Gwilan's Identity In The Washwoman And The Last Leaf

Many people experience loss in their life at some point. This is the theme that the authors of “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry make relatable. In “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan finds herself in a crisis when the things she knows as her identity escape her grasp. She experiences both emotional loss and the loss of her once strong hands. The old washwoman, introduced in “The Washwoman,” dies at an old age, having lived a full life of serving others until her last days. A young girl featured in “The Last Leaf,” Joanna (more oftenly known as Johnsy), battles pneumonia and struggles with hope for life; but hope appears from a kind neighbor. Throughout the stories, Gwilan faces emotional

and physical loss, the Singers encounter physical loss with the washwoman’s death, and Johnsy faces bittersweet loss with renewed hope but in the process the death of their neighbor. As readers see, authors show examples of different kinds of loss in many different experiences.

In the village Gwilan grows up in, many characters in the story “Gwilan’s Harp” say she has the touch of her mother’s fingers with her beautiful harp.

From the beginning of Gwilan’s life, “harpist” becomes her identity to all that knew her, which then becomes her identity when she looks at herself. Tragically, her elegant harp breaks in an unfortunate accident, and Gwilan does not have the funds to repair or replace it herself. Gwilan’s wrists sadly breaks in the same accident, which gives her arthritis later on. Her arthritis then prohibits her playing the harp. As Gwilan is pondering her life’s circumstances she says, “I thought my harp was myself. But it was not”(LeGuin). Toward the conclusion of the short story, the loss in Gwilan’s life makes itself clear, physical loss because of her arthritis and an emotional loss because of her lack in

identity.

Throughout “The Washwoman” Isaac Singer portrays the little washwoman having a strength like none other her age. She does the laundry for the Singer family on a regular basis, even with the long trips it takes her from her house to theirs. Though her rich son expresses shame for her occupation and her living conditions, she still carries on through her life. One frozen winter, she becomes quite ill and does not see the Singers for months. At long last, she comes traveling down the road to return the Singer’s last bag of laundry. As she leaves the house, not knowing it will be her last time making that long trip, “she swayed, as though she were about to fall under the load. But an inner obstinacy seemed to call out: No you may not fall”(Singer). Grievously, she dies soon after dies. In “The Washwoman,” physical loss expresses itself in the sadness of the washwoman’s death.

Sick with pneumonia, Johnsy in “The Last Leaf” gives up almost all hope to live.

Sweet Susan, her roommate, worries that Johnsy will never make a full recovery from the deadly disease. “Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman”(O. Henry). While Johnsy lies in her hospital bed, she counts down the leaves on the ivy tree outside of her window, declaring that when the last one fell, she will draw her last breath. A fellow hospital patient, Mr. Behrman who also has contracted pneumonia, faces the bitter cold in hopes of restoring life to Johnsy. He paints a single ivy leaf on a canvas so that Johnsy will not lose her young life in that hospital bed. Sadly, amidst the process of determining Johnsy will not give up hope, he gets too cold in the winter air and dies a couple hours later. The type of loss is definitely physical loss with Mr. Behrman’s death, but in the end, there is the hope of life personified after a heroic feat of a

friend.

All of these short stories have a common theme of loss. In “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan finds herself with arthritis and not knowing her identity outside of “harpist.” The Singer family experience physical loss in “The Washwoman,” after the sweet washwoman dies at an old age. As Johnsy, the main character in “The Last Leaf,” has lost the hope of living, Susan fears Johnsy will never recover. Thankfully, the bravery of Mr. Behrman stokes hope and life in Johnsy, but he dies shortly after his act of courage. Though loss is a difficult subject to approach, the authors encompass the different emotions of loss in a beautiful way.