The characters of the story

     O. Henry is not just a talented writer, he is a wonderful artist, capable to catch all the tiny movements of the human's soul. He wrote about the heroic deeds of ordinary people. The characters in the story are revealed in development of the plot.

      Sue - a girl of a strong nature. The girl who never loses the presence of mind, earns for living by painting, caring for her sick friend and encourages her, inspiring confidence with words and deeds. "You are just like a woman!" - an exhaustive description of Berman.

      The writer reveals Sue by means of  character's action, for example ("Sue went into the workroom and cried";"but then immediately cheers up and goes into Johnsy's room";"whistling ragtime";"Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, contentedly knitting a very blue and very useless woollen shoulder scarf, and put one arm around her, pillows and all"; "Wearily Sue obeyed.")

     Each time the author shows how Sue supports her friend and worries about her halth,and expresses it by Sue's speech,for instance ("Don't be a goosey. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were - let's see exactly what he said - he said the chances were ten to one!Why, that's almost as good a chance as we have in New York when we ride on the street cars or walk past a new building. Try to take some broth now, and let Sudie go back to her drawing, so she can sell the editor man with it, and buy port wine for her sick child, and pork chops for her greedy self."; "I'd rather be here by you..."; "I don't want you to keep looking at those silly ivy leaves."). 

     She is a caring person, waiting on Johnsy and hoping for her recovery, it becomes obviously because of the direct characterisation.

 

   Johnsy - rather weak, light, fragile, impressionable, a fantasy-prone sweet girl. And again the word to Berman: "Ach, dot poor leetle Miss Johnsy!"; "Gott! dis is not any blace in which one so goot as Miss Yohnsy shall lie sick." And indeed his last act gives grounds to assume that everyone loved Johnsy.

    The writer reveals Johnsy by means of  physical appearence, for example ("a little woman"; "white and still as fallen statue"; "light and fragile as a leaf"; "dull, wide-open eyes").

    She essentially gives up, which does not seem to make her much of a fighter. The author shows it by Johnsy's speech, for example ("When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days."; "There goes another. No, I don't want any broth. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I'll go, too."; "because I want to see the last one fall."). With the help of direct characterisation the author describes Johnsy accessibly.

   Behrman - the embodiment of contradictions. On the one hand  caricature-repelling appearance,on the other hand an admired deed.

      The writer reveals Berman by means of  physical appearence, for example ("He was past sixty and had a Michael Angelo's Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along with the body of an imp,"; "...he was a fierce little old man with his red eyes").

     He makes very little money as an artist. He is always about to do something, but never quite gets it done. O.Henry presents it by character's actions,for example ("Behrman was a failure in art.";"... scoffed terribly at softness in any one..."; "He had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet begun it."; "For several years he had painted nothing except now and then a daub in the line of commerce or advertising. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists in the colony who could not pay the price of a professional."; "He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his coming masterpiece.").

     The author shows Behrman's behaviour by his speech,for instance ("No, I will not bose as a model for your fool hermit-dunderhead." and "'Who said I will not bose? For half an hour I haf peen trying to say dot I am ready to bose!"; "Gott! dis is not any blace in which one so goot as Miss Yohnsy shall lie sick. Some day I vill baint a masterpiece, and ve shall all go away. Gott! yes"). Also, O. Henry makes some emphasis on Behrman's  ignorance and his relation to the lower class. It is vividly showed by usage of  conversastional (low-flown) words. 

    In the beginning, the author gives us a direct characterisation of Mr. Behrman that doesn’t care about anyone else other than himself,but in the end he shows his true personality by painting the last leaf on the tree and he sacrifices his life for a young girl, that we understand from indirect characterisation of the character.

     A doctor - very kind and busy person.O. Henry reveals a doctor by means of  physical appearence, for example ("...a shaggy, gray eyebrow... ").

      We can easily understand that a doctor is rather a  kind person because of his desire to help the patient. And the author displays it by character's speech, for examle ("I will do all that science, so far as it may filter through my efforts, can accomplish.")

       Also, he always has a lot of patients, such lines improves this fact ("One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway...").