李爽

Abstract：The Last Leaf is one of the famous short story written by O. Henry which was published in 1907. In this essay， I will analyze The Last Leaf from several parts to appreciate this marvel story.

Key words：O. Henry ；last ；forever

中圖分类号：I712.074 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1005-5312（2017）24-0010-01

一、Brief introduction

（一）About the author

O. Henry is a famous American short story writer. Almost his every story has a surprising ending which one called O. Henry-style ending. His essays are always refined in language， vivid in personality and surprised in ending.

（二）About the short story

The story is set in Greenwich Village. It tells the story of an old artist， Behrman who saves the life of a young artist， Johnsy， dying of pneumonia， by giving her the will to live. She thinks that she will die when the last leaf falls.

However， it never does fall and she survives， because Behrman paints on the wall with perfect realism， and he dies of pneumonia contracted while being out in the dreadful night to paint the last leaf.

二、Rhetorical devices

（一）Examples of personification

1.“In November a cold， unseen stranger， ...... short-breathed old duffer.”

These sentences are used personification. The author describes Pneumonia as a stranger， the verbs like： stalk and touching even trod makes this stranger vivid. And the adjectives like： icy， red-fisted and short-breathed express the old duffer is cruel and bad-tampered. The author makes the flat disease become round.

2.“An old， old ivy vine， ......almost bare， to the crumbling bricks.”

This description make an old and sick vine， who is like an old person lingering around death come into readers eyes. The words： gnarled， decayed and climbed show the vines weakness. And words： skeleton branches clung and bare make the vine more desolate and miserable. The sentences describes a process the vine weaker and weaker day by day.

The vine is a contrast of Johnsy， who is also tortured by terrible condition； who is also going to die； who is also weaker and weaker day by day. This description make a sad setting and act in cooperation with the storys name： the last leaf.

（二）Examples of physicalification

1.“I'm tired of waiting. ......just like one of those poor， tired leaves.”

Here Johnsy thinks herself as leaves， going sailing down and finally dying. This sentence is also used transferred epithet. The words poor and tiered are used to describe leaves. We can see the desperation and hopeless of Johnsy. The word ‘tried is used twice， emphasizing that Johnsy doesn't long for live any more.endprint

2.“He was past sixty and had a Michael Angelo's Moses...... an imp.”

The author depicts Behrman as Moses who is a famous in the Bible. From this sentence， we know Behrman doesn't have a good appearance. However the not good looking and the following great action--paint a leaf in the dreadful night， come to a extreme comparison， highlighting the old artist is kind.

三、Personality of figures

（一）Johnsy

The figure is depicted by inside activities and languages. She has a art dream， hoping to paint the Bay of Naples some day. Unfortunately， she suffered Pneumonia， and she has to lay， scarcely making a ripple under the bedclothes， with her face toward the window. “When the last one falls I must go， too.” “....... It will fall to-day， and I shall die at the same time.” From these sentences， we can find her disappoint towards the life and lack of courage to live. At that time， all her life is just support by the last leaf.

（二）Sue

The author describes Sue by her actions and the words. After she knew that Johnsy just had one chance in ten， she went into the workroom and cried a Japanese napkin to a pulp. She is so sad about this terrible fact， but she just cried by her own and went back to Johnsy to encourage her to never give up. “Couldn't you draw in the other room？”asked Johnsy， coldly. “I'd rather be here by you，” said Sue. From this conversation， we can see Sue s care and love to Johnsy. Sue is a kind friend and she really cherishes Johnsy.

（三）Behrman

This figure is depicted from three aspects： inside world， language description and appearance description. From his inside world， we know that Behrman is a straightforward person. He suffered and experienced a lot. Having painted for almost forty years old， he has nothing in art. But he has a wonderful dream to paint a great picture which has not started yet. He has to be a model to make a living. From the other aspect， after knowing Johnsys idea， he cried “Vass！” he also said “Is dere people in de world mit der foolishness to die...... Ach， dot poor leetle Miss Yohnsy.” His language is not such a decent language， which is show he is not a gentlemen. There is also a comparison with his following action. The last is that the author describes him like the head of a satyr along with the body of an imp. From that， Behrman may be not strong enough and cant fight against with the dreadful night. But he chooses to paint a leaf to make another life survive.endprint

四、Theme of short story

In fact， the last leaf is not the last one， but is a forever one； it is not a leaf of vine， but is more than one of vine. Behrman finally finished his great painting. The author doesn't describe how he finished in a direct way， instead he writes some small details like that “his shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold” and “a palette with green and yellow colours mixed on it”. No one know exactly the painting process， but we can think what may happen at that dreadful night with our imagination and realize how profound the last leaf is.

This three person have very different but they have something in common. Theyre all poor； They all have dreams； they all have good merits inside. They stand for one kind of people at that society where many people are poor， but they all have dreams. Although they have suffered a lot， they are still kind. The author appreciates the great friendship between Sue and Johnsy； the author appreciates the brave and devotion of Behrman； the author appreciates the good merits of ordinary people.endprint