ipl-logo

The Washwoman And The Last Leaf

909 Words4 Pages

Through the three poetically written short stories, “Gwillan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, one can obviously observe the difference between characters, plotlines, and writing styles. The single common factor that stands out in all three stories, which causes the reader a great deal of sorrow, questioning, and learning, is loss. It touches each story in an engaging way and grips the heart of the reader in order to teach a thematic message. As loss usually antecedes an ultimate redemption, each short story follows the tragic loss with a moral, and sometimes unexpected conclusion. The descriptive and unique voice of each author not only transports, but transforms the reader, through the three tales of loss. Like water seeping into a boat, so does loss disrupt the lives of the many characters that make up, “Gwillan’s Harp”, “The Washwoman”, and “The Last Leaf”. The story …show more content…

Henry, dives deep into the lives of two New York artists who are touched by tragedy. When Johnsy takes ill with pneumonia and comes close to death, Sue is left to care for and nurture her. While Johnsy loses her health and wishes to die with the falling of each leaf of the decaying ivy vine outside her window, Sue loses her peace of mind. “… she (Sue) feared she (Johnsy) would, indeed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away, when her slight hold upon the world grew weaker” (Henry). Sue dedicates her time and energy into helping Johnsy when Johnsy proves unable help herself. Only through the help of old Behrman, their drunk neighbor, friend, and a failure of an artist, is hope given to Johnsy to fight for her life. In one unpredicted, amazing act, Behrman not only creates a masterpiece, but gives Johnsy her will to live. By helping Johnsy and Sue, Behrman loses his health to pneumonia, and ultimately his life. The loss of a selflessly caring friend strikes Johnsy and Sue which concludes the

Show More
Related
165 Words | 1 Pages

Sandra Cisneros’, “The Monkey Garden”, uses juxtaposition and personification to provide ominousness to her vignette. For instance, a bit after Esperanza first entered the garden following the family moving, she noted the “hollyhocks perfumy like the blue-blond hair of the dead”, comparing aromatic flowers to dull colored locks from the deceased, foreshadowing that there must be an upcoming negative event of some sort involving death. The foul use of corpses’ hair color to describe a fragrant plant is placed to accentuate their clear differences. Cisneros also uses personification to establish an ominous mood to this piece. For example, after stating the garden was taking over itself, the “flowers stopped obeying” their designated areas.

Read More
564 Words | 3 Pages

The Sad Fisher Family In the short story, “Blood Knots” grief is revealed in different ways. In the beginning of the story the main character is described as calm and laid back. This gives the reader the sense that she does not care for her father’s death and she announces, “I am still waiting for my own emotion to surface in what I am anticipating will be a sense of overwhelming, loss”(Burton 33). The main character is in great shock that even she cannot describe it.

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

Literature that stimulates the feeling of pity, sympathy and sorrow is Pathos. The two pieces of literature express pathos in different lights, showcasing a rollercoaster of emotions for the reader. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men and Christie McLaren’s article “Suitcase Lady” both expose heartache and social inequalities to deduce the feeling of commiseration. The bleak hardship of life affirms the heartache through Lennie and the Suitcase Lady. Lennie is loyal to George and is terrified of upsetting his friend.

Read More
1345 Words | 6 Pages

With every journey comes a destination which is dependent on the degree of the individual and their will to potentially better themselves. A journey offers travelers the opportunity to extend themselves physically, intellectually and emotionally as they respond to challenges. Ruby Moon by Matt Cameron is a contemporary fractured fairytale in the form of a play that explores the grim, Australian legend of the missing child. This text portrays real issues in an absurd representation which forces the reader on an imaginative journey as well as the characters in an inner journey to establish an identity. Beach Burial by Kenneth Slessor is a distressing elegy about loss of life through war.

Read More
635 Words | 3 Pages

Mallard life, has been miserable and she felt as she was a slave of her own place she is living, the room is basically her life and identity. The news of her husband death was still roaming in her head; she went in her room alone to reflect the situation around her. She stands in front of an open window, staring at “the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air.” Louise Mallard felt as this is the time where she felt like a whole new person someone who finally reborn and start all over again in life and that she has a promising future ahead of her as Choplin describe, “There were many patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window” (Para 6).

Read More
1410 Words | 6 Pages

In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “War Dances,” the narrator unravels in thoughts and takes us through events in his life. He picks up by speaking about a cockroach that ends up dying in his Kafka baggage from a trip to Los Angeles. The cockroach still appears many times throughout the story. The narrator spends quality time in the hospital with his father, who is recovering from surgery due to diabetes and alcoholism, all along the way while he, himself, discovers he might have a brain tumor, leading his right ear to talk about his father. Using a style of tragedy and care both incorporate together a symbolic story that would make even a plain reader feel touched, leading to the major occurrence of a theme of the importance of family.

Read More
401 Words | 2 Pages

Loss is one of the hardest things to cope with. However, one doesn’t always realize the different ‘types’ of love they can experience until they’ve experienced more than one of them. In these three stories, “Gwilan’s Harp,” by LeGuin; “The Washerwoman,” by Isaac Singer; and “The Last Leaf,” by O’Henry a theme of loss presents itself.

Read More
791 Words | 4 Pages

When people are traumatized by an event they are pushed to experience the five stages of grief. The “Gospel”, by Philip Levine and “the boy detective loses love”, by Sam Sax both use characters that are going through one of the stages of grief. Levine and Sax both explain the thoughts and process of what a person thinks when they go through these stages with imagery. Levine uses symbolism, a sad tone, and a set setting in “Gospel” to illustrate that grieving takes you into a depth of thoughts. Sax uses anaphoras, an aggressive tone, and an ambiguous setting to convey that grieving takes you into a tunnel of anger and rage.

Read More
279 Words | 2 Pages

Ray Bradbury never seems to doubt his themes, or the way he presents them. From his first publication in the mid-1900’s to now he does not appear to falter. The same holds true for his short stories. In “Embroidery”, Ray Bradbury conveys a grim, bipolar ending to three women using symbolism, emphasis, appeal to emotion, and vivid descriptions. Bradbury’s style is very distinct and noticeable in all his works.

Read More
660 Words | 3 Pages

In her short story “Marigolds”, Eugenia Collier, tells the story of a young woman named Lizabeth growing up in rural Maryland during the Depression. Lizabeth is on the verge of becoming an adult, but one moment suddenly makes her feel more woman than child and has an impact on the rest of her life. Through her use of diction, point of view, and symbolism, Eugenia Collier develops the theme that people can create beauty in their lives even in the poorest of situations. Through her use of the stylistic device diction, Eugenia Collier is able to describe to the reader the beauty of the marigolds compared to the drab and dusty town the story is set in.

Read More
940 Words | 4 Pages

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.

Read More
455 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior.     At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.

Read More
524 Words | 3 Pages

Alice Walker uses imagery and diction throughout her short story to tell the reader the meaning of “The Flowers”. The meaning of innocence lost and people growing up being changed by the harshness of reality. The author is able to use the imagery to show the difference between innocence and the loss of it. The setting is also used to show this as well.

Read More
1440 Words | 6 Pages

The authors want their audiences to use these tales and examples as life lessons and hope for them to utilize these sources in their future lives. These two ideas are presented through the use of figurative language, mainly metaphors. In addition, the similar tone of these pieces allows the author to connect more deeply with the readers. Toni Morrison’s Nobel lecture, folktales, and several poems illustrate how metaphors and tone are used to describe experience and caution the readers.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

Read More

More about The Washwoman And The Last Leaf

Related Topics

Open Document