欧亨利最后一片叶子Behrman英文评论论文 the last leaf

Behrman in The Last Leaf

-----from O.Henry

洪剑201001401103 旅游管理040 When a dying lady was looking out the ivy vine1 through the window, whose leaves were falling , she desperately thought “if the last falls, I must go”2. The old painter sacrificed his life to paint a green ivy leaf onto the brick wall ,when the real last fell .One died and one lived. No one could deny that piece of ivy leaf saved everything about love，nobility and greatness. The old man was just Behrman in O.Henry’s novel The Last Leaf.

In O.Henry’s eyes,Behrman was a failure in art3, but we might say he was a success in humanity. Actually he ever set his mind to accomplish a surprising masterpiece and even prepared to be proud of it; Well , his masterpiece did not appear until the death approached .Otherwise, he lived by being a model for some poor painters like him and drunk all day along. That’s the first impression which Behrman gave us at the middle part of the novel.

As a matter of fact, Behrman represented a small shadow of American West people that seek fortune in 19th century .O.Henry was also born in a doctor family, which made him informed of the difficulties the poor had met. And we could discover many familiar roles in his novels, like Soapy in The

cop and the Anthem , John Adair in A Municipal Report Jim and Della in The Gift of the Magi.As a loyal reader to O.Henry ,I guess these characters appearing in his novels might be someone he knew or heard, might be his friends or himself. At least these roles reflected O.Henry’s real voice into his mind. For some reasons, O.Henry had been in prison for 3 years during which he made his famous novel The cop and the Anthem.To some extent , Soapy’s painfulness was O.Henry’s .When he offered to get in the jail, it was refused; When he washed his brain and decide to live a common life he wanted, he was caught with no reason. This ridiculous result conveyed a great joke of American society.

Now back to the old painter Behrman, O.Henry did not tell how he helped Johnsy, how he painted his masterpiece and why he chose to do it and readers knew it from the conversation between Sue and Johnsy as follows:

"I have something to tell you, white mouse," Sue said. "Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia to-day in the hospital. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn't imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night. look out the

window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."4

Behrman died at the end of the novel. Such a kind of way declaring Behrman’s death may mot surprise us, because we all know, his pneumonia was much worse than Johnsy and death will come sooner or later. Anyways, Behrman saved Johnsy in a silent and artistic way, which truly shocked me .That’s also why I like this character Behrman and this novel, even though O.Henry did not give him too many words.Perhaps, this writing style might make this character greater and stand out in the other side, I think.

That last leaf never means the last life. Behrman was like a doctor more than a painter. It cured Johnsy’s pneumonia and gave her a strong courage and great hope to hold on. What a great value his masterpiece had made! Meanwhile, Behrman seemed more alive than dead. We could say, Behrman did not only save a person’s life, but successfully saved an American dream for all the people who seek freedom and peace. Behrman died in the right way; He also taught us a lesson named “what’s humanity and where it lies”. That’s what his masterpiece

brought us here and now.

As is mentioned, Johnsy’s dream was to paint the Bay of Naples before she passed away. I could not imagine whether it had been realized or not. However,I was sure of Behrman’s--------the last leaf and the lasting life.

Reference:

1.vine n.藤；葡萄树；藤类植物

2https://www.wendangku.net/doc/0a5413695.html,/view/1679996.htm2012/5/19

3https://www.wendangku.net/doc/0a5413695.html,/view/1679996.htm2012/5/19

4王旭红编译2005 大连理工大学出版社《美国短篇小说精选》127

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