‘The Last Leaf’, first published in O Henry’s collection ‘The Trimmed Lamp’, is quite a moving story that cherishes the treasury of life and the existence of faith and hope. While the story is set in Greenwich village, New York, it speaks volumes on the many battles humans strife through their journey of life.
The story presents the life of three struggling artists – Sue (who was from Maine), Johnsy (who was from California) and old Behrman. They live an impoverished life in an artists’ colony in Greenwich village. It is an area marked by low rents. Thus we understand that they belong to the lower strata of the society and strive hard for success while hoping to make it big one day. They understand each other's fate very well and yet support each other even at the cost of their own life. They may be impoverished but their lives are splendid. The notion of friendship and self-sacrifice is the central idea of the story and keeps the reader hooked till the end.
The story commences in Sue and Johnsy’s jointly owned apartment, that is at the top of an old three-story brick house, in an artists’ colony of Greenwich village. The two friends also use this apartment as their studio.
In the month of November, Johnsy comes down with a serious attack of pneumonia. The disease has a bad reputation in this village and seems to have taken several lives. When Sue calls for the doctor, she is told that her friend Johnsy has slim chances of survival. This was not because of her physical illness, but more because Johnsy had foolishly associated her chances of survival to that of the falling leaves of the ivy-tree.
We are then introduced to Behrman, an old artist who was way past sixty years in age. He lived on the ground floor of the same apartment as that of Sue and Johnsy. He comes forward to help Sue in saving Johnsy’s life.
The story while maintaining the surprise elements, ends with a sting in the tail. Throughout the story, we read that Johnsy was ill and was expected to die with the fall of the last leaf. However, Behrman who paints the last leaf on the wall and battles the stormy night dies of pneumonia. Behrman was successful both in painting his masterpiece and in saving Johnsy’s life. Though Behrman appears once and speaks only twice in the story, his affection for Johnsy and Sue is well manifested in the story through his sacrifice. He thus becomes the very epitome of the theme of the story that self-sacrifice through love for others achieves happiness. The unexpected ending not only creates hope for other artists like Behrman but also recognizes him as a typical O Henry hero.
Answer:
a. to present a case for or against a particular position
Explanation:
The answer to this question is hidden within the question
itself. How so? Well, first we need to be aware of what
satire is. What is satire? Satire is when an author pokes fun of (almost
mockingly) the element of a government that the author deems a flaw, failure,
or weakness. It doesn’t necessarily need
to be humorous because humor is subjective, and so for every 10 people who find
something funny, there are 10 other people who find the same thing not
funny. As such, satire is best determined
to be scorn. That said, because we know
satire is scorn for the government, the question is almost self answering in
that satire exists within “Top of the Food Chain” because of how he scorns the
government.
D- rich flora has the most positive connotation
Answer:
C. Mrs. Adams is in conflict with society because she says some villages have stopped holding lotteries.
Explanation:
The given excerpt from Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" shows the scene where all of the villagers were together to cast lots about who was to be chosen the <em>"winner"</em> of that year's lottery. The practice of this barbaric stoning to death of the <em>"winner"</em> seems like an annual ritual to them though they hardly ever remember why or how it came up to be.
In the excerpt, the conflict between a person and society is seen when someone seems to criticize what is happening in the society or talks against it. And when Mrs. Adams remarked that some villagers had stopped holding the lotteries, she is in direct conflict against the practice/society. This shows that she may have also deemed it unnecessary, but given the patriarchal society she's living in, her voice or opinion hardly matters to anyone. This is also quite evident when Old Mister Warner immediately retorted "<em>Pack of young fools</em>." The conflict with society collides with the need to preserve the practice, thus leading to Mrs. Adams' comment as something bad or working against the very nature of the traditional lottery.
