Analysis Of The Gift Of Magi
Analysis Of The Gift Of Magi - The Gift of Maggie' is an American short story writer and artistic short story whose real name is William Sidney Porter (1862-1910). Their stories are characterized by their humor, narrative style, sometimes emotional, and surprising endings. All these have become a kind of signature feature, and 'Maggi's Gift' captures them all to some extent.
Source: www.coursehero.com
Analysis Of The Gift Of Magi
So what does this Christmas story mean? You can read "The Gift of the Magi" before proceeding to the summary and analysis of O. Henry's story below. We will discuss some of the main themes of "Maggi's Gift" in a separate post. Christmas Eve. Jim and Della are a married couple living in a modern apartment in New York City.
They have little money. The story begins with Della lamenting that she only has one dollar and seven cents to spend on a Christmas present for her husband. The narrator tells us that every married couple has a property that they are proud of. For Jim, it's a gold watch that belonged to his father and, before that, his grandfather.
Della's most valuable asset is her beautiful hair. Della goes to a woman who sells hair products. The woman agrees to buy Della's hair for twenty dollars. With the