ipl-logo

Loss In The Washwoman And The Last Leaf

792 Words4 Pages

Different Types of Loss Great writers can impact a reader’s emotion. Short stories like “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry influences the reader’s emotions due to the loss the characters of each story experience. In “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan loses not only her husband, but also things that she cherishes the most. However, even if Gwilan did lose some of the things that she loves, she later learns to appreciate other things in her life. Also, in “The Washwoman,” the author reveals a loss of a faithful and persevering servant and friend. Furthermore, “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry displays the most unexpected, yet saddening, dissolution of Old Behrman: a character that seems little, but is actually a hero. Regarding all this short stories, the authors of each of these tales provided a strong, yet different moral teachings through the loss of each character. In Le Guin’s “Gwilan’s Harp,” Le Guin wrote Gwilan as a talented harpist who gets tried by the world, and through her trials, she learns of certain things she ignored during her lifetime. Her trials started when her harp crashed during her expedition with a man named Torm. Not only did her harp crash during her trip, but so did her wrist, withholding Gwilan from playing any …show more content…

However, in two of the short stories, “ Gwilan’s Harp” and “ The Last Leaf,” shows that sometimes even if life may seem grey, you just have to look at it in another way. Gwilan from “Gwilan’s Harp” may have lost her ability to play her harp, but she manages to discover more about herself, whilst if you look at Old Berhman’s death in “ The Last Leaf,” his life saved another’s. Also, in “The Washwoman” the death of the washwoman reveals the immense care the Jewish family had for her. Furthermore, each person always encounters different types of misfortunes, and these short stories showcases how it affects people

Show More
Related

  • Tim Pegler's Five Parts Dead

    130 Words  | 1 Pages

    Authors utilise a range of emotive scenarios allowing the reader, to immerse themselves in situations that aren’t common to what they normally experience. Through various means, author Tim Pegler, delves into the concepts of grief and sadness in his novel “Five Parts Dead.” Pegler effectively explores and addresses the results of traumatic scenarios upon the individuals, both directly and indirectly. Additionally, Pegler uses emotive language to portray the life of protagonist to be consumed by tremendous guilt and grief, another contributing factor is the fact that the protagonist emotions are portrayed through the first person point of view, thus strengthening connections made with the protagonist and the reader. As well as the protagonist,

    Read More

  • Similarities Between 'Barn Burning And A Worn Path'

    2152 Words  | 9 Pages

    1) Throughout our course, there have been some incredible and powerful women characters and writers. From Granny in “Jilting of Granny Weatherall” to Delia in “Sweat”, all of their stories had powerful connotations and influences in the readers. First of there was Phoenix from “A Worn Path,” she is the protagonist of this tale and is described in a lively way by the way she moves. Welty said, “Under the red rag her hair came down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still black, and with odor like copper.” The rag in her hair, her skin, and even the wrinkles on her face are deeply expanded upon in the story and accentuate her character.

    Read More

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

    743 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Loss In Gwilan's Harp And The Last Leaf

    401 Words  | 2 Pages

    In LeGuin’s story, “Gwilan’s harp” the main character, Gwilan, experiences a very unique loss: the loss of what gave

    Read More

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

    587 Words  | 3 Pages

    Loss appears in Gwilan’s Harp, The Washwoman, and The Last Leaf. In Gwilan’s Harp, Gwilan suffers from the loss of her precious instrument and Torm’s passing. Similarly, in The Washwoman, an old lady passes away, after working very hard throughout her lifetime. Finally, in The Last Leaf, an old man, loses his life, to give a girl hope to live. These three stories contain a valuable moral that the authors demonstrate.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Gwilan's Harp And The Last Leaf

    825 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Gwilan’s Harp” presents the reader with the most examples of loss. “The Washwoman” uniquely demonstrates the loss of a loving son to care for and love his elderly mother as opposed to the loss of a destroyed material object or the death of a friend. “The Last Leaf” strongly demonstrates the sacrificial loss of life through Mr. Behrman’s death. The readers can learn great lessons from each of these meaningful stories. The loss of the cherished harp in “Gwilan’s Harp”, the loss of an attentive son in “The Washwoman”, and lastly, the sacrificial and unforeseen loss of a friend in “The Last Leaf”, all are moving examples of valuable

    Read More

  • Theme Of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

    1140 Words  | 5 Pages

    ANELISWA NALA 2015317601 ENGL1624 DUE: 28 OCTOBER 2016 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has one mutual theme that associates all the other themes in the novel together. In the chapter titled; “Valentine Heart,” we encompass the most prominent and most cognisant theme of them all- grief. This chapter conveys the most detectable attributes of grief that functions as both an individual and collective process of dealing with loss. Argumentatively one could say that grieving has its fair share of adversities.

