最后一片叶子的英语论文

Analysis of O. Henr

y’s

The Last Leaf

Abstract:

O. Henry

was the pen

name of American writer William Sydney Porter (September

11, 1862

–

June 5, 1910), whose clever use of twist endings in his stories popularized the

term

Henry

Ending

His

middle

name

at

birth

was

Sidney

,

not

Sydney;

he

later

changed the

spelling of

his

middle

name when

he

first began

writing as a journalist

in

the 1880s.

O. Henry’s stories are mainly about the insignificant persons from the bottom

of the society. His works are written in vivid and lively

language. He was good at

creating humorous plots by the use of puns, homonyms, quotations etc.

The Last Leaf

is one of O. Henry’s representative works, a classic of short stories. It

has

been

very

popular

since

published.

At

the

end

of

this

story

,

he

brings

to

light

the

theme of

the story and

infuses a

great power

into

the readers’

hearts.

The theme of this

story

is

definitely

self-sacrifice.

Mr.

Behrman

sacrificed

his

own

health

for

johnsy.

Sometimes

you

should

never

judge

someone

by

what

they

appear

to

be,

but

by

their

actions.

Behrman

acts

fierce

and

aggressive,

but

his

actions

show

how

much

he

cares

about Johnsy.

Body:

1.

Introduction

The

Last

Leaf

is

one

of

O.

Henry’s

representative

works.

It

tells

the

story

happened among the young girls Johnsy, Sue and the old painter Behrman. Johnsy

is afflicted

with pneumonia. Her only

hope

for

living

is on

the

ivy

leaves on

the brick

wall

of

the

opposite

house.

The

leaves

are

fighting

against

the

strong

wind

and

the

heavy rain, just like sick Johnsy

. To save Johnsy from the horrible illness, Sue tries hard

to take care of her and encourages her. However, with more leaves falling down, Johnsy

was getting worse. Death will definitely ruin her when the last leaf falls off the ivy vine.

In order to

help Johnsy survive,

the old painter

Behrman

who

lives downstairs paints a

leaf

on

the

wall,

and

finally

it

becomes

the

last

leaf.

Thanks

to

that

leaf,

Johnsy

defeats

the

illness

and

soon

recovers.

Nevertheless,

old

Behrman

got

pneumonia

from a cold when he was painting the leaf. In the story

The Last Leaf

, O. Henry fully

shows his intelligence and talent. He creates very vivid characters in his own way

of

writing.

With

his

description,

the

scenes

in

the

story

seem

to

play

in

front

of

the

readers’

eyes.

Using

contradictions,

he

arouses

the

reader’s

interests

and

curiosity

with

very

attractive

plots.

The

unexpected

ending

leads

the

readers

to

suddenly realize the profound significance of this work.

2. Literature review

O.

Henry

was

an

ordinary

person

from

an

ordinary

American

family.

What

make

him

so

unique

are

his

life

experiences.

The

relationship

between

O.

Henry’s

life

experiences

and

his

writing

style

has

attracted

a

lot

of

people

to

explore.

With

their

persistent

efforts,

O.

Henry’s

li

fe

experiences

are

not

mysteries

anymore.

His

life

was

full of unpleasant things, whereas due to which he achieved outstanding intelligence and

talents.

His

experience

was

the

foundation

of

his

future

development

in

writing,

and

also the source of

his crea

tion. O. Henry’s works are

usually

fresh and

unique.

To write

such

successful

works,

he

had

his

own

way

.

Contrast

is

one

of

his

weapons

to

create

vivid characters; another weapon to express the feelings is his brief and clear wording.

The Last Leaf, a representative work of the

famous short-story writer O. Henry

,

has

been studied from different aspects. It tells the story among two young girls Johnsy

, Sue

and

an

old

painter

Behrman.

It

glorifies

true

love

in

the

world

by

the

narration

of

old

Behrman’s

and

Sue’s

love,

care

and

help

for

Johnsy

.

By

the

portrayal

of

the

living

environment

and

living

status

of

the

three

main

characters,

it

reveals

that

American

people were

in

―The

Gilded Age‖.

And by contrast

it shows

the

love and care between

the poor. The ending of

this work

is unexpected but

reasonable. It

guides the readers to

suddenly

realize

what

happen

and

then

get

the

theme

of

the

story

.

The

―O.

Henry

ending‖

makes

the

substance

of

the

work

even

more

significant,

it

leaves

a

pleasant

aftertaste

for

readers

.

―The

famous

American

short

-story

writer

O.

Henry

creates

an

illustrious

image of a poor and old painter who sacrifices himself to save a

young girl’s

life

in

The

Last

Leaf.

The

love

and

the

humanity

he

praises

is

similar

to

the

core

of

Confucianism

—

Ben

evolence.‖ (Li, 2009: 67). Confucianism

thinks that a person with

lofty

ideals

has

no

fear

of

death.

On

the

contrary

,

he

has

the

courage

to

sacrifice

for

benevolence.

What

we

can

see

from

old

Behrman

is

the

essence

of

Confucianism,

―benevolence‖ and ―loving people‖. The Last Leaf of O. Henry lights up the hope of the

confused

modern people. It reminds

us of

love and

harmony which are

the

foundations

of a society

.