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Loss In The Washwoman And The Last Leaf

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Different Types of Loss Great writers can impact a reader’s emotion. Short stories like “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry influences the reader’s emotions due to the loss the characters of each story experience. In “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan loses not only her husband, but also things that she cherishes the most. However, even if Gwilan did lose some of the things that she loves, she later learns to appreciate other things in her life. Also, in “The Washwoman,” the author reveals a loss of a faithful and persevering servant and friend. Furthermore, “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry displays the most unexpected, yet saddening, dissolution of Old Behrman: a character that seems little, but is actually a hero. Regarding all this short stories, the authors of each of these tales provided a strong, yet different moral teachings through the loss of each character. In Le Guin’s “Gwilan’s Harp,” Le Guin wrote Gwilan as a talented harpist who gets tried by the world, and through her trials, she learns of certain things she ignored during her lifetime. Her trials started when her harp crashed during her expedition with a man named Torm. Not only did her harp crash during her trip, but so did her wrist, withholding Gwilan from playing any …show more content…

However, in two of the short stories, “ Gwilan’s Harp” and “ The Last Leaf,” shows that sometimes even if life may seem grey, you just have to look at it in another way. Gwilan from “Gwilan’s Harp” may have lost her ability to play her harp, but she manages to discover more about herself, whilst if you look at Old Berhman’s death in “ The Last Leaf,” his life saved another’s. Also, in “The Washwoman” the death of the washwoman reveals the immense care the Jewish family had for her. Furthermore, each person always encounters different types of misfortunes, and these short stories showcases how it affects people

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