Death and Dying: A Structural Comparison of O. Henry&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Last Leaf&rdquo; and Sun-Won Hwang&rsquo;s &ldquo;Sonagi&rdquo;

Maureen  D. Aguisando,; Ye Seul  Son,

Death and Dying: A Structural Comparison of O. Henry’s “The Last Leaf” and Sun-Won Hwang’s “Sonagi”

Discipline: Literature, English, Communication Arts

Abstract:

The main purpose of the study was to analyze the two authors’ use of language and symbols from the stories with a theme of death and dying and compare their idea on the death and dying from the Eastern and Western cultural area to see the different perspective on death and dying. This study aimed to broaden the insight of death and dying and give encouragement to defeat the fear of the death for those who are facing death. The two literary works “The Last Leaf,” and “Sonagi” used in the study were analyzed with Structuralism. The study found that there are many different ways of narrating the death in the story and the importance of the symbols in the stories.