finds out that she was suffering
from pneumonia. The way she put all of her trust on the leaves
of the tree that when they all would fell down she will die
shows that how pessimist she was. She lost her interest in the
beauty and charm of the world while fighting with that disease.
The writer through this character wants his readers to know
that giving up means inviting death. But when she observed
that there is still one leaf left which is facing the harsh winters
but is still not giving up she started becoming hopeful. And in
the end when she becomes hopeful she get cures.

BEHRMAN :
One of the most dedicated character of the story is
Mr.Behrman. If we call him "The Symbol Of Optimism,
Selfishness and dedication" then it won't be injustice because
the character posses all these qualities. He was also the one
who kept on giving hope to Johnsy when she already had made
up her mind that she is going to die. Mr. Behrman himself was
suffering from that disease and was more serious than Johnsy
but still he remained optimistic, talking about his dream till the
end. He was old and the winter was cruel too but still he went
outside to paint "The Last Leaf" because he always wanted to
create a master piece but had no idea but when he saw that
last leave Johnsy was counting upon he gets the idea for his
master piece and goes outside just to fulfill his dream. He was a
man who only cared about his master piece which even became
the reason of his death.
THEMES :
There are many themes of the story "The Last Leaf". let
us see the important and main themes if the story.
Friendship
 The relationship between the three main characters of our
story was "friendship" and just because of this relationship they
stayed stick to each other till the very end, supporting and giving
hope to one another.
Love
Love is a feeling that makes you sacrifice yourself for
the one you love. That person can be your friend, family
member or anyone else but they are your strength and you
can't afford to lose them ever.
Death
Death is a universal truth but just thinking about
death and being pessimistic is what makes things worst.
Hope
The last leaf gives hope to Johnsy that she can survive
if she holds on and stays strong. The hope is the only thing
that mattered in the end and saved the life of Johnsy
otherwise hopelessness had almost killed her.
Sacrifice
Mr. Behrman sacrificed his life to fulfill his dream of
creating a master piece of his own. He didn't let anyone
know that how serious his condition was and stayed
determine about his dream.
Dedication
They way Mr. Behrman was dedicated about his
master piece which even took his life in the end yet his
master piece became hope for Johnsy.
Optimism
 The main character of the story "Johnsy" lost
optimism for sometime and became pessimist because of
which she started counting the leaves on the tree hence
lost interest in her life. So, after watching the last leaf stay
for a long time she became optimistic that maybe she can
also survive if she tries to.
Art :
"Art" is also discussed in this story because we can
say that because Sue and Johnsy shared same interest they
became friends and later the piece of art done by Mr. Be hr
man on that last leaf was the one that also played an
important role in giving hope to Johnsy. So, we can take
"Art" as a symbol of hope in the while story.
Selfishness :
Mr. Behrman died in order to create his
masterpiece shows that what kinda harm a selfish
person can do to himself. He couldn't wait for the right
time and end up getting nothing.

SYMBOLS :
"Symbols" in a story play an important role in the
development of a story cause they are like the hints in a
passage that let the reader guess the time period yet many
other features of a story. Let's list below some of the
symbols present in the story "The Last Leaf".
 Winters
Winter is known as a harsh and cruel weather
because it takes away many lives with it. People can't
bare winters and end up losing their lives. Because of
this season the death of Mr. Behrman happened as well.

The last leaf

"The last leaf" is a "Symbol of hopelessness"
because it can make a person shiver with horror while
thinking that when the last leaf would fall down his/her
would end as well. It can make a person pessimist and
he can lose his interest in his matters as well like Johnsy
did.

Leaf
"Leaf" is a "Symbol of hope" because that leaf which
was said to be the last one gave Johnsy hope that she
can get better and survive as well. This leaf is showing
optimism in the whole story of O' Henry.
Pneumonia
"Pneumonia" is a disease as well as a "Symbol of
death" in the whole story because most of the people
who are suffering from this disease are becoming
hopeless and pessimist.