The Magi refers to the Wise Men or Kings in the Gospel of Matthew and Christianity. They visit Jesus after his birth and bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to him. Also, they are important figures of celebrations of Christmas. Christmas gifts are precious, so people want to receive the most valuable gifts at the end of the year, such as the gift of Magi. A famous American writer O. Henry creates The Gift of The Magi, a short story of giving gifts on Christmas Eve, which is a common theme among the western novel; however, O. Henry 's work is unique and becomes the representative. The Gift of The Magi reflects that what kind of environment he was living and where his social class was.
The background of the creation has a close relation to O. Henry’s personal life. First, he was born in the middle-class family, and his parents were doctors. His mother dead when he was a little boy. So, he had to learn how to live by himself. He realized that life is difficult and hard. Secondly, this novel is for memorizing and commemorating to his wife. Their life was poor and sweet, but they were both working hard. His wife was frail health because of the hardships and poverty of their hope. Meanwhile, he ran to South America because he wants to avoid the trial of misappropriating funds. He was eager to back home and visit his wife, but the bad news was waiting for him—his wife dead. Remorse and regret motivate him to create this masterpiece, which reproduces the humanism of a
Henry’s confidence does not last for a long time. The realities of the battle become a reality and cause his fear and doubt to reappear. Henry goes from being happy because he was able to fight the enemy in the first battle to being anxious at the beginning of a second
Henry was a normal boy and did all of the normal things young boys do: making noise, being busy and active, nosing around in the refrigerator, and asking questions - all part and parcel of being a normal child. But he was brought up to believe he wasn't a "model boy." His parents were constantly interrupted by him - his mother while she was reading and grading papers, and his father so much so that he spent most of his time in his office on campus, joining them only at mealtimes. His father wished to remain "blissfully unaware."
First, one should focus on the language and Henry's ethos. The soldiers are burdened with the thought of 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
This evokes pathos in the members of the convention, creating a feel of respect and assurance towards Henry. Essentially, to get his idea across as fast as possible, Henry conveys his ultimate purpose and sense of urgency to fight for justice immediately since there is “no time.” He creates another appeal to pathos that builds a perception of necessity within the members so that they want to assist Henry and his view quickly. Also, to create
In the last paragraph especially, Henry uses many in a row to build up to the monumental moment. Henry asks the crowd, "What is it that gentlemen wish?… Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery"?(Henry 5). With these strong questions, Henry incites the people to want to fight - to break free of the unfair rule they had been under for too long. Additionally, just as Paine tries to scare his audience with their hypothetical future, Henry tries to scare the people and stir up their emotions using his logical and moving comparisons.
The story takes a while to get off the ground, but perhaps it is best that way, so we can see a clear description of the steady peaceful (and somewhat dull) life Henry had before change brought
The narrator is given a sense of oppression from the beginning of the story by keeping a hidden diary from her husband as “a relief to her mind.” Throughout the story her true thoughts are hidden from the readers and her husband, which gives the story a symbolic perspective.
This becomes important because it is where things begin to spiral into a rush of bad luck for them. The novel takes place in many time frames because it gos from current day to when his father died and he met his dead wife. The main time is in present day when Ove is learning about how to be a good neighbor and learn to adapt to the modern world.
All of the narrator's questions invite the reader to place ;himself in the position of the people of Omelas. Do you need this to make you happy? Then you may have it. Once the reader begins to enjoy the city and begins to see its happiness as a good thing, then the reader, like the adolescents in the story, must be shown that on which the happiness depends. Readers must face the question of what they would be willing to sacrifice for happiness. In Omelas, the people have no guilt so they are able to sacrifice the child for their happiness with no remorse because they are happy.
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.
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.
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.