Write the explanation of the story entitled "The Last Leaf".

Write the explanation of the story entitled “The Last Leaf”.

Ans.

Explanations

(1) Toward winter a cold………………………..next to hers.

Reference: These lines have been selected from the story The Last Leaf written by ‘O’ Henry.

Context: The story is about two girls-Sue and Johnsy. They are both artists struggling to establish themselves in the profession. They lived at the top of a building with three floors in Greenwich village. They decided to live and work together.

Explanation: When winter came, the area was affected by a disease. It was pneumonia which is very common in cold countries. No one could notice when it spread in the area of Greenwich village. Many people became victims of this disease. It was a fatal disease and doctors called it pneumonia. It did not affect much to the people living on the east side of the city. But it affected the people seriously living in the narrow streets of Greenwich village. It did not leave the area quickly.

O’ Henry personifies pneumonia and says that it was not a good oldman. It caused harm to many people. Had it been a good person, it would not have made Johnsy its prey. To say it in simple words Johnsy fell seriously ill and the disease was diagnosed pneumonia. She lay in her bed and did not move at all. She looked through the window and her gaze was fixed on the wall of the house next to hers.

(2) Oh, I never heard…………………..make you strong.

Reference : This passage has been taken from O’ Henry’s famous story The Last Leaf.

Context: The Last Leaf is a story of two girls named Sue and Johnsy. They were struggling to establish themselves as artists. They lived at the top of a building with three floors in Greenwich village. Johnsy fell sick with pneumonia. She lost all hope of getting well. Her gaze was fixed on an old tree that grew against the wall of the next house. She was counting the leaves of the tree. It was her conviction that she would die on the very day when the last leaf of the tree fell from it.

Explanation: Sue was surprised to hear of Johnsy’s belief that she would die on the very day when the last leaf fell from the tree. Sue said that she never heard of such a foolish thing. It is nonsense. The tree has nothing to do with her (Johnsy). There is no relationship between death and leaves of the tree. The leaves of the tree have nothing to do with her getting well too. She thought so because she loved the tree dearly. Sue asked Johnsy not to be a fool and give up this foolish idea. She said to Johnsy that the doctor told her (Sue) that she (Johnsy) had good chances of recuperation. The only thing she needed was to be optimistic and hopeful. Sue asked her to try to eat something. Then she would resume her work so that she could finish the picture and sell it. Then she would buy something more for her to eat so that she might gain strength.

(3) But after the beating………………..the same time.

Reference: These lines refer to the story The Last Leaf, written by O’ Henry, the famous American short story writer.

Context: In the morning. Sue went to Johnsy’s bedside to see how she was. Johnsy had awakened and with wide open eyes was looking toward the window. She wanted to see whether the last leaf had fallen or not.

Explanation: It was a stormy night. It rained heavily and the wild wind blew hard the whole night. Johnsy was sure that the last leaf must have fallen. But the last leaf was still there. It could be seen against the wall. It was the last leaf on the tree. It was still dark green near the branch, but at the edges of it were turning yellow with age. There the leaf was hanging from a branch at the height of twenty feet.

Johnsy looked at it and said that it was the last leaf. She said that she was sure that it would fall that day and she would die at the same time.