Comparing Loss In Gwilan's Harp, The Last Leaf, And

This world seems to strive every day to take away what we hold dear. Whether it be a precious possession, our abilities, or even someone close to us, none of them will last forever. Three short stories, “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, all contain elements of loss. But not every character in each story loses the same things, nor do they deal with the loss the same ways. However, the feelings and emotions they all experienced cannot be that different. These three short stories, “Gwilan’s Harp”, “The Washwoman”, and “The Last Leaf”, all have examples of loss that the main characters experience.

Gwilan, the main character of Gwilan’s Harp certainly loses something precious to her early on in the tale. In an accident driving a cart, her

A picture is given right off the start of a couple of artists rather down on their luck working hard to become something, with an old man of similar condition in the building beneath them, named Behrman, a sour and grumpy soul, who “scoffed terribly at softness in anyone” (Henry). But the two friends’ condition takes a turn for the worse when Johnsy comes down with pneumonia, and remains bed-ridden for the rest of the story. As Johnsy’s condition worsens, she peers out her bedroom window to see an ancient, gnarled vine rapidly losing its leaves in the frigid storms. Johnsy decides that hers and the leaf’s death will come simultaneously—but the leaf stays strong, not breaking its grip on the vine. While Johnsy heals and regains her strength, old Behrman becomes stricken with pneumonia as well, perhaps due to his venture into the cold to paint that last leaf on the wall, for Johnsy, to keep up her hope. While Johnsy appears to be ready to give up everything, she stays the course and Behrman instead loses his life. “The Last Leaf” contains elements of loss in the character of old