Short Story 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

Throughout this lay, there is a sense of hope in the author's tone, almost good-natured and kind hearted. She also sets a series of sorrowful tones that creates an atmosphere for the troubles the lovers have gone through to be in the presence of each other. However, the majority of the story is the happiness and joy from the lovers finally being with one another. Toward the

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

At last, diction tells a lot in the story. The way the author uses his words. For example, when the author says, “they had never lived as a man and a wife” it showed that they loved each other so much that marriage was not the thing that held them together. They did not have to be married in order to stay with one another. It was their true love that they had for each

In Once Upon a Time the writer starts with talking about a man and woman who loved each other very much and also with a little boy that they loved very much. She

Marriage is a sacred union; when the love of two people can stand the test of time. That is what is thought, but that ideal is not always the case. Some marriages end in divorce or a tragedy or something unique to a certain situation. In Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, the marriage of Ethan and Zeena draws uncanny parallels to the authors own life and marriage; in that Edith Wharton had an affair, her marriage declined, and her husband had a mental illness.

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 story starts with a woman anxiously awaiting her husband to come home. The author describes her as she waited, “There was a slow smiling air about her and everything she did.” This reveals that Mrs. Maloney is a docile and sophisticated woman. After her husband arrives it described how she, “loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man.” She loved to be in in his presence because she was in love with him. This proves that at the beginning of the story Mrs. Maloney loved her husband.

The author carefully crafts the story so that every detail contributes to a certain unique or single effect, whether it is as complex as irony or as simple as depiction of feelings. The Husband describes his absolute love for Ann as he reminisces about the years he spent with her and how deeply he "knows"

This story is a story that can touch any person that has had to gone through a heavy sacrifice or gave up something they so covet in order to enlighten someone else, especially during the holiday seasons. It is a short narrative that magnifies the intangible value of sentimentality and belittles the importance of physical offerings. Jim and Della equally appreciate the efforts each other made to make the other happy, despite

Writer dreamed of the same day every night. They would call him names and make fun of him, even sometimes beat him up. Just for being different.Writer was a rare kind of seedian, he didn't have any powers. None, Not a trace of magic in his blood and veins. Nothing. He was sick of it, for 14 years it carried on. Now, he was going to prove everyone wrong, he was useful, he could be brave. Writer was going to go outside seedia. It's forbidden to everyone, even the death penalty was threatened to anyone who tried to get out. No one knew what was out there. No one has ever tried. Now writer. The useless non-magi seedian. Was going to make

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

“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.

Authors use literary elements to enhance their writing through details to describe a scene in the author’s writing, or use language to elevate the story. “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, both use many literary elements to give their writing more depth. “The Gift of the Magi” uses irony throughout the story when Della and her husband, Jim, both do not have enough money to buy each other gifts for Christmas. “The Necklace” uses a lot of detail to show what Madame (Mme.) Loisel dreams of at the beginning of the short story. “The Necklace” is one of the many short stories that use literary elements to elevate the story and keep the reader engaged in the author’s writing.