A Comparison Of Gwilan's Harp And The Last Leaf

“Gwilan’s Harp,” “The Washwoman,” and “The Last Leaf” all short stories that hold a very different theme, but could there be anything significant that could tie these stories together? From “Gwilin’s Harp,” a story about a woman, who finally learns to love her voice and to embrace the change, to “The Washwoman,” who learns she must prevail though the hard times, all the way to “The Last Leaf,” where a young girl realizes that there is always hope no matter how dark and dim the case may seem. These three short stories, “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry all have the very similar theme that lines their stories, which is loss. “Gwilan’s Harp” tells the story of a wonderful woman, who learns to not only embrace the changes in her life but to look forward to them. In the beginning of the story, the reader finds the main character, Gwilan, to have a special talent at playing the harp. However, when the harp tragically breaks in an accident that leaves her wrist badly broken and her heart shattered, the reader can …show more content…
When many people hear the word loss, they often think of death, but this is not always the case. In “The Last Leaf,” the reader understands this because Johnsey, one of the main characters, struggles with pneumonia. She has lost the will to live and wishes to die when the last leaf on a lonely vine that hangs out her window falls. Because of this, her friend, Mr. Berman, paints a fake leaf on the brick wall near the vine so that it will never fall of. “Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die.” After this, Johnsey is able to rediscover the hope and will to live, which was once