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.

Not only do “The Gift of the Magi” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” both show the theme that the best gifts are received through actions, they also both develop the theme through symbolism. In the story, “The Gift of the Magi”, when Della was explaining to James as to why she cut her hair, Della clarifies, “‘Maybe the hairs of my head can be counted,’ she said, ‘but no one could ever count my love for you.’” (O. Henry, 5) This shows that Della’s hair symbolizes her love for James, and how it meant more to her than her most valued possession. By stating, “‘no one could ever count my love for you,’” demonstrates that even though their love cannot be seen, their love was eternal and her love will never succumb to anything else, especially

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

Gift of the Magi exercises many literary and DIDLS elements as Della tries to salvage her last pennies to buy a meaningful gift for her husband, Jim. One of the most vital parts of the story is situational irony. “Della,” said he, “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 (O. Henry 1). Sadness is expressed as they come to realize that they both bought gifts that were unable to use the gifts they received. Della had sold her hair to have enough money to buy a watch for Jim, and she got a comb. Jim sold his watch to buy the combs for Della, and she bought him a watch.This is considered situational irony because the situation is reversed. Another important element of Gift of the Magi is foreshadowing. “The James Dillingham Youngs were very proud of two things which they owned. One thing was 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.” The two most important things to the James Dillingham Youngś were their hair and watches, which later they sell to make money to buy new gifts. They both bought each other gifts which they couldn't use, and it most likely took a toll on their self esteem. This is

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 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.

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

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.

Short stories are an exeptional use of literary elements to an audience of all ages. “Lamb to the Slaugher,” by O. Henry, expresses many literary elements such as imagery and dramatic irony. Gift of the Magi is also an amazing use with foreshadowing and diction. Lamb to the Slaughter uses the elements better than Gift of the Magi in many different ways, starting with it’s precise characters.

A major theme in the story " The Gift of the Magi" is sacrifice. Della states that her husbands income dropped by 10$. The whole reason Della can't afford a big gift in the beginning is because of their income loss. So therefore she saves money to try and get her husband a great gift for Christmas but she couldn't save much, so then she sells her hair for 20$ to buy her husband a platinum fob chain because in the end she states that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't get him anything for Christmas. On the other hand, she is nervous to see what her husband will think because of her hair cut. He gets home and has a blank look on his face and Della thinks its because of the way it turned out. He then explains to her that his

“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.