BÀI GIẢNG DẠNG VĂN BẢN (SCRIPT)

Môn học: Văn học Mỹ

Bài 6: The Last Leaf by O’ Henri

Slide Nội dung

1 Today we would like to present another popular American writer: O. Henri.

The real name of O. Henri is William Sydney Porter. He was born in 1862 and died
2 in 1910. O. Henri was a popular American short story writer who was well known
for the surprise endings of his stories and his witty narration.

During his life time, 11 collections of his short stories were published. After his
3
death, some more collections were introduced.

Among his most famous short stories are The Gift of the Magi, Ransom of Red
4 Chief, The Cop and the Anthem, A Retrieved Reformation, The Duplicity of
Hargraves, The Caballero’s Way, The Last Leaf.

A short story is “a slice of life” that is aimed at conveying a central thematic

concept. What is the central thematic concept that is communicated in The Last
Leaf by O. Henri?
5
The central thematic concept of The Last Leaf by O. Henri is the nobility of selfless
sacrifice to save hopeless people with unconditional love. And it is Behrman in the
story that embodies this theme.

In society Behrman was a failure in art since he was over sixty and yet as an artist,
6 he had not reached any achievement in the career he had pursued. What he had is
only a poor
 life in a poor area where the poor art people came for low rents. He was always
drinking alcohol and talking about painting a masterpiece that had never been
begun. So we find nothing magnificent or admirable in this pitiful old man.

However, with his witty narration, O. Henri depicts Behrman as a kindhearted man
who loved the two young artists Sue and Johnsy in the way a protective loving
father loved his daughters when he writes that Behrman “regarded himself as
especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above.”
When Behrman shouted at Johnsy’s unreasonable imaginings of her death, we
7 readers understand that was his loving reaction to the unacceptable fancy of the girl
he loved as his daughter. And it was his nature to love people who were not strong
as he scoffed fiercely at softness in anyone. Shouting or scoffing at people’s
weakness, this old man expressed his love for fellow humans in his own way instead
of speaking sweet loving words. We find no condition in Behrman’s love for people
in general and for the two younger artists in particular.

Behrman’s unconditional love for his fellow humans reached its highest point when
he painted the last leaf of the ivy vine on the wall to save Johnsy. Why? Because
this old man sacrificed his own life to offer a younger fellow human being a hope
to survive her serious illness. He kept Johnsy from giving up by removing the
foolish idea in her mind that had resulted from her tiredness in struggling with a
bad time. Imagine an over-sixty man climbed up a ladder and suffered from a
8
beating rain and strong winds at night to draw a leaf on a wall that was about twenty
feet above the ground. It was unsafe. It was risky. It was dangerous. But that old
man accepted the unsafety, the risk, the danger. For what? For nothing in return. If
anything in return, then just an acute pneumonia that took away his own life in the
end. What made him do that? It was his unconditional love that urged him to
sacrifice his life to save the life of a hopeless person he loved. And his
 selfless sacrifice was magnificent. It was noble as it saved a human life. It is his
noble selfless sacrifice that turned a failure in art named Behrman into a great artist
with a masterpiece that saved a hopeless person. Nothing can compare with a person
who willingly sacrifices their own life to save the life of the person they love
unconditionally.

O. Henri does not reveal the main theme of The Last Leaf until the last lines of the
story. He surprises his readers and touches their hearts with his well-known
surprise-ending technique that way.

Apart from the main theme we have just focused on, actually there are still other
different themes that can be discussed in The Last Leaf by O. Henri since a short
story may convey different themes which are not always intended by the author.
Other themes that can be found in The Last Leaf include “friendship”, “hope”,
9 “optimism”, “pessimism”, “having bad time and overcoming it”, “help from
unexpected window”, “same-sex love,” to name but a few.

Could you please write a well-organized essay of at least 300 words analyzing a
theme in this story that you are very interested in? If you are also impressed with
the main theme we have just presented, write about it with your own language and
your own analysis. Remember to personalize your writing as much as possible by
relating the details to your personal experiences or your personal observations based
on your individual backgrounds.

10 Thank you for listening.