Who Is Gilwan's Harmful

In life there are many tragedies, and hard times in life that people can’t seem to get past. It may sometimes feel as though they can’t find hope. People can lose things or loved ones, and life makes unexpected turns. Like in “Gilwan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, she finds herself stuck in the past after she loses her precious harp. Then in “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, the loved washwoman dies. Johnsy in “The Last Leaf” by O.Henry lives but their downstairs neighbour sacrifices his life to save her.
In “Gilwan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, the characters experience bad situations and loss.

Gilwan faced plenty of tragedy in her life and kept herself trapped in her past, she lost hope for her future early in life. Playing the harp amazingly, she planned to be a harpist, but as she rode with her friend Torm, they got in an accident and her harp broke and shattered to pieces. After that, Gilwan never felt the same. Her wrist now damaged, then as she grew older she had arthritis meaning eventually she could not play at all. Living a poor life from the beginning, it never …show more content…
She fantasizes about the vine outside her window and said that when the last leaf falls she will pass away too. Her roommate, Sue, wanted her to live and kept trying to make her happy so she could recover. Their downstairs neighbour, Mr.Behrman, never had a wonderful life either and he called himself and artists but he did not have the talent. “He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his coming masterpiece.” (O.Henry). Well, one day Mr.Behrman catches the same deadly cold and becomes so weak he is taken to hospital. Mr.Behrman knew how to save Johnsy so he went out on a cold, rainy day and painted his masterpiece of a leaf. He died the next day, while Johnsy recovers, which shows the loss and the sacrifice that Behrman had