How Does Henry Show Sacrifice In The Gift Of The Magi

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

A sacrifice is when someone gives up something very important to them, whether it’s a physical item or a mental idea, for something greater than their wants or desires. Sacrificing something is never easy. It is usually something very valuable, personal, or time- consuming. Both stories “Oranges” by Gary Soto and “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D. Weatherall have a common theme of sacrifice in them.

In conclusion, you must think of others too. Henry defied his parents to be with Keiko, which resulted in a strained relationship with his father until he learns the truth of what he did to his letters. Henry’s stubborn and quick actions gets him into trouble, but he makes up for these by taking responsibility and learning how to take others into consideration. Sometimes letting go is the only choice, because your life will move on, and you cannot be stuck to one chapter in your life forever. The choice you make to sacrifice what you have for the happiness of others shows how mature you are and how you are ready to cross the road to adulthood.

There are two definitions of sacrifice, the first one is saving someone, and the second one is body sacrifice, there will be good and bad outcomes to both of these. The people making the sacrifices are Wrestlers in the real world and John Proctor in The Crucible.

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 main symbolism in the story is that Della sells her hair and Jim sells his watch. All in all, these symbols represent all the different things the couple has gone through in order to make the other happy. They both sold something that meant a lot to each other but would sell it for the others love and happiness. In the end they both realize that they would do or sell (for this matter) anything for each other.

The idea of sacrifice has been depicted in many works of art and literature throughout history, and has been both romanticized and criticized in its different contexts. The word “sacrifice” refers to the act of exchanging a valued object or potential outcome for something that is perceived to be better. Sacrifices may be seen as noble acts of virtue if they are made conscientiously and have largely beneficial results; a prominent biblical example alluded to in many literary works is Jesus’s sacrifice of his own life for the forgiveness of mankind’s sins. However, acts of sacrifice may be considered disgraceful if their results are seen as immoral or unjust in proportion to whatever is being sacrificed; human sacrifice is a particular example that is largely condemned by society. In any case, sacrifices are made with considerable deliberation by the person or group making them, and whether or not a sacrifice is justified is determined by the outcome of the exchange. In A Tale of Two Cities, sacrifice comes in many forms: Miss Pross sacrificing her own safety out of motherly love, Sydney Carton giving up his life to save his unrequited love, and French peasants sacrificing the lives of others for their ideal future society; with the outcomes of such examples, Dickens shows how sacrifices made out of love are honorable and create great potential for the future, while sacrifices made out of vengeance or self-interest are depraved and unpromising.

The theme of “The Gift of the Magi” and the song “Endlessly” is for true love you sacrifice. An example of “The Gift of the Magi” includes, “Will you buy my hair?”(2) At this time Della is desperate to find a way to acquire the money to buy her husband a worthy Christmas present. As a result, she turns to selling her most prized possession: her hair. Later, Della’s husband, Jim, arrives home to see Della’s hair was cut. He sees Della’s hair and he gets a astonished look on his face, and Della believes that Jim does not approve of her new hairstyle. On the contrary, Jim, after giving Della her present, later mentioned, “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.” Resulting, in them both giving up their greatest possessions for their

In the story Gift of the Magi the author uses conflict to help the reader understand the theme of the story. The author uses the theme love is shown through selfless acts by illustrating how the two main characters Della and Jim both sold their valuable items to buy each other a gift. In the story It is Christmas time and Della has no money to buy her husband Jim a gift. She only has a dollar and eighty seven cents, but one thing Della does have is her beautiful long hair. Della knows Jim vaules his watch that his dad gave him.

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

They both have a strong love for a specific item they possess. “It is the day before Christmas and Della saved up money for the year and had a total of $1.87” ( “ The Gift of the Magi”2). Through connecting the conflict to the story it brings irony to the conclusion in O. Henry’s “ The Gift of the Magi”, conflict shows readers

How far would you go for a person that you love? Would you sacrifice something you love, or put their needs before yours? In “The Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, Della, the protagonist, is a reflection of that type of sacrificial love. The story is set in New York in the 1900s. Della and Jim are married and they have a restricted income. The conflict is initiated with the onset of Christmas. Della wants to buy Jim a present that he will love. She does what she can to get money for his present. She even goes as far as cutting her beautiful hair to acquire money for the present. In the story, O. Henry, explores what Della’s character is willing to do for the man she loves.

Author Henry uses imagery in the short story “The Gift of Magi” to describe how valuable Jim and Della’s most prized possessions were. Jim and his wife, Della, both have very little money to buy each other a gift for christmas the next day. They end up selling their most prized possessions to make each other happy. In the beginning of the short story Della was very upset because she had realized she only has one dollar and eighty seven cents to buy Jim a gift, “Della finished her crying and cleaned the marks of it from her face” (Henry 2). This demonstrates imagery because it shows the readers that Della actually cares about getting Jim a gift. If she didn’t care than she wouldn’t have cried. Since Della was so

Sacrifice is a broad and well rounded motif, developed throughout the enlightening 1973 novel, ‘Sula’, by Toni Morrison. As an important motif, sacrifice can be a difficult concept for many people to do themselves and as shown in this novel, the audience is shown how the act of sacrifice has both good and bad consequences. How the act of sacrifice can be done through love and have a positive outcome, but more often than not and most common in ‘Sula’ there are either personal ramifications regarding sacrifice, or outcomes that do not have the expected reaction. As in Morrison’s other works, sacrifice is an underlying motif that is developed throughout the course of the novel in a way that allows the reader to empathise with the sacrificial characters. Sacrifice is a motif that Morrison develops through the multidimensional experience of motherhood and in particular, in the character of Eva and how her motherly sacrifices effected both her and her children. Morrison also develops this motif through marriage, specifically though Nel and Jude’s relationship and how marriage requires some sort of sacrifice for it to survive. In this case however, it may be the reason of its demise. As a motif that is at the very heart of the novel, the theme of sacrifice allows for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the novel.

Jim also struggled with finding a gift for Della and had to make one of his own sacrifices. For example, “Della,” said he, “Let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep’em a while. They’re too nice to use just as a present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on.”(Pg 292) Della had sold the her hair for money. While Jim bought combes for Della’s hair. SO now Jim was shocked to see that Della had cut her hair off just for him. This is a logical appeal because Jim sacrificed his belongings too for Della. He needed to sell his grandfather’s golden watch for Della’s gift. But also he did it because he loved her in the end. O. Henry uses a positive connotation with the words “Everywhere they were the wisest” and