When we fail, our natural desire is to hide from our failures, hoping they will disappear. Yet, in his short story “The Last Leaf,” O. Henry demonstrates through a young woman named Johnsy that, no matter what we have done, we can heal ourselves from our worst sicknesses by facing our failures.
Johnsy (or Joanna) lives with her new friend Sue in the New York neighborhood of Greenwich Village. Finding that they have much in common, these two young women decide to share a studio and make a living through art.
However, in November, pneumonia visits the village and infects Johnsy, who already had a weak constitution. The doctor informs Sue that Johnsy has a one-in-ten chance of survival. “And that chance is for her to want to live,” he says. If she believes that she will get well, she will have a far better chance….