O. Henry uses simile as a potent tool of characterization in "The Last Leaf." O. Henry uses the following simile to emphasize Johnsy’s fragility in a mode that connects with the work’s larger themes, mood, and allusions. After being told about her condition, Johnsy looks out the window as Sue paints; Johnsy confesses that she feels that when the last leaf falls, she will die. Sue asks Johnsy to close her eyes, and not to look at the ivy; Sue needs the light to paint by, but doesn’t want Johnsy to fixate on the leaves. Johnsy replies:
“Tell me as soon as you have finished," said Johnny, [...] lying white and still as a fallen statue, "because I want to see the last one fall. I’m tired of waiting."
The association of Johnsy with a statue evokes a number of potent images and sensations. The first image which comes to mind is that of a marble statue. Marble is often cold to the touch, and statues made from it can seem eerily lifeless. It is interesting to connect this image of cold marble to this moment in the narrative, in which Johnsy expresses for the first time not the fear or merely the consciousness of death, but the desire to die. She describes this desire explicitly not long after, telling Sue that she wishes “to turn loose” her grasp on everything and “sail down” as the leaves do.
Associating Johnsy’s likeness with a fallen statue aligns her with classical ideals of beauty. The artistic tradition in question, Greco-Roman sculpture, is obviously an older art form. The allusion to classical forms falls in line with those allusions attached to Behrman. Behrman, the other character touched by death in this story, is described as looking like a “satyr.” It is interesting to note that both these characters, who each have significant brushes with death over the course of the story, are described in terms of artistic movements and forms long dead at the time of the story’s writing.
