What Is The Irony In 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.

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

The comparison O. Henry makes between the story of Jim and Della and that of the Magi is rather relevant as the Magi were the ones who are credited with being the origins of the “giving nature” of the Christmas season. In this story, we see a man and a woman so blinded by love that they are willing to make ultimate sacrifices for the happiness of the other. Similar to the Magi, Della and Tim put each other before themselves and through their generosity and considerable lengths they both went to achieve that generosity is something more admirable than any materialistic gift they could ever offer each other, thus making the uselessness of their gifts irrelevant.

While reading this part in the story, the reader simply cannot forget how Della payed for Jim’s present. A feeling of sorrow and sympathy is directed towards Della and in a way, greatly connects the reader with the story. But then, Della remembered in a heartbreaking moment, how she sold her hair in order to afford Jim’s a present. “They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone (...) ‘My hair grows fast, Jim’” (5)! Not only did Della treasure her hair, but she feels bad about cutting it off and not being able to use such a thoughtful present. She reassures Jim that she will use them eventually and at this point the reader may infer that Jim has sold his watch in order to afford the combs for Della. “They’re too nice to use just as a present, I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs’” (6). This is yet another example of dramatic irony because before, they both thought that each other would have the ability to utilize their

In the short story The Gift of the Magi, foreshadowing plays a huge role along with irony. Foreshadowing is when you are able to predict what will happen based on the information the author is giving you. Irony is the difference between Anticipations and effects, and appearance and reality. Irony comes in three ways which are verbal, dramatic, and verbal. In the short story the type of irony that was used was dramatic and a little bit of verbal irony.

The effect of irony in O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” is to reveal character traits and to provoke the reader into analyzing them. Situational irony is used to show how loving both Jim and Della are. For example, Della states, “… I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have live… without giving you a present,” and Jim later voices, “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.” After buying what they thought would be the perfect gift for each other, they found out that, for the time being, the gifts were useless because the combs were for Della’s now cut off hair, and the fob chain was for the the watch that Jim sold for her. This reveals how they loved each other so much that they gave up their most prized possession

In the story, The Gift of the Magi, the author, O. Henry, does a great job using irony throughout the story. In the story, irony is used multiple times, and in many different ways. There are examples of irony in the beginning, middle, and end of The Gift of the Magi. The two different types of irony used in the story are dramatic and situational irony. In the beginning of the story, irony is used right away.

Another example is when Della shows Jim his gift, “Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull, precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.” Della was excited to give Jim his gift but to him her gift wasn’t useful because he had sold his watch, the irony is when you give someone a gift usually it’s meant to be beneficial and something they can use later on and both of their grifts were not. All these events make the story funny and also help the ending have a better impact on the

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 settings of the short stories, “The Gift of the Magi”, written by O’ Henry and “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, directly affect each stories’ conflict. The “Gift of the Magi”, set in NYC during trying times, and “The Lottery”, set in a depressed, traditional village in America, both have settings that lead towards each stories’ conflicts. In "The Gift of the Magi" written by O'Henry, the setting affect the conflict majorly. One way it affected the conflict was that unfortunately both characters Della and Jim had saved up money in order to buy the other one a beautiful gift for Christmas.

In “The Gift of the Magi”, the sequence of events created suspense. Della did not have enough money to buy Jim a chain for his glorious pocket watch. Della then decided she would sell her treasured hair to buy the chain, not realizing Jim had bought her combs for her hair with the money he received from selling his pocket watch. The ending was structured suspensefully as well, for it was unknown to the reader whether Jim would love Della even without her beautiful hair. From this sequence of events, dramatic irony was created.

In the short story “ The Gift of the Magi” both main characters, Della and Jim, make sacrifices for one another and they end up learning a priceless lesson. Della and and Jim were husband and wife and both loved each other very much. They both end up selling what they prized most to buy a Christmas gift for one another. Della and Jim from “The Gift of the Magi” learn that love is not measure by material endowments because each one of them pays for the gift that makes the other’s gift worthless.

“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