The Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

Leonardo has some very special objects that hold high amounts of value to her, and for one of them, to her sister as well. Mrs. Leonardo has a white linen tablecloth that was only used on special occasions, but she only got to use it once, on her 20th anniversary with her husband. At the time Mrs. Leonardo says,”... just who do you think I’ll invite to dinner…” But we later find out she finds a use for it in the not too distant future. Mrs. Leonardo’s other special object is her book, and when she finds it, “She’s holding something in her hands, not moving. I look at her stiff face and for a moment in the weird light of the attic, she looks like she’s going to cry.” This book reminds Mrs. Leonardo of the good old days when she used to hang out with her sister as their mom read them a bedtime story. The finding of this book also allows Mrs. Leonardo to call up her sister who lives in Vermont since she was supposed to have this book, but Mrs. Leonardo had it all along. When Mrs. Leonardo’s sister is on her way, Mrs. Leonardo calls to the attic and asks for Katie to bring down the white table cloth while Mrs. Leonardo is cooking

How far can a couple go in getting a gift for their love ones on Christmas day? “The Gift of the Magi” is mainly about a young married couple who doesn’t have enough money to buy each other Christmas gifts. Having only one dollar and eighty-seven cent Della, one of the main character, decides to sell her hair for only twenty dollars. This gives Della an opportunity to buy her husband, Jim a gift. Meanwhile, Jim who also is buying Della a present is having trouble with money, he decides to sell his watch. Having so Jim had enough money to buy his wife a gift. After waiting for Jim, Della showed his present and after seeing what she had got for him, he went to lay down and told Della why he didn’t have his watch with him. Knowing what each other had done to get one another gifts, they both realized how much they care for one other. In the short story of “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, the author provides the readers with three major literary elements that are important in analyzing the author’s focus: theme, imagery and symbols.

Near the end of the story, the reader is shocked to discover that Jim sold his watch to buy Della the combs she had “worshiped” over. In the end it’s ironic, because neither of them could use the gifts they both sold the reason for, to buy. The irony O. Henry used supports the overlaying theme of sacrifice by instilling in the reader just how much two people in love were willing to give up in order to show it.

The Gift of the Magi was about sacrificial love. The story explained how important it is to be willing to sacrifice for the one that you love. No matter what the circumstance, if a person can unselfishly give of themselves for another, they can experience life in a whole new way. Many people give what is not important to them and makes no difference. I think the term “it’s the thought that counts” has been used to justify just giving anything to a person without actually put your heart and soul into the gift you are giving. O. Henry uses The Gift of the Magi to

The author’s use of allusion demonstrates the brilliance of love within sacrifice and how truly valuable sacrifices turn out to be. First and foremost, the narrator describes throughout this piece exactly how Della and Jim were foolish enough to give up their prized possessions. However, that statement is repealed when Henry compares the main characters to the magi. He endorses that “...of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest.” (Henry p 368). This comparison clarifies that they were the “wise men” because they give to each other out of sentimental value, from the heart. In the traditional Christmas story, it states that the actual wise men brought Jesus the

The central conflict of the story is that both Della and Jim want to buy each other Christmas gifts, but neither of them are able to afford one. According to Della, she has “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies” (Henry). Della loves her husband so she will go great lengths to do something for him, despite how poor they are. She knows she must make a sacrifice for him and she is willing to do it. Consequently, this leads her to decide to cut and sell her hair so she can have enough money to afford a gift. Jim’s actions are similar, selling his watch to afford a gift for

Throughout “The Gift of the Magi,” Della has been characterized as caring and selfless. One quote to support this theory states,“Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she only had $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result.” (Maupassant 261-262) This quote demonstrates that Della is caring because it shows that Della saved everything she could in order to purchase a gift for Jim. Della had worked extra hard in order to purchase something for Jim, but in all that work, only came $1.87 from which to buy a gift. Della cared strongly about Jim so because of that she worked hard to save money, but didn't have enough for him. Della also didn’t mind working harder for Jim because she loved him so much. Another quote to prove that Della is selfless is, “‘Will you buy my hair?’ asked

“Gift of the Magi” by sesame street and “Gift of the Magi” by O.Henry have a variety of similarities and differences. In both sesame streets version and O.Henrys version, the partners trade something special that belongs to themselves, in order to get a great gift for their partner. Another similarity is in both stories the gifts that each partner receives has no use to them. For example, when Ernie receives a cigar box for his paper clip collection, it has no use since Ernie traded his paperclip collection in to afford Bert's gift. A difference between the stories is at the end Mr. Hooper realizes what is happening and decides to give Bert and Ernie's Paperclips and rubber ducky back. In the version by O. Henry, Della and James never get back their possessions that they traded.

To begin with, Della is a poor, beautiful woman living in an eight dollar flat. Despite not having much money, Della is still very thankful to have a roof over her head and food in her stomach. She is also a very determined and giving person. An example of when she was resilient and sacrificial was when she '"had cut off my hair and sold it because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present'" (O'Henry 100). Her long hair is something

In the beginning, the story tells about how Della does not have any money to purchase a gift for her husband,

One of the points made is that Jim and Della have the gift of true love. We see Della’s love for Jim by what motives her to want to buy a nice gift. She did not want it to empress the neighbors, or to out give Jim. She simply wanted “Something fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honour of being owned by Jim.” We also see

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

Della then starts to look for the ideal present for Jim. Subsequent to being frustrated by the blessings she sees since they simply aren't sufficient, she recalls Jim's most cherished ownership his granddad's gold watch. She likewise recalls that Jim needed to attach a calfskin strap to the watch after the first chain broke, and that was unequivocally the sort of blessing she needed to purchase for him. She goes from shop to shop searching for simply the correct watch chain until she finally finds a great looking, platinum chain that is great. It costs $21. Della gets it, returning home with $0.87 left over.

Della buys Jim a platinum fob chain. “There was no other like it in any of the stores…it was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design…” (Henry 2). Jim buys Della a set of combs she always wanted. “…the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims…” (Henry 4). Jim and Della both sacrificed their most valued belongings to buy the presents. “And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house” (Henry 5). The gifts then become a symbol of their self-sacrificing love for one another because of how willing they were to give up something very valuable to make their loved one

Secondly, the couple in “The Gift of the Magi” is true lovers with not only great minds but also great hearts. “Great minds think alive,” says a proverb. Della loves Jim in every out of parsimony, in every day of her life. Jim loves Della not with his words but with his daily care and understanding and sacrifice. When O. Henry further said that Jim and Della were “two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of the house” he, in fact, wanted to praise their generosity and care-for-each-other. In other words, the words “foolish” and “unwisely” were used as ironies here: he talked about their stupidity in order to set off their greatness. It was due to their noble thoughts and acts that their gifts became the most treasured and they became the wisest: “But in a last word to the wise of