O. Henry had to introduce Behrman to the reader and explain that he is a painter, but the author did not want to arouse any suspicion that Behrman might get the idea of painting an ivy leaf on the wall of the building next door in order to keep Johnsy alive. O. Henry solved this problem by creating some confusion about Behrman's character.
- Behrman speaks broken English, so it is difficult to understand him.
- Behrman is a heavy drinker of gin, which can and does make him somewhat befuddled and incoherent.
- Behrman contradicts himself very conspicuously. For instance, he tells Sue that he will not pose for her as the old hermit, and then he says that he is ready to pose for her. "No, I will not bose as a model for your fool hermit-dunderhead." “Who said I will not bose? Go on. I come mit you. For half an hour I haf peen trying to say dot I am ready to bose."
- Behrman is temperamental and changeable. This is undoubtedly part of his artistic temperament.
- Behrman has not yet decided what he is going to do to help Johnsy during the scenes with Sue.
There has to be a painter in the story, and he has to be someone who loves both Sue and Johnsy. Behrman is that painter, but O. Henry wants to save his surprise ending and not let the reader suspect that this Behrman will do something to save Johnsy. Behrman says that Johnsy's idea that she will die when the last leaf falls is foolishness. But he does not really believe that. He says things he doesn't believe. Sue says the same thing to Johnsy, but Sue doesn't really mean it. She is afraid Johnsy will die when the last leaf falls.
Neither one of these characters is a doctor. They have no idea whether Johnsy can die when the leaf falls. The reader has no idea whether such a thing is possible either, but the reader becomes fully convinced that Johnsy is going to die when that last leaf falls and that there is no way the leaf can continue clinging to the vine in that weather. Behrman may say that Johnsy's idea is nonsense, but he obviously doesn't mean what he is saying. This is proved by the fact that he drags a long ladder over to the other building, climbs up the wall, and paints a perfect representation of an ivy leaf. The reader only realizes after the fact that Behrman was not expressing himself truthfully or accurately in his broken English. The old man brooded over the problem while drinking gin in his room and then, in the middle of the night, decided on what he would do.
There are people who pooh-pooh anything sentimental or unrealistic but are sentimental and idealistic themselves. They seem to be trying to suppress their own feelings because they have been taught to be strong and brave and not to show weakness and fear. This may be a particularly Germanic trait.
It should be noted that O. Henry intentionally negates the possibility that Johnsy might have a lover who is a painter, which would immediately suggest that the lover might get the idea of painting an ivy leaf on the wall to save his girl. O. Henry wants to stay as far away as possible from the idea of anybody painting such a fake leaf. He wants this to come as a surprise, but he can't spring it without some clue that it might happen. It has to seem logical and plausible. When the doctor asks if Sue might have a boyfriend, Sue dismisses that possibility emphatically:
“A man?” said Sue, with a jew's-harp twang in her voice. “Is a man worth—but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind.”
If Johnsy did have a boyfriend he might very well be a painter--and O. Henry wants to negate any suspicion that a boyfriend might somehow save the sick girl.
O. Henry shows his remarkable talent in introducing Behrman without really introducing him completely. The author does something similar in his story "After Twenty Years." O. Henry introduces Jimmy Wells without letting the reader know that this uniformed policeman is really Jimmy Wells. The reader, like "Silky" Bob himself, does not discover this fact until the very end.
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