    Read More

  • Ernest Hemingway's Short Story ', 'The Most Dangerous Game'

    1631 Words  | 7 Pages

    Short Story Essay Assignment “When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.” ― Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon. The connection and love for characters in a story is very important for the readers to experience.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between A Doll's House And Never Let Me Go

    1565 Words  | 7 Pages

    To Suffer or Not to Suffer As human beings, we try to eschew from the suffering and adversities that plague human morality. Nonetheless, society remains drawn to the surplus of tragedies in plays, movies, and literary works. Not only do these works provide an escape from our own hardships, but suffering and tragedy is a significant aspect to the development of human society. Personally, I have experienced my own share of sorrow, trauma, and difficulties in life. While they may not be as severe as those faced by the characters in A Doll’s House and Never Let Me Go, a pervasive theme still manifests in the presence of suffering.

    Read More

  • Empathy In Tuesday Siesta And The Grapes Of Wrath

    1009 Words  | 5 Pages

    Empathy is defined as the ability to feel the emotions of another person or character. This ability aids us in forming emotional attachments and being more compassionate with others. Authors, advertisers, and politicians may use our natural ability to empathise to get people to form attachments to characters or sway our opinion. Gabriel García Márquez’s autobiography, Living to Tell the Tale, his short story, ‘‘Tuesday Siesta’’ and John Steinbeck’s fiction novel, The Grapes of Wrath, all strive to affect the reader on an emotional level. Both novels try to play to the reader’s empathy in different ways.

    Read More

  • Comparing A Rose For Emily And The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall

    525 Words  | 3 Pages

    Authors use characters for creative purposes and to convey messages. They also use characters to form stories, examine the dangers or choices these characters have to make, and are used to develop themes. Moreover, characters have to to possess qualities that readers can relate to. In the case of "A Rose for Emily" and "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" , the main characters and how the roles they play center on the loss of love, repression and grudges, and how they can turn a soul into something unrecognizable is analyzed.

    Read More

  • Gospel Sam Sax Analysis

    791 Words  | 4 Pages

    When people are traumatized by an event they are pushed to experience the five stages of grief. The “Gospel”, by Philip Levine and “the boy detective loses love”, by Sam Sax both use characters that are going through one of the stages of grief. Levine and Sax both explain the thoughts and process of what a person thinks when they go through these stages with imagery. Levine uses symbolism, a sad tone, and a set setting in “Gospel” to illustrate that grieving takes you into a depth of thoughts. Sax uses anaphoras, an aggressive tone, and an ambiguous setting to convey that grieving takes you into a tunnel of anger and rage.

    Read More

  • Everyday Use Theme Essay

    869 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the short stories we have read there have been numerous themes. The impact of tradition, the value of heritage, the importance of family, the divide between social classes, and the presence of love are all ideas that can be found in the stories we have read. Short stories have managed to encapture the importance and true meaning of life in just a few sentences by imposing on the readers themes we can all relate to. A common theme presented in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” is the power of knowledge and education. In “Everyday Use,” two sister Dee and Maggie have different views on how they should preserve and honor their heritage.

    Read More

  • The Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

    828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

    Read More

  • Summary Of Toni Morrison's Nobel Prize Lecture By Toni Morrison

    1440 Words  | 6 Pages

    The authors want their audiences to use these tales and examples as life lessons and hope for them to utilize these sources in their future lives. These two ideas are presented through the use of figurative language, mainly metaphors. In addition, the similar tone of these pieces allows the author to connect more deeply with the readers. Toni Morrison’s Nobel lecture, folktales, and several poems illustrate how metaphors and tone are used to describe experience and caution the readers.

    Read More

More about Loss In The Washwoman And The Last Leaf

Open Document