The Gift Of The Magi Literary Analysis

In “The Necklace” Mathilde has everything she needs but wants wealth and would do anything to appear wealthy. .Mathilde buys a new dress for a party for four hundred francs but decides that she needs expensive jewelry too. She borrows what looks like the most expensive necklace from her friend, Madame Forestier. Mathilde has the best time at the party and loves the necklace. By the end of the night, Mathilde discovers that she had lost the necklace that she borrowed. She desperately buys a new necklace for 36,000 francs to return to Madame Forestier. She and her husband are

Now consider the role of Mathilde Loisel in “The Necklace”. She constantly grieves about her simple life and fantasizes about extravagant life style with rich people and food surrounding her. Her husband is a simple man and is satisfied with his life. He appreciates her for the food which is cooked and never complains. Being in the Ministry of Education their lifestyle is modest. Mathilde is not satisfied on the other hand even when her husband proudly announces that they have been invited at a formal party held by the Ministry of Education. The irony in the story is more or less the same with regard to the female characters. Mathilde cries and gets her prize in the form of a dress but she is never satisfied. She wants jewelry as well. The necklace that she borrows from Madame Forestier teaches her a lesson of life. Since she is not familiar with the real jewelry she picks the cheapest one from her collection and wears it to the party why she loses it. Upon not finding the jewelry her husband takes the pain of selling everything out just to purchase an identical necklace worth 40,000 francs which leaves them poverty stricken for the next ten years during which her husband does three jobs and

2nd Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” In “The Necklace”, Mathilde fixed her eyes on what is seen, and did not reap rewards. Mathilde had a strong desire to be rich and high-class, but this lust only brought her into more poverty. She thought that if she could only have riches, she would be happy. This idea was as false as the necklace, as one can only find true happiness in Jesus, and with false goals come false actions and motives. Thus, Mathilde used sinful ways to achieve her objective; unlike how Christians should act.

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.

Fairytales are always black and white. The knight in shining armour is clear to spot, and the story always displays the villain in ways that invariably point to evil, however; this is not the case in reality. Loved ones can cause torment and misery, yet as dark and twisted as it is, letting go may not be an option because sometimes, pain manifests itself as butterflies in the stomach. In Jenna Blum’s Those Who Save Us, Anna Schlemmer is in a state of hopelessness, when Horst, a Nazi officer, comes into her life. Despite his violent and bestial nature, Horst saves Anna in her time of desperation, which prevents her from letting him go, and mentally destroys her. Similarly, In Scott F. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Daisy involuntarily marries

In the short story, ”The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, the main characters, Jim and Della give up their most prized possessions to buy each other an exceptional gift for Christmas. O. Henry, portrays tasteful language in this story in several ways. Henry uses a special syntax, an unique diction, and remarkable figurative language and imagery. This variation of writing enables the reader to understand and connect with the story and experiences that the characters go through. O. Henry’s use of figurative language and imagery in “The Gift of the Magi” emphasizes and enhances the reader’s understanding of this sensational read.

Mathilde and Della are not rich and they both want something that they cannot have. Overall Mathilde wants to be rich, but in particular she wants a nice outfit for the ball. For her dressing up like a rich woman is a satisfaction for her desires. Della wants to buy a nice gift for her husband. She thinks that her gift is meaningful for her

Retrieved Reformation is a short story about a man named Jimmy Valentine. In the beginning of the story, he is being released from prison for his crimes of robbing banks and cracking into safes. After being released, he realizes that he wants to live a life of no crime. He becomes a dynamic character because he begins to dramatically change after meeting the love of his life, Annabel Adams. He wanted to begin a new life.

Social commentary draws attention the beautiful and grotesque parts of our world usually through works of fiction. The short story, “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu was published in 2011 does just that. It focuses on the life of Jack, his life brightened by the pieces of origami animals his mother makes him, each taking a life of their own in his world. It is not until he starts playing with a boy in his neighbourhood, does he realize that he is different. He is not accustomed to the western culture like his peers are because he has grown up in a more Chinese household.

In all three stories the three women have similarities with each other. These three stories have different plots, but their characters don’t differ as much from one another. In “The Gift of the Magi,” Della is poverty-stricken. The author isn’t direct about it, but we can assume that she and her husband are poor. For instance, “Tomorrow would be Christmas Day and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result.” (on pg. 247) This helps us indicate her situation at the moment. In “The Necklace,” Mathilde is very unhappy, and poor as well. The story says, “Unable to afford jewelry, she dressed simply…” (on pg. 294) Like Della, Mathilde is poor as well. Mrs. Mallard is also miserable with her life, and has a husband as well. As said in the story, “There would be no one to live for herself...” (katechopin.org/story-hour/) This shows that there was something in her

After Della sells her hair she obtains twenty dollars to purchase Jim's Present, she is ecstatic and fulfilled because now she can buy a Christmas present for Jim. But, when Monsieur Loisel tells Mathilde that they are invited to a high class party, she demonstrates no gratitude; instead, she whines that she doesn't have anything to wear. Monsieur Loisel selflessly gives the money he had kept aside for his rifle to his wife to spend on the dress. Mathilde communicates no thankfulness; rather, she later grumbles that she has no jewelry to wear with the dress. It is clear in "The Necklace" that Mathilde places material belonging above kinship and the adoration and dependability of her husband. Never in the story is there any sign that she demonstrates

For instance, Della and her husband had a mutual love and respect for each other; where Mathilde was only in love with the person she wanted to be. During the gift exchange between Della and her husband, they found selling their most prized possession, the purchase of their Christmas gifts was rendered useless since Della no longer had her hair and Jim his watch. However, when Mathilde lost the necklace, both her and her husband spent ten years to pay off the debt. Additionally, Mathilde lost her beauty, “Madame Loisel looked old now. She had become like all other strong, hard, coarse women of poor households. He hair was badly done, her skirts were awry, her hands were red.” The authors in the stories demonstrated the negative effects for seeking items which one could not afford through an ironic twist. However, the irony was predictable in both

The Magi's are the wise men that created the art of giving Christmas presents. Just like Jim and Della in The Gift Of The Magi. In The Gift of The Magi, Jim and Della expressed their inordinate amount of love through their gifts, and through Literary elements , expressing the theme of the story. Three literary elements that enhanced the theme "Love is more valuable than possessions", in The Gift of The Magi are, the characterization, the plot, and the setting. The characterization in the story expresses she's the theme in many ways.

In’’The Gift Of The Magi’’ Della, one of the main character, really wants to get her, loving and sweet, husband a gift for Christmas. Della doesn’t have any money to get her husband something. Della had beautiful hair which everyone

(I) Mathilda lost the necklace and made Madame pay for it from faults of Mathilda being irresponsible. If your irresponsible no one will trust you or believe anything you say. Mathilda should’ve been very careful with the diamond necklace, because she knew it was very valuable to Madame. Madame understood Mathilda’s situation about being poor. So Madame from the kindness of her heart, decided to give Mathilda the diamond