The Last Leaf: Class 9 English (Moments) Q&A

Answer: Johnsy was suffering from severe Pneumonia. The doctor said medicines wouldn't work because she had lost the will to live. Her strange and depressing belief was that she was linking her life to the falling ivy leaves on the brick wall outside her window. She firmly believed that the moment the very 'last leaf' fell from the creeper, she would die.

Answer: Sue was a true, caring friend. She tried everything to keep Johnsy's mind off death. She brought her drawing board into Johnsy's room to work, whistled happily, and talked about clothes and fashion to distract her. She also requested old Behrman to come up and pose as a model for her painting.

Answer: Behrman was a sixty-year-old, grumpy, and unsuccessful painter who lived on the ground floor of the same building. He earned a meager living by posing as a model for young artists. His lifelong, unfulfilled dream was to paint a 'masterpiece', but he had never even started it.

Answer: After a fierce, stormy night of heavy rain and wind, Johnsy demanded to see out the window, expecting the last leaf to have fallen. To her surprise, a single, perfectly green leaf was still clinging bravely to the wall. Seeing the leaf survive the terrible storm made Johnsy realize that it is a sin to want to die. She regained her hope and began to recover.

Answer: The final twist reveals that the real last leaf had actually blown away during the storm. Behrman had secretly gone out in the freezing, icy rain at night and painted a fake leaf on the wall to give Johnsy hope. He caught severe pneumonia from being out in the freezing rain and died two days later. That painted leaf, which saved a girl's life, was his ultimate masterpiece.