“The Last Leaf” Reading Text

Many artists lived in Greenwich Village in New York City. Sue and Johnsy, two artists, also lived there in a studio apartment. Their rooms were at the top of an old building in Greenwich Village.

In November, it was very cold and with it a cold unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked the city, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. The icy fingers of Pneumonia also touched Johnsy. She was very ill, lying in her bed and not moving at all. A doctor visited her every day but Johnsy was not getting better. One morning, the doctor spoke to Sue outside Johnsy’s room.

“I can’t help her,” the doctor said. “She is very sad and has no desire to iive. Someone must make her happy again. What is she interested in?” “She is an artist,” Sue replied. “She wants to paint a picture of Bay of Naples.” “Painting!” said the doctor. “That won’t help her!”

Sue was distressed by this news and didn’t know what to do to help Johnsy. She went into the workroom and cried and then she swaggered into Johnsy’s room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime. Johnsy lay silently in her bed with herface towards the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking Johnsy was asleep.

Sue arranged her board and began drawing to illustrate a magazine story. As Sue was sketching a figure of a hero, an Idaho cowboy, she heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the bedside.

Johnsy’s eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting-counting backwards. “Twelve,” she said, and a little later “eleven”; and then “ten,” and “nine”; and then “eight” and “seven”, almost together.

Sue looked out of the window wondering what was there to count. There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of the brick house twenty feet away. An old, old ivy vine, gnarled and decayed at the roots, climbed half way up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had stricken its leaves from the vine until its skeleton branches clung, almost bare, to the crumbling bricks.

“What is it, dear?” asked Sue. “Six,” said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. “They’re falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. My headached when I was counting them but now it’s easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now.”

“Five what, dear? Tell me.” “Leaves on the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I’ve known that for three days. Didn’t the doctor tell you?”

“Oh, I never heard of such nonsense,” complained Sue, with magnificent scorn. “What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? Try to sleep,” said Sue. “I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old hermit miner. I’ll not be gone a minute. Don’t try to move ’til l come back.”

Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor of the same building. He was sixty years old and had always dreamed of painting a masterpiece, but unfortunately till now he was not able to fulfill his dream. Sue found Behrman in his dimly lighted apartment sitting in his chair. She told him of Johnsy’s condition. Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming, shouted his contempt and derision for such idiotic imaginings.

Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to the windowsill, and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A persistent, cold rain was falling, mingled with snow. When Sue awoke from an hour’s sleep the next morning, she found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring at the drawn green shade.

“Pull it up; I want to see,” she ordered, in a whisper. Wearily Sue obeyed. “It is the last one,” said Johnsy. lt will fall today, and I shall die at the same time.” “Dear, dear!” said Sue, leaning her worn face down to the pillow, “think of me, if you won’t think of yourself. What would I do?” But Johnsy did not answer. The leaf stayed on the vine all day. That night, there was more wind and rain. When it was light enough, Johnsy commanded that the shade be raised. The ivy leaf was still there.

“I’ve been a foolish girl, Sue,” said Johnsy. “I wanted to die but the last leaf stayed on the vine to teach me a lesson. Please bring me some soup now.” “You know Sue, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.”

The doctor visited the girls in the afternoon. “Take good care of your friend,” he said. “She is going to get well. Now I have to go downstairs. I have to visit Mr. Behrman. He has pneumonia too. I must send him to the hospital.”

The next day, the doctor said to Sue: “She’s out of danger. You won. Nutrition and care now – that’s all.” And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, contentedly knitting a woolen shoulder scarf.

“I have something to tell you, dear,” she said. “Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn’t imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night.

And then they found a lantern, still lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and -look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn’t you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it’s Behrman’s masterpiece – he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.”

Jawaban The Last Leaf Text Activity

Post-Reading Activity Discussion Questions

1. The story is based on multiple themes like love, sacrifice, hope, belief and pessimism. Which one do you think is more obvious in the story? Why? Give evidence to support your answer.

The last leaf is the symbol of ‘hope’ that empowers a person for having the strength to fight death.  Johnsy’s believe that the last leaf would make her life too cease with its fall was so firm that no miraculous drug could save her against her rigidity.

Behrman’s wait for the right time to make his master-piece that he had fancied for so long was over the moment he realized that he had the ability to save a life by inflicting ‘hope’ in that person’s mind. 

The Last Leaf of the ivy vine had the power to sustain Johnsy’s life and Berhman had the power to sustain the last leaf by creating it. This art gave Johnsy the power to sustain her ‘hope’ to live and indeed, until hope persists, “it is a sin to want to die”

2. Why does Sue call “the last leaf” as Behrman’s masterpiece? Do you think it was a masterpiece?

 I rather think that she said so because that painting returned her friend the desire for living, Johnsy was depressed, and she was just waiting to die when the last leaf fell down, but that image helped her going on.

3. Were you surprised at the ending of the story? Did you think it would end differently? Why?

Yes, I were surprised with the ending story. So the surprise ending was the final realization that the last leaf was not real but a painting seemed to have a magical healing power to renewed Johnsy will to love and to defeat her pneumonia.

4. Painting the picture on the wall resulted in Mr. Behrman’s death. Do you think he would still have painted the leaf if he had known that it would result in his death? Discuss and give reasons to support your answer.

I think he had known it would result in his death. he said, ” some day i shall paint my masterpiece, and we shall all go away from here.” he believed that the painting would help Sue and Johnsy.

5. If you were in Sue’s shoes, how would you have reacted to Johnsy’s irrational thoughts? Describe.

I will stay with my friend. we don’t know when we will be sick and die, when we will need someone to care about us.

6. Why do you think Mr. Behrman made such a sacrifice? Discuss.

Because he believed that he was a special duty to do everything possible to help sue and Johnsy, and he believed that his masterpiece could help to make Johnsy better from her condition.

7. What would you have done if you were in Mr. Behrman’s place? Discuss.

If I were Mr. Behrman, I would have done like it. I am old woman and I don’t have anything to make me usefulness for the others.

8. What is the greatest sacrifice you have ever made for your family or friends? Describe.

The greatest sacrifice I have ever made for my family is: make my parents proud. it’s really very hard for me. When my friend asked me to play with them, I should study hard at home. I use my spare time to do something useful, helps my parents, my sisters and do what the best I do.

9. Describe Mr. Behrman’s personality based on the story.

Behrman is a person who wants others to be happy. Although when for the first time sue told him about Jhonsy’s fantasies about the leaf he reacted very badly but to give Jhonsy moral support which can be provided to her by preventing the last leaf from falling he risked his life and painted a picture of the last leaf on the opposite wall in the terrible cold weather. he is a down to earth person and a gem in millions.

10. Why do you think Johnsy never noticed that the last leaf never fluttered or moved even though it was raining heavily?

Because Johnsy compared her life with number of leaves. when the number of leaves going to decrease the expectation of life also become decreased. when she looked out side she found that the leaf is there, she felt energetic towards life (source: brainly)

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