The Last Leaf

The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love. When sacrificing yourself you show love, which is the strongest element. In The Last Leaf by O’henry Dr.Behram sacrificed his for Johnsy, that was dying of pneumonia. He believed her surviving was worth risking his whole life. O'henry writes an effective short story through his use of charazation and imagery.

In The Last Leaf there is a lot of examples of charazation, mostly regarding with Dr.Behram. Charazation is the act of describing a character of a story, play, etc. Dr.Behram never really gets to do anything, for example when O’henry wrote, “He had been always about to paint a masterpiece but had never yet begun it.” He doesn't really finish what he starts. He's always about to do something but never quite gets to it. He's also a drunk, “ He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his coming masterpiece.” he is an artist that has never been able to become successful at painting; he drinks until he's drunk, which plays a huge role in why he never really gets to finish his masterpiece. He also is a very caring person for Johnsy and Sue, “ For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who scoffed terribly at softness in anyone, and one regarded himself especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio.” Behram does care about sure and Johnsy. He feels like he's supposed to protect them. O’henry describes the character of Behram as a old man that never gets anything done but also an old man that would sacrifice his own life for Johnsy.

O’henry also uses many examples of imagery. “His shoes and clothing were wet