The Gift Of The Magi

In "The Gift of Magi," Della and Jim sacrifice their prized possessions for each other and for love. Irony is represented in this story when Della and Jim both get each other gifts that mean a lot to each other. However, what they did not realize is that when Della cut her hair to to buy Jim a chain for his watch, she was unaware that Jim was going to sell his watch to buy her combs for her hair. The irony of their gift exchange is monumental as their unconditional love for one another took over for their own personal possession. Jim exclaims, “I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first." The magi which are described as wise men also signifies irony because Della and Jim's presents were more than wise. They represented that a gift does not need to be expensive to have value. A gift can be more meaningful just by the thought.

It was one week from Della's 30th birthday and Jim didn't have enough money to

This leads to her idea of selling her most prized possession: her hair, to get Jim his present. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his most prized possession which was a pocket-watch that was passed down from his grandfather to his father and then to him. He sells that watch and buys Della a set of beautiful tortoise shell combs for her hair. Thus leading to the use of situational irony in which they both receive gifts for something they gave up in order to give the other a gift.

The inn keeper's parlor was the best in town, they told her. His wife was wearing a heavy dress, adorned with lace and a massive broach that she raised a plump hand to touch, as if to be certain it was still there. They spoke of the massive rug, bought from Paris, and the finely crafted furniture they all sat upon. The preacher listened quietly, smiling as though their vanity wasn't a sin, while Mrs. Hartford eyed the dress with longing. Della thought that the dress was tasteless. The lace was poorly made, and the line of the bodice wasn't flattering. The fabric was an odd shade between blue and green, and the woman inside it was far less appealing. She didn't bother to mention that her own parlor had been filled with crystal, and priceless art her father had collected around the world. She didn't mention that her toys had cost more than Mrs. Johnson's gowns, or that she was mispronouncing the tea they'd been served. Not to be kind, not to be deceptive, but because did not matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. She'd given up that life to marry Ben, given up her family, given up her home and her gowns and her education.

Conflict is opposing actions, ideas, and decisions that hold a plot together. Clugston (2014) states “Conflict is the struggle that shapes the plot in a story” (4.1 Plot, para. 4). Conflicts are also encountered in most of the literature we read for pleasure. It can create personal connections and instill deeper meanings to our experiences as we read, especially if we can relate what is read to our personal life.

The twists and turns of the plot as it unfolds within O. Henry 's “The Gift of the Magi” are what simply captivate the reader in such a short amount of pages. The story of Jim and Della on a cold Christmas Eve at the turn of 20th century America is centered around what is remarkably relevant to what many readers have experienced in their own lives; the inevitable stresses, sacrifices, and joys of the holiday season.

Near the end, the Jim says, “Let’s put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They’re too nice to use now. I sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs. And now I think we should have our dinner” (Henry, pg. 6). When Jim finds out Della bought him a gold chain for his watch by selling her hair, he realizes they both care for each other so much they would give up their favorite things for the other person. The author used this to perfectly to show how two people will give up almost everything in order to show they love the other person. During the last paragraph the author discusses how foolish they were, but contradicted himself by saying, “But let me speak a last word to the wise of these days: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise” (Henry, pg. 6). The author is saying Della and Jim’s presents to each other were not the combs or the chain, it was their sacrifices they made for each

The effect of irony in O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” is to reveal character traits and to provoke the reader into analyzing them. Situational irony is used to show how loving both Jim and Della are. For example, Della states, “… I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have live… without giving you a present,” and Jim later voices, “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.” After buying what they thought would be the perfect gift for each other, they found out that, for the time being, the gifts were useless because the combs were for Della’s now cut off hair, and the fob chain was for the the watch that Jim sold for her. This reveals how they loved each other so much that they gave up their most prized possession

This scene demonstrates situational irony when Della receives beautiful expensive combs for her hair which is now too short to be adorned with the combs. In the quote "They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession." she tells us they were really expensive. Since I know that Jim doesn't earn that much money, I can deduce that Jim sold something of his to pay for the combs. Jim had a strange look on his face because he just spent a lot of money to buy combs for his beautiful wife and her long hair, only to find out she cut it for him. So it must have taken a minute for Jim to register this

Divorce, a loss, or a tragedy can influence a person’s life in so many ways. These hardships can interfere with a person’s mind by making them more feeble. Therefore, hardships can influence a person’s life by making them more feeble, yet finding out a way to surpass that. In The Gift of the Magi, Della wanted to give her husband a gift for Christmas, but their economic situation did not make that task simple.

Jenna's mother had been widely known for being a woman whom appreciated possessions of a finer quality. Even if such things far exceeded what her income as a treasurer of a non-for-profit charity would allow. Such extravagances, she routinely liked to indulge in would have always remained out of her reach if she hadn’t helped herself along at times. Even when her husband’s meager income as a paramedic been factored along with hers, it still remained obvious to anybody who knew her that she’d been aided financially in one way or another.

Stories of love and sacrifice abound in literature. Perhaps one of the most well known stories among teens and adults is the tale of a poor, young couple struggling to find the perfect Christmas gifts for each other using their very limited means. They each manage to get what they think is the perfect gift for the other, but only accomplish this by selling a prized possession which effectively makes the new gifts impractical. This bittersweet narrative, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, illustrates the moral idea that a person, motivated by nothing but love for another, can possess a willingness to give in a self-denying way which necessitates that the reader consider that wealth be measured by something more than having money

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.

“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