Preview

The Gift of the Magi

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2193 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Gift of the Magi
The Theme of “The Gift of the Magi”

William Sydney Porter, or O. Henry as it is widely known, is one of the most famous names in American literature. He was a master short-story writer of nearly 300 short stories. With a very inventive mind, he made plots for his stories from the commonplace things. The settings of his stories were drawn from his experience and, likewise, his characters were based on actual people he had known. In rapid-moving prose, he developed his stories imaginatively and skillfully, keeping readers wondering about the outcome, which was always a surprise. Among his short stories, The Gift of the Magi is possibly the most well-known. Its enduring appeal can be traced to the universal themes of wealth, poverty, and generosity wrapped together by the selfless love of the two main characters Jim and Della. In other words, the theme of “The Gift of the Magi” is the “Irony of life”. To understand clearly the irony of life in “The Gift of the Magi”, we need to know the meaning of a word “irony”. So what is irony? Irony is a situation, an event, or a thing that is desirable in itself but so unexpected or ill-timed that it appears to be deliberately unacceptable or unreasonable. In “The Gift of the Magi”, “the irony of life” is presented through a story of love and sacrifice between a young couple, Jim and Della, who are poor materially but not poor spiritually: in fact, they are generous lovers and the love and care and sacrifice they show to each other is beyond doubt and beyond limit. Firstly, the “irony of life” in “The Gift of the Magi” lies in the coincidence of Della and Jim’s thoughts and actions. “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.” Della counted it three times. On Christmas, people often give a present to their lover, their relatives, their friends… and Della wanted to do the same. Unexpectedly, her possession is only

one dollar and eighty-seven cents, she felt unhappy and confused. “She stood

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Presents are also exchanged in The Gift Of The Magi by the husband and wife. Della the wife in the story was anxious for what she was going to give her husband for Christmas. She had only a dollar and eighty-seven cents to spend for her…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Money has no influence in “The Gift of the Magi,” it is only an object that represents true love, money is used to display love for somebody else, rather than a love for self. Paul was greedy for the betterment of himself which caused the voices and situations to get worse, while Jim and Della used the emotions of greed for the betterment of their marriage. This is no accident, proving that the physical presence of money has no influence over the situation at all in either case, rather the situation is impacted by who has the money and their intentions. If money was the only common denominator than both stories would have ended the same, considering they did not makes one conclude that money can never be a…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Generosity is the virtue of not being tied down by concerns of one’s possessions and giving away those possessions without expecting anything in return. The stories, “Day 10, Story 3” and “Day 10, Story 4” from The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio are splendid examples of generosity that express the values and different aspects of generosity. Both Nathan from “Day 10, Story 3” and Gentile from “Day 10, Story 4” are generous, however Nathan’s the actions that Nathan takes make Nathan more generous. Nathan’s and Gentile’s generosity is illustrated through the intentions associated with their actions, the manner by which they express their generosity, and the results that they obtain because of their generosity.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both Della and her husband Jim, both had been saving up their money to buy each other Christmas presents. Neither of them had quite enough. Della, had sold her hair, whereas Jim, had sold his watch. Towards the end of the story, there is an example of foreshadowing. “The magi brought valuable gifts that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.” This gives you an idea that something is going to happen When Jim had come home, he realized what she had done. He began to tell her that her Christmas present was a set of combs and they now could not be put to much use for a while. Della, had gotten him a chain for his watch which he had sold. “Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest. Everywhere they are the wisest. They are the magi.” This quote shows that even though their gifts are of no use right now, being with each other is a good enough gift over all. At first they were both disappointed, but then realized that gifts are not what matter but having each…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A short story illustrates the effectiveness of the plot, particularly one that has a surprise ending such as, “The Gift of the Magi”. In this story of Jim and Della, they are approaching Christmas and have very little money to spend on one another. They each want to surprise the other one with a marvelous gift for Christmas but they have little money and Della only has $1.87. Della ends up cutting her hair for the money while Jim sells his cherished watch. Through selfless acts done for love, they each end up giving one another a Christmas gift they will always remember and cherish. It didn’t matter to either of them what they had to do in order to provide the gift. The theme was portrayed by the literary elements within the story. Plot, point of view and symbolism are just a few of the literary elements which helped developed the theme of the story.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the short story, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, irony is used to make the reader expect something to happen but the opposite happens. For example, Della had bought Jim a fob using the money she got for selling her beloved and prized hair. When she showed him his present he said, "I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs." (306) This shows that they both had sacrificed the things they had been most prideful of just so that their partner could be happy, which was nice by foolish. It was unexpected to them that the the other would sacrifice their favorite thing, making the gifts useless because they were not able to use them. In addition, the name Dillingham from Mr. James Dillingham Young…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The plots of these two stories differ from each other, but are still both ironic. In “The Necklace” Mathildes husband got her an invitation to a high class party, and she got upset and made a big deal about it because she didn’t have a new dress. She also wanted a necklace to go with that dress. So her husband bought her a new dress, and she ended up borrowing a necklace from her friend who is high class. She ends up losing the necklace and having to pay 10 years of debt due to that, she saw her friend 10 years later and found out the necklace was a fake. In “The Gift of The Magi” They both love each other and wanted to get Christmas presents for each other. So Della cut her hair off so she could by Jim a chain for his antique pocket. Jim sold his pocket watch to buy Della a set of combs for her hair. So that’s why it makes the story’s ending Ironic.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gift Of The Magi Irony

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In The Gift of the Magi, Della cuts and sells her hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch. At the same time, Jim sells his watch to buy Della hair combs. Both Della and Jim sold their most prized possessions…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Gift of the Magi

    • 5223 Words
    • 21 Pages

    .......A moment later, he comes out of his “trance” and enfolds Della in his arms. Then he takes a package from his overcoat and tosses it onto a table. He tells his wife nothing she could do would make him love her any less. However, he adds, the package will explain why he reacted strangely upon seeing her. After opening the present, she…

    • 5223 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The allusion to the Magi seems inappropriate at first to the reader. For, after all, the Magi were a select sect of hereditary priesthood who had extraordinary religious knowledge and their gifts were of great monetary value, intended to suggest great respect and devotion. However, as the reader reflects upon the characters in the story, he/she soon realizes that Jim and Della are wealthier and more knowledgeable in the ways of love than elite priests of profound and extraordinary knowledge. And, with the magic of true love, "two foolish children" realized more than the Magi: Ironically, they realize the most valuable gift is the gift of unselfish love.…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gift of the Magi Remake

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    That night, Della sat in her room and thought, “I want to get Jim a gold chain for his cross.” How would she get the money? As she sat there thinking, she glanced at her desk where her special charm bracelet sat. She knew what she had to do, but it was a big sacrifice. While she was in the room, Jim was in the kitchen doing the dishes. He didn’t want to not get her a nice gift on Christmas because he would feel awful.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the actions demonstrated by fictional characters, short stories provide readers with vital lessons. It is demonstrated in The Stolen Party, The Necklace and The Gift of Magi, and it examines the significance of obedience, appreciation and the affection of selfless actions. First in foremost, from Rosaura’s consequence of disobedience, it presents the message of obeying your parents. For instance, it is revealed as Hermina refused her daughter, Rosaura, to attend a rich party in order to prevent her daughter to experience economic discrimination. Evidently, Hermina states, “I don’t like you going ... it’s a rich, people’s party” (Heker, 1). Moreover, Mathilde reveals the importance…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    O. Henry’s, “The Gift of the Magi”, follows a young poor couple that give up their greatest belongings in order to buy something special for each other. However, they can not make use of their gifts, because what they gave up, relates to their possessions they gave up. In Sherman Alexie’s “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, the protagonist Victor travels with his childhood friend Thomas to Phoenix to get the remains of his dead father. Thomas tells him the story of Victors dad telling him to “Take care of each other” (156).…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Gift of the Magi, William Sydney Porter frequently uses figurative language such as symbolism. On page 139, Porter writes, “There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch.” By saying that the couch was shabby, it symbolized poorness or less wealth than many. Porter also writes “I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn’t live through Christmas without giving you a present” (page 141). With that information, the hair is symbolizing love and sacrifice because Della was showing how much she cared for Jim. In conclusion Porter…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story The gift of the Magi, by O.Henry, is a story of poverty and depression and how a great love overcomes it. The conflict and the setting create the intense suspense in the story.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics