The Gift Of The Magi Analysis

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.

O. Henry used elements in “The Gift of the Magi” that created suspense for the reader. His structure of writing created suspense from beginning to end. In the first few paragraphs we could infer that Della was going to try and make money to buy Jim a Christmas present. Towards the middle of the story we could predict that Della was going to regret cutting her hair, and by the end we could infer that Jim and Della enjoyed a Christmas spent sharing their love for each other. The sequence of events that O.Henry used created suspense as we anticipated what would come next. O.Henry finished the story by talking about the Magi, and we had to analyze the meaning behind his use of the Magi. We also had to analyze O.Henry’s meaning behind the reference

The Scarlet Ibis and The Gift of the Magi both use incredible diction, tone and plot development to creating a powerful and moving stories. The stories differ greatly in many respects because they are told from different viewpoints; The Scarlet Ibis told from first-person and The Gift of the Magi told from third-person. Both Hurst, the author of The Scarlet Ibis and O’ Henry the author of The Gift of the Magi use varying types of storytelling to create masterpieces. However, they are both similar because they explore the similar theme of not knowing something is good until it is gone. The Scarlet Ibis and The Gift of the Magi differ in many respects because of the way the authors use diction, tone

The art piece that caught my attention was at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The piece is called The Adoration of the Magi, painted by Girolamo de Carpi. The Holy Family and the Three Magi’s are illustrated in the painting. They seem to be sitting outside on the ground behind a home made of brick. A sense of space and perception is created because in the distance, behind the people in the painting there is a beautiful view of a mountain and the sun in the sky far from where the people are. In the artwork, de Carpi paints clothes on each person besides baby Christ, and the clothing differ in color; there is red, green, yellow, blue. The colors seemed somewhat bright, in a way indicating that the painting is representing a happy time. Also painted are horses depicted behind a short wall, next to the horses seems to be a servant giving one of the Magis a vessel of some sort.

Della from “The Gift of the Magi,” and Hester from “The Rocking-Horse Winner” are the best examples of the two different sides of humanity. Mrs. James Dillingham or known as Della from “The Gift of the Magi,” is a loving housewife. By many she can be classified as a traditional woman that is fully devoted to her husband Jim. Della is a poor, but selfless woman, who sells her beautiful lengthy hair in exchange for a Christmas gift for her husband Jim. Despite selling her price possession, Della was an altruistic wife that felt the merit of her hair is too little compared to her love for Jim. “’…Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,’ she went on with sudden serious sweetness, ‘but nobody could ever count my love for you…’” (Henry 6), that

The first theme that this short story contains is about sex. Two women are dealing with the same man and both women have different desires despite their marriages. Calixita for example finds desire in having sex. The quote explains “Alcee clasped her shoulder and looked into her face. The contact of her warm Palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the old-time infatuations and desire for her flesh” (83). This is signifying how Calixita and Alcee still have the connection to each other like they have always had one. It gives clues how she is remembering how he use to hold her. It is clear

The theme of love is set to convey a certain effect to lay down part of the groundwork for a wrinkle in time. Without the affection of love the novel wouldn’t be able to show the feelings meg put out toward the three

In The House of Spirits by Billie August, Clara decides to pass down her personal journal to Blanca in hopes of helping her daughter realize that what’s important in life is to be with her loved ones and to make the best out of every day instead of being fixated on her negative memories. After reading her mother’s writings, Blanca came to the conclusion that she would not let her traumatizing experience as a prisoner define the result of her life. Instead of seeking revenge, she decides to focus on what matters most to her. Alba on the other hand, in “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, Jim and Della sacrifice their most valuable possessions in order surprise each other with thoughtful gifts. Despite being living in impecunious conditions, the couple were proud of “Jim’s gold watch. It had once belonged to his father. And, long ago, it had belonged to his father’s father. The other thing was Della’s hair,” yet unknowingly to each other, they sell both the watch and the hair in order to afford the perfect gift for their spouse (Henry, 2). However, the gifts exchanged are useless because Della gets rid of her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch and “[Jim] sold the watch to get money to buy the combs” for Della (Henry, 6). Instead of focusing on the actual gifts, both Jim and Della continue on with their day appreciating the gesture and not the material. In the end, the precious items of each character from the different stories allowed them to look beyond the shallow things in life and enjoy every moment with their loved

Jim sold his family’s watch to buy Della the hair combs for her hair. This shows how he will do anything to please Della. All this comes to show how symbolism and irony work together to form the

The author O. Henry tells the story of this couple from a narrator's point of view. The narrator of the short story is the spectator of the events that are occurring between the couple. The author of this story chose to not uncover in words the sentiments between the couple. The words be that as it may, are spoken in the couple's activities. The love between

In the poem “The Journey of the Magi”, T.S. Elliot describes the journey the three magi took to see the birth of Jesus in the Bible. The first section details the world before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what the speaker likes about that life. While using symbolic allusions to guide the reader through Jesus’s life, the following stanza examines Christ’s death, and the end of the suffering that the crucifixion brings. The final stanza describes the way the speaker feels when he realizes that he is more thankful for the death of this King and the change that it brings than Jesus’s birth and life. The magi decided that he would rather die than witness the upheaval of culture the newborn baby will bring. T.S. Eliot portrays these events and ideas by the use of imagery, allusion, and reflection.

We live in a diverse and complex society, where veracity and altruism are just two pivotal components of living a happy life surrounded by love. Suffice to state, the words love and sacrifice are almost complementary as either word may serve as the precedent of the other word. Having stated the latter as the foundation of true love and of living a happy life, two stories with similar themes about true love come to mind. Upon reading The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and The Pianist in the Wal-Mart Parking Lot by Shao Wang, both authors use the protagonists’ actions, situations, and the protagonists’ words to

So here the theme for The Gift of the Magi. Here are my three topics. Selflessness, generosity, and sacrifice. The reasons I have chosen these three was because they showed generosity when even though not able to use their gifts now that one of them had no hair and the other had sold his watch. They also showed selflessness when Jim went of and sold his watch so he would have the money to buy Della her gifts. Then when Della cut and sold her hair because she didn't have very much money to purchase Jim something. Sacrifice was when he sold his watch and she cut and sold her hair. (O’Henry The gift of the magi page 205)