The Last Leaf

“The Last Leaf” is heavily centered around the theme of The Power of Hope, using irony to amplify the story’s expression of that power. The last leaf itself, as a symbol, operates on two main levels: it is, at once, the real last leaf and the painted last leaf. The real last leaf is fragile. Its fall is inevitable. The painted leaf can withstand all that the terrible weather has to offer, the “beating rain” and “wild wind.” This duality suggests that hope is not as fragile or useless as it appears. Moreover, the irony of Johnsy believing that the painted leaf is the real one indicates that hope itself is also a matter of perception—as the doctor observes, “when a sick person begins to feel that he’s going to die, half my work is useless” (13). Hope is the capacity to live, something man can summon both for himself and for others.

Henry further builds the power of hope by constructing circumstances that pose genuine challenges to the characters. In constructing these elements, Henry draws heavily on the motif of weather and uses