Page 18 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Unit 1: The Last Leaf by O. Henry

leaves at an alarming rate, from over a hundred leaves on it three days ago to five just Notes
then. In her desperation Johnsy cried out that her life would betray her the day the last
leaf fell! Her friend rebuked her with magnificent scorn, calling her a scatterbrain! She
declared that she wouldn’t leave the room until she saw the last leaf fall off, which she
was sure would happen before dark, and prove Johnsy’s paranoid fears unfounded. On
the ground floor of Sue’s studio lived old Behrman. He was over sixty and sported a
long Michael Angelo Moses beard dangling over an impish body. A failure in art—his
drawing board had waited forty years to receive the first line of the great masterpiece
he planned to create! It was still waiting. He made both ends meet by serving as a
model to young artists. And Sue was his regular customer. Later that day Sue went
over to Behrman to get him to pose for an art piece. Close as she was to him, she
poured out her heart about Johnsy to him. The old man was visibly stupefied at what
he heard and blabbered about illogical people of the world. Nevertheless, Sue went
back home once her work was done. Days passed and the old vine started making
small steps to become bald! As each day came and went, its leaves bid adieu one after
the other. And Johnsy…her belief was becoming a reality! She was slowly slipping
away into death. So the leaves fell one after the other until one very last! Johnsy busied
herself bidding her final farewell to the world. Days slipped away like sand; soon and
fast, but the last leaf refused to fall off, determined not to betray its naked host! Rain,
shine or twilight, nothing could possibly make it part ways with the vine. The young
woman waited and she waited still and then her patience wore off. She concluded that
God didn’t want her in his kingdom and realized that asking for death was a sin. For
the first time through her illness she asked for her broth without waiting for Sue to
jostle it down her throat. Soon she was her true self again - up and about! One afternoon
as the two girls sat knitting, Sue broke the news of old Behrman’s death from pneumonia.
He was found cold and wet and in pain…and beside him was a palette with green and
yellow colours mixed on it. No one had wondered why the last leaf never fluttered,
never moved...Behrman had finally delivered his masterpiece! He had painted it the
night the last leaf fell!

1.6 Keywords

Magnificent : Impressively beautiful, elaborate, or extravagant; striking.
Blabbered : Sob noisily and uncontrollably.

Portraiture : The art or practice of making portraits.

1.7 Review Questions

1. Why did artists want to settle in Greenwich Village?
2. How did Sue and Johnsy become roommates?

3. Give a description of Mr. Pneumonia.
4. What did the doctor recommend for Johnsy to recover?
5. How does the doctor demonstrate his low regard for painting?
6. What did Johnsy count and why did she do it?
7. How does Sue try to persuade Johnsy to stop thinking that she was going to die?

8. Who is Mr. Behrman and why does Sue see him?

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 13