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What did the doctor observe in "The Last Leaf"?
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The doctor observes that Johnsy's physical recovery from pneumonia depends heavily on her mental state and will to live. He notes that her chance of survival is slim unless she finds a reason to want to live. He suggests that Johnsy's emotional state, possibly linked to personal issues, is hindering her recovery. As the story progresses, Johnsy's will to live is rekindled, leading to her eventual recovery as the doctor had anticipated.
When Johnsy falls ill with pneumonia and fails to show any sign of recovery, the doctor visits and tells Sue the following:
"She has one chance in—let us say, ten," he said, as he shook down the mercury in his clinical thermometer. "And that chance is for her to want to live. This way people have of lining-u on the side of the undertaker makes the entire pharmacopoeia look silly. Your little lady has made up her mind that she's not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?"
There is another version of the story in circulation, but the doctor's observation is similar. He questions if Johnsy has anything to live for or if anything is weighing on her mind. He says that Johnsy does have a small chance to live, but she must want to live. He cannot do anything to save her until she is...
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ready to live. Johnsy, however, is determined to die, claiming that she will die when the last leaf falls from the tree outside their window.
Once she notices that the "leaf" is not falling, her will to live returns. The doctor then returns as well, and he makes a new observation:
"Even chances," said the doctor, taking Sue's thin, shaking hand in his. "With good nursing you'll win."
The next day he returns again and notes:
"She's out of danger. You won. Nutrition and care now—that's all."
The doctor's observation in the beginning of the story proves to be true. In order to live, Johnsy needed to want to do so.
Johnsy is very sick with pneumonia, and her roommate and friend Sue is very worried about her and calls the doctor to come to their apartment in Greenwich Village. The doctor observes in Johnsy that her mental and emotional state are both rather shaky, and he admits that he cannot heal any patient who does not want to get better and who does not want to live. The doctor asks Sue to help Johnsy to recover her enthusiasm for life. Without this energy and will to live, the doctor predicts that Johnsy will succumb to the pneumonia, as he has seen it happen before with other patients. The doctor also wonders if Johnsy's sadness and emptiness could be explained by boy problems, which confuses Sue.