Losses that People Experience
Three short stories demonstrate the losses that humans experience in life. These stories are “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. Leguin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry. “Gwilan’s Harp” shows the loss of Gwilan’s identity and her loved one. “The Washwoman” shows the washwoman losing her son and her own life. Finally, “The Last Leaf” demonstrates self-sacrifice, when Mr. Behrman sacrifices his own life to give Johnsy hope. All three stories show losses in several forms, but they have one kind in common: the loss of life.
“Gwilan’s Harp” written by Ursula K. Leguin, demonstrates the theme of loss in several forms. Gwilan, a young, talented musician, loses her precious harp in a travelling accident. Since she thought that she was the harp, Gwilan lost her identity as well. She decides to marry a man named Torm, so that she could identify herself as the wife of Torm. However Torm dies later on, and Gwilan experiences loss again; she had lost her husband and her identity. When she becomes old, Gwilan gets arthritis, and she loses her ability to play the harp. …show more content…
Henry’s “The Last Leaf” shows the theme of loss through a character named Mr. Behrman who sacrifices himself to save someone’s life. Sue and Johnsy, two young artists, share an apartment. Johnsy gets sick from pneumonia, and lies in bed counting the ivy leaves falling off the vine one by one, saying that when the last leaf falls, she too would die. Sue goes to Mr. Behrman, who lived in the apartment downstairs, and he wishes to help Johnsy since he considered “himself as mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above” (Henry). Despite the heavy rain that night, Mr. Behrman went outside and painted a leaf onto the wall. The next morning, Johnsy saw that the leaf had endured the storm, and she decided that she should go on living just like the leaf. The doctor said that Johnsy would soon get well because of her
Three short stories demonstrate the losses that humans experience in life. These stories are “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. Leguin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry. “Gwilan’s Harp” shows the loss of Gwilan’s identity and her loved one. “The Washwoman” shows the washwoman losing her son and her own life. Finally, “The Last Leaf” demonstrates self-sacrifice, when Mr. Behrman sacrifices his own life to give Johnsy hope. All three stories show losses in several forms, but they have one kind in common: the loss of life.
“Gwilan’s Harp” written by Ursula K. Leguin, demonstrates the theme of loss in several forms. Gwilan, a young, talented musician, loses her precious harp in a travelling accident. Since she thought that she was the harp, Gwilan lost her identity as well. She decides to marry a man named Torm, so that she could identify herself as the wife of Torm. However Torm dies later on, and Gwilan experiences loss again; she had lost her husband and her identity. When she becomes old, Gwilan gets arthritis, and she loses her ability to play the harp. …show more content…
Henry’s “The Last Leaf” shows the theme of loss through a character named Mr. Behrman who sacrifices himself to save someone’s life. Sue and Johnsy, two young artists, share an apartment. Johnsy gets sick from pneumonia, and lies in bed counting the ivy leaves falling off the vine one by one, saying that when the last leaf falls, she too would die. Sue goes to Mr. Behrman, who lived in the apartment downstairs, and he wishes to help Johnsy since he considered “himself as mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above” (Henry). Despite the heavy rain that night, Mr. Behrman went outside and painted a leaf onto the wall. The next morning, Johnsy saw that the leaf had endured the storm, and she decided that she should go on living just like the leaf. The doctor said that Johnsy would soon get well because of her