O. Henry, the master storyteller, injects several themes into his beautiful story The Last leaf. It is a story of hope, optimism, love, friendship, and sacrifice. Hope is one of the major themes in The Last Leaf. In fact, the whole Universe runs with the idea of hope. When it is deserted, people die and when it is there, they live. The last leaf on the ivy vine signifies life. Leaf is the hope of life for a tree or plant. When Johnsy sees the painted leaf against the wall, she regains hope and says, “It is a sin to want to die” and recovers. The theme of optimism and love is symbolically presented in the story.

O. Henry tries to convey that optimistic attitudes will help us to live our life better. Johnsy embodies pessimism when she says,” when the last one falls I must go, too”. Sue consoles Johnsy and stands as symbol of optimism. It is her words full of optimism that keep Johnsy going. It is through them that O. Henry brings in the theme of friendship. Sue, as a friend, sacrifices her time and money for Johnsy. She says,” I’d rather stay here with you”. When her efforts don’t work, she seeks Behrman’s help. Sue is a symbol of true friendship.

It appears that O. Henry has a penchant for the theme ‘Sacrifice’. He brings in this theme in two of his most popular stories The Last Leaf and ‘The Gift of the Magi’. In The Last Leaf, it is Mr. Behrman who gives up his life to help Johnsy live. In’ The Gift of the Magi’, Della and Jim sacrifice their prized possessions for each other’s happiness. O. Henry seems to suggest we should make small sacrifices almost every day to make this world a better place to live in.

The Last Leaf can be regarded as O. Henry’s, masterpiece. He portrays characters that have true human strengths and weaknesses, characters we can easily identify with. Thus his world becomes our world and his stories become our stories.