It was one week from Della's 30th birthday and Jim didn't have enough money to buy her a present. "Well," Jim thought, “if I don't have a watch then why should I have a chain for one?” So, he sold his watch chain in order to have money for Della's present. “Now, what do I buy Della?” he asked himself. “I think I'll go to the flea market and look for something, because one little rusty old chain won't buy me very much,” Jim stated as he started riding his bicycle to the market. At the market Jim found many things, some very pretty and expensive, some very pretty and cheap, and some just plain ugly things that had been there awhile and always would be until they were finally thrown away. “
Omigosh, is that DDDDeeDDDe...?”
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Now, I will bring the measurements over as soon as I get them," Jim replied rudely.
"Della," Jim replied, breathless from running all the way to the store and back to buy a tape measure, "I need to get your measurements for something, could you come here?" Della obeys thinking maybe a new dress as a present. "What measurements do you need, honey?" Della answered in her sweetest voice. Jim said “I need to get your head size for something, that's all." "Well, Okay, "
Della replied surprised at first, and then realized that she must be getting a hat for her birthday.
Later at the wig shop. "There, it's all finished; do you like it Jim?" asked the wigmaker. Jim said, "It's great, don't you think? You don't look to sure about it?" The wigmaker replied, lying, "It's great, after all it's the thought that counts, right?." "Sure thing Phil, well, gotta go, tomorrow's Della's birthday, are you going to be there?" "Sure Jim, I'll be there." Said the wigmaker. It is Della's birthday, all of Jim and Della's friends are at their home, and she begins to open presents. She will be opening Jim's present first. "I wonder what it could be?" Della claims, quite ecstatically. She unties the ribbon, carefully undoes the golden wrapping
Now Jim complains "Four hundred dollars is a good deal more than I can afford," and
Great ideas come from the least expected places. That's what happened to famous American short story writer O. Henry. He found himself a career by writing in a jail cell. Although this seems like a weird place, many of his famous pieces came from him writing while serving time in jail. O. Henry was famous for his surprise endings and also put a lot of his life experiences into his stories. Two of O. Henry’s stories where he incorporates his life into the most are “A Retrieved Reformation” and “The Gift of the Magi.”
When Jimerson was relased he went back to work for a while until the money started to come in. First he received more than $100.000 from the state fund to compensate the wrongly imprisoned, then $8.8 million for his share of the settlement. He bought a nail salon for his second wife. He gave some money to his three daughters. He bought all three of his sisters houses and he bought one for himself and began to invest in stocks. Jimmerson later began to use crack. He needed something to ease is mind. Although he was worried that the money would run out he continued to
Jim and Della perform an act of selfless love by their willingness to give something that held great value to them in order to get special presents for each other on Christmas. They do all of this out of love for the other. However, you will see that these gives prove to end up having no use in the end but that is not the main point. The main point is that although this ironic situation occurs, they both find joy in the thought that they would do this for each other. This love that they have for each other is far greater value than any gift that could be given. Jim doesn’t overreact or get angry with this conclusion.
2. What does Jim think has happened to him as a result of the trick that Tom plays on him?
“How do we want to make you look? With that red hair, we can make you quite the temptress, but if you want to play that kind of thing down, we can work that out, too,” he said matter-of-factly.
Tom compensates Jim by giving him a bunch of money, and people start to treat Jim
In The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry (1906), Della is one of two main characters, the other being her beloved husband, Jim. On Christmas Eve, Della has saved very little for a present for Jim when she decides to sell her most prized possession, her long beautiful hair, for more money. After doing this, and buying the perfect gift,
Jim to tell him his fortune, but he refuses to give Jim any money for
Strapped for cash and wanting to give her beloved husband the most luxurious gift for Christmas to express her deep passion for him, we are immediately introduced to the initial situation at hand. With only a dollar and some change to spend on Jim, Della is forced into a situation
Love is a defining force for Della and Jim too, overshadowing the poor condition of their finances. Jim and Della do not have much. They would most certainly be considered to be in the lower class, living in a little $8 a week flat in the city and going from a sufficient income of $30 a week to a less than adequate $20 a week with Jim in need of a new overcoat and pair of gloves (Henry). Henry articulates how their love for each other transforms their drab house and surroundings and gray circumstances into a warm and inviting refuge called home. “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all Della had,” not nearly enough to get a gift worthy of her beloved Jim (Henry). She desires nothing but to please him and considers him worthy of something
Della is willing to cut her gorgeous and flowy hair so that she can afford a Christmas present for her husband Jim. Della’s hair is admired by everyone, but she would have felt guilty if she did not get Jim a present. When Jim is standing before Della and her shortened hair, she gives him a fob chain. Also, Della explains to him that she, “couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving [him] a present” (Henry 264). Della has an altruistic disposition whereas Madame Loisel has a selfish and greedy personality.
The Journey of the Magi by TS Elliot centres around one of the three Wise Men who travelled to Bethlehem shortly after his birth bringing him gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
“My purpose is to show that in every human heart there is an innate tendency towards a respectable life; that even those who have fallen to the lowest depths in the social scale would, if they could, get back to the higher life…”(Rollins 7-8 ). O`Henry came up with this philosophy when writing his many different, entertaining stories. “The Gift of the Magi” was initially published in 1906 in O`Henry`s second collection of stories. “The Gift of the Magi” is a perfect story to illustrate how people do anything for the ones they love. The main characters each sell their most valued possession in order to buy the other the perfect Christmas present. They each bought the other something to complement their prized possession. Ironically, they had both sold their prized possession to get the other a gift.However, they bought gifts that were now useless to one another. Themes have some aspect of life, general truth, or moral that is shown throughout the story by the author. The themes in this short story really stand out to the reader. The way in which the two main characters demonstrate their selflessness for each other helps to emphasize the three major themes: poverty, love, and sacrifice.
Situational irony is another element that is present throughout the short story. Della and her husband both buy each other gifts for Christmas at the end of the story. Ironically, Della and her husband bought each other gifts for what they gave up: Della bought her husband a wrist watch strap and Jim sold his watch to buy Della the combs she wanted for her hair. In the short story, Jim is seen grieving about the fact that she had cut her hair off, “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on,” (O. Henry 121). The ending is situational irony because the reader was expecting that Della would buy her