The Last Leaf

“Here they [struggling artists] found rooms they like, with good light and at low cost.”

This quote serves as a validation of the fact that Greenwich Village is more of a crowded “colony” of like-minded artists, free thinkers who are struggling in urban poverty. At the time, urban poverty was a new form of poverty. Here, Henry somewhat romanticizes those living with this kind of poverty, casting them as noble artistic souls just as concerned with good light as with cost.

“Toward winter, a cold stranger entered Greenwich Village. He walked around touching one person here and another there with his icy fingers. He was a bad sickness.” 

Henry personifies pneumonia as Mr. Pneumonia, who is portrayed as a predator with “icy fingers” who is not a “nice old gentleman.” Due to the cold weather and poverty of the artists in Greenwich Village, this disease becomes a natural antagonistic force in the plot.

“If people do not want to live, I can’t do much for them.”

The doctor shares his theory that the will to live is as important as the physical status of a sick individual. Initially, the protagonist, Johnsy, has no will to live, which the doctor warns is as dangerous as having physical detriments. Once Johnsy resurrects her will to live, her mental energy positively affects her recovery.

“Paint! Not paint. Is there anything worth being troubled about? A man?”

The doctor is a minor character who confirms for the reader both Johnsy’s status and how Sue’s efforts have affected Johnsy. The doctor thereby moves the plot forward. He is also sexist, portraying a typical response for the time—his exclamation here shows an inherent lack of respect to the women’s dreams.

“The cold breath of winter had already touched it [the leaf].”

Winter is personified here, cast as a natural force that is destroying the leaves as the storm continues. The winter weather serves as an antagonistic force. It both serves as a very real danger, leading to Behrman’s demise, and helps represent the intensity of Johnsy’s internal struggle.

“When the last one falls, I must go, too. […] I want to see the last leaf fall […] I want to go sailing down, down, like one of those leaves.”

Johnsy believes in a superstitious theory that causes her to resign herself to death. Her fragility is aligned with the falling of the dead leaves; she identifies with the leaves and believes when the last one falls, she will die. The last leaf becomes a symbol in the story representing hope and the importance of hope to life.

“Some day I will paint my masterpiece, and we shall all go away from here. God! Yes.”

Behrman, a 60-year-old painter, has never managed a good painting in all 40 years of his career. Nonetheless, he stubbornly clings to hope of one day creating a masterpiece. These words also depict Behrman’s generosity: if he creates a masterpiece, he assumes he will share his good fortune with the women, taking them all to a better place.

“[T]he beating rain and the wild wind had not stopped through the whole night […] as the night came, the north wind began to blow. The rain still beat against the windows.”

The destructive power of the storm is evident throughout the story. The storm is an omnipresent force that ultimately causes Behrman to die of pneumonia after exposure. The severity of the storm, in turn, helps to emphasize The Power of Hope.

“The most lonely thing in the world is a soul when it is preparing to go on its far journey. The ties that held her to a friendship and to earth were breaking.”

The narrator points out the isolation of impending death. Johnsy had asked Sue to leave the room at one point and refused to eat. At this point in the story, Johnsy was isolating herself and willing herself to die.

“I have been a bad girl, Sue. […] Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how bad I was. It is wrong to want to die.”

Johnsy makes this admission when she sees that the last leaf refuses to die. It is an admission that she should not have so nearly given in to despair. The author is making a point that hope and willpower are necessary components to survival, regardless of how dark life may seem.

“Some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.”

Once Johnsy sees that the last leaf remains on the vine, her hope is renewed. She now has the will to live and renews her dream, another symbol of hope and survival: to paint the Bay of Naples.

.“Mr. Behrman has died of pneumonia today […] His shoes and clothes were wet and cold as ice.”

The fact that Behrman’s clothes and shoes were wet and cold indicates that he was out in the storm. Behrman took a risk with his own life to paint the last leaf and save Johnsy. The theme of Friendship and Sacrifice is evident in this effort.

“Look out the window, dear, the last leaf on the wall. Didn’t you wonder why it never moved when the wind was blowing?”

Sue explains to Johnsy that the leaf is painted and permanent. The irony inherent in this ending is part of Henry’s trademark in his short stories.