The Last Leaf

Résumé du document

Henry O is the pseudonym of William Sydney Porter. He was born in 1862 in North Carolina and died in 1910 of cirrhosis because he was an alcoholic. In his youth, W. S. Porter exercised a lot of jobs and in 1898, he went to jail because a few years before, when he had worked as a bank clerk in Austin, he had embezzled money. During his imprisonment, he began to write short-stories to earn money for his daughter. He left prison in 1901 and took the pseudonym of Henry O. In 1902, he moved to New York where he wrote about the life of ordinary people in the city. In this text, there are two main characters who are Sue and Joanna. Joanna is used to be called Johnsy and she calls Sue with a fond name, Sudie. Johnsy and Sue share the same tastes in a lot of domains and live in the same studio in Greenwich Village in New York. They are both artists. Sue draws pictures for magazines stories and Johnsy wants to paint the Bay of Naples. Neither Sue nor Johnsy get married. Behrman is another important character. He is a neighbour of Sue and Johnsy who lives on the floor below. Behrman is an old man in his sixties and has a curly beard and the body of an imp. He earns a little money by serving as a model to young artists and drinks gin. Since he was young, his dream had been to paint a masterpiece but in reality, Behrman was a failure in art.

Extraits

[...] Neither Sue nor Johnsy get married. Behrman is another important character. He is a neighbour of Sue and Johnsy who lives on the floor below. According to his accent, we can imagine he's German. Behrman is an old man in his sixties and has a curly beard and the body of an imp. He earns a little money by serving as a model to young artists and drinks gin. Since he was young, his dream is to paint a masterpiece but in reality, Behrman is a failure in art. [...]

[...] Behrman though that Johnsy's fancies were stupid and he accused Sue to let those bad ideas to set in her mind. Behrman said even he wouldn't pose for her. Sue retorted he needn't have posed for her but Behrman gave up and finally said he would pose. Behrman and Sue went upstairs. Johnsy was sleeping, so they went in the other room and looked through the window the ivy vine on the brick wall. Then, Behrman took the pose for Sue's drawing. [...]

[...] She said that Behrman died of pneumonia in the hospital. He was ill two days and the janitor found him the first day in his room, with brushes and a palette, looking out the window at the ivy vine and its last leaf on the wall. He was painting his masterpiece and when the last leaf fell, he died. Personal opinion I have met some difficulties to understand this text and I think this short-story is the most complicated of the three even if it isn't very long. [...]

[...] All day, the last leaf resisted to the bad weather. In the afternoon, the doctor came and explained to Sue that's there were fifty per cent chances for Johnsy's recovery. He added that another of his patients called Behrman and living on the floor below, was suffering from pneumonia like Johnsy but his condition was very bad and there was no hope for him. Later, when Sue was cooking, Johnsy called her and told that the leaf was standing out to show she had been wicked in her life. [...]

[...] He left the prison in 1901 and took the pseudonym of Henry O. In 1902, he moved in New York where he wrote about the life of ordinary people in the city. The Characters In this text, there are two main characters who are Sue and Joanna. Joanna is used to be called Johnsy and she calls Sue with the fond name Sudie. Johnsy and Sue share the same tastes in a lot of domains and live in the same studio in Greenwich Village in New York. They are both artists. [...]