The Gift Of The Magi Short Story Analysis

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

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.

When Della bought the chain for Jim, she did not know he would sell his treasured possession, too. They both told what happened and were happy to put it in the past. The sacrifices they both made is more valuable than the gifts

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,

Strapped for cash and wanting to give her beloved husband the most luxurious gift for Christmas to express her deep passion for him, we are immediately introduced to the initial situation at hand. With only a dollar and some change to spend on Jim, Della is forced into a situation

Della was a pretty girl with long nice hair, "So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shinning like a cascade of brown waters." (O. Henry, 2). Della only had a dollar and eighty-seven cents with her. She wanted to get something for Jim's watch. She ended up going to the store to cut off her hair to sell and buy that.

“The Gift of the Magi” is a short story by O. Henry that entails the story of Jim and Della, a husband and wife of a struggling middle class family. In said story, Della sells her long beautiful hair for money to buy a nice band for her husband’s watch. After Della presents Jim with his gift, Jim tells Della he no longer has his watch due to the fact he sold it so he would be able to buy a nice set of combs for Della’s long hair that is no more. This story of love and selflessness is complemented by the author’s style of writing. Specifically, O. Henry use of figurative language and imagery in “The Gift of the Magi” emphasizes ideas and enhances the reader’s understanding of the story.

To begin with, Della and Jim were very thoughtful people no matter what the situation was. Della would have done anything for jim at anytime. Jim meant a lot to Della, therefore della was thoughtful through every situation. “ she had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result” (153). This shows Della cares about Jim wants to get him a nice present. Della was thoughtful in more than one way. “ But she had them to her Bosom it at length she was able to look up dime eyes and a smile and say “my hair grow so fast you”(157). There's show that she was thoughtful by not caring about her hair as much as she cares about Jim. Overall, this short story shows how to people are very thoughtful towards each other.

Love is a defining force for Della and Jim too, overshadowing the poor condition of their finances. Jim and Della do not have much. They would most certainly be considered to be in the lower class, living in a little $8 a week flat in the city and going from a sufficient income of $30 a week to a less than adequate $20 a week with Jim in need of a new overcoat and pair of gloves (Henry). Henry articulates how their love for each other transforms their drab house and surroundings and gray circumstances into a warm and inviting refuge called home. “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all Della had,” not nearly enough to get a gift worthy of her beloved Jim (Henry). She desires nothing but to please him and considers him worthy of something

The Gift of the Magi is about a married couple who are very poor. They both give up and sell their most prized possessions to get something special for their mate for Christmas just to make them happy. The story shows sacrifice. It gives great examples of what it means and how it is shown. Sacrifice is shown for what it is.

The couple was poor, so they did not have enough money to buy the perfect Christmas gift for their spouse, deciding to sell their beloved possessions to afford the gifts. Della says, “I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present.” (Paragraph 28). Della chose to sell her precious hair to afford a gift for Jim, and that much love brings the reader a sense of joy. It is enjoyable to read about such characters because of their inspirational acts of sacrifice.

“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.

Situational irony is another element that is present throughout the short story. Della and her husband both buy each other gifts for Christmas at the end of the story. Ironically, Della and her husband bought each other gifts for what they gave up: Della bought her husband a wrist watch strap and Jim sold his watch to buy Della the combs she wanted for her hair. In the short story, Jim is seen grieving about the fact that she had cut her hair off, “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on,” (O. Henry 121). The ending is situational irony because the reader was expecting that Della would buy her

Jim has a gold watch which is his family heirloom and Della has beautiful long, brown hair which they both consider as their most valuable possessions. They are so proud of it that the author says Della may just let her hair out the window to make Queen of Sheba’s treasures less valuable and the watch would make King Solomon envious. Della decides to sell her hair in order to buy Jim a gift. She gets $20 for her hair at ‘Sofronie’. Della finds a platinum chain for Jim’s watch which she believes will make him proud and happy. After getting Jim’s gift Della hurries home and fixes her hair. She gets nervous about if Jim will like her new look, “Please God, make him think I am still pretty. (The Gift of the Magi) Even though Della just parted with her best asset she is more concerned about Jim liking her than cutting her hair which shows how much she cares about him and values his