Where Is the Setting in the Short Story, “The Last Leaf?”

The setting for the short story “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry is Greenwich Village in New York City. It was first released in 1907 in O. Henry’s collection of short stories, “The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories.”

The story is about a young woman named Johnsy who comes down with pneumonia shortly after moving into a new house in Greenwich Village. As she lays in bed, gradually getting worse through the autumn, Johnsy watches the leaves on a vine slowly fall. Johnsy believes that once the last leaf falls, she will die. Her neighbor, Mr. Behrman, risks his own health in order to give her hope in order to survive.

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