Love And Selflessness In The Gift Of The Magi By O. Henry

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.

In "The gift of the Magi" and "Bert and Ernie's Christmas", both show various similarities and differences. The first similarity was they both were short on money and on time, causing them to trade their treasured possessions for money in order to buy a gift for their loved one. One difference in " The gift of the Magi" there status was husband and wife, while in "Bert and Ernie's Christmas" they were just friends. Despite their different relationship status, in both stories they gave up their prized possessions for each other, not knowing they needed their belongings in order for them to properly use the gifts they had received. As an example in "The gift of the Magi" the wife, Della, sacrificed her hair to buy her husband a

The story was written by O’Henry in 1906. The story was centered around a seemingly poor couple who did not have enough money to buy each other the gifts that their significant other deserved. The story took place during Christmas. The Gift of the Magi is like a classic wisdom story in the bible. O’Henrys choice of title depicts symbolism between the three magi that brought gold, frankincense, and mur, to the baby Jesus and the gifts that Jim and Della had given to each other which mainly consisted of selfless love, Della’s hair and Jims pocket watch. This itself ties into the theme of his story. These gifts all entail the act

When Della bought the chain for Jim, she did not know he would sell his treasured possession, too. They both told what happened and were happy to put it in the past. The sacrifices they both made is more valuable than the gifts

The Scarlet Ibis and The Gift of the Magi Dennis Buchler In the two short stories, The Scarlet Ibis and The Gift of the Magi, the characters showed love for one another. However, there are some differences. Some of the differences include, Della was a giving lady while Doodle’s brother was selfish and only cared about himself at times. His brother unintentionally killed doodle or you could say the narrator, while Della and Jim learn what is really important.

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,

The mood in the beginning is sadness and disappointment because they are poor. It turns to excitement when she is scrambling to buy Jim a present after she gets enough money. At the end of the story it is happiness and love because even though the gifts were pointless It didn't affect them. The suspense was most showed when Jim saw Della with her hair cut off and there was no way to find out what Jim was thinking. “A gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard” is a quote that displays Dellas outlook on her home with using dull words and making it sound like her home is the worst place ever (Henry

The comparison O. Henry makes between the story of Jim and Della and that of the Magi is rather relevant as the Magi were the ones who are credited with being the origins of the “giving nature” of the Christmas season. In this story, we see a man and a woman so blinded by love that they are willing to make ultimate sacrifices for the happiness of the other. Similar to the Magi, Della and Tim put each other before themselves and through their generosity and considerable lengths they both went to achieve that generosity is something more admirable than any materialistic gift they could ever offer each other, thus making the uselessness of their gifts irrelevant.

Similar to “The Cask of Amontillado,” O. Henry includes dramatic irony so the reader becomes emotionally connected to the story and pities its characters throughout “The Gift of the Magi”. It is known that both Jim and Della sold their most prized possessions in order to buy each other a Christmas present. The first instance of dramatic irony is when Della opened her present revealing an exceedingly thoughtful gift from her husband. “White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! A quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all comforting powers of the lord of the flat. For there lay The Combs- the set of combs side and back that

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

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.

In The Gift Of The Magi the setting and characterization build the themes of love, generosity, and wealth and poverty.

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