摘要

欧•亨利（1862-1910）是美国著名的批判现实主义作家，也是世界三大短篇小说家之一。他的一生丰富、传奇而又坎坷。受其人生经历和所处时代的影响，欧•亨利的作品在结构、语言等各方面独树一帜，形成了独特的写作风格，释放着独特的魅力。
欧•亨利的小说主要描写他所熟悉并了解的社会底层的小人物。他的语言生动活泼而又精练。他善于运用双关语、谐音和典故等写作手法创造出诙谐幽默的画面。他的小说除了文字诙谐幽默之外，还有很多神秘的、引人猜测的地方。他最擅长的是戏剧性的结尾，可以说他是以“欧•亨利式的结尾”而闻名遐迩的。
《最后一片叶子》是欧•亨利的代表作之一，是短篇小说中的经典之作。这篇小说自发表以来便成为人们写作的炙手可热的素材。从古到今，国内外人士从各个角度对该小说进行了不同层面的解读。在小说《最后一片叶子》里，欧•亨利通过对人物和事物细腻、巧妙的描写，刻画了生动而鲜明的人物形象，并通过结尾处出人意料的转折深刻地表现了小说的主旨，将一股震撼人心的力量注入了读者心中。

关键词：写作风格,  “欧•亨利式的结尾”，人物形象，主旨

Abstract

O. Henry （1862-1910） is one of the world’s three giants of short-story writing as well as the famous American writer of critical realism. He led a significant and legendary life which was full of frustrations. Greatly influenced by his life experiences and the environment of the time he lived, O. Henry’s works set up a separate flag in the aspects of structure, language etc. His unique writing style is a great charm. 
O. Henry’s stories are mainly about the insignificant persons from the bottom of the society. His works are written in vivid and lively language. He was good at creating humorous plots by the use of puns, homonyms, quotations etc. The mystery of his stories which arouses readers’ curiosity is another important feature of his writing. He was an expert in dramatic ending. Actually, the “O. Henry ending” is what he is most famous for.
The Last Leaf is one of O. Henry’s representative works, a classic of short stories. It has been very popular since published. From its publication to the present, people all over the world has studied this story from many different aspects. In his work The Last Leaf, O. Henry portrays his characters to the life by vivid and ingenious description of people and things. And by the unexpected turn in the end, he brings to light the theme of the story and infuses a great power into the readers’ hearts.

Key words: Writing style, “O. Henry ending”, Characters, Theme.

1    Introduction
1.1 The background of the subjects
The world’s great master of short-story writing O. Henry came from an ordinary American family of a small town in North Carolina. His whole life was full of surprises and frustrations. O. Henry’s mother passed away when he was still in his early childhood. As a result, he grew up with his aunt’s love and care, and he was gradually influenced by her to have great interest in reading, writing and literature. That is how his future development in writing became possible. O. Henry did a great variety of jobs, including apprentice in hospital pharmacy, shepherd, accountant, journalist and cashier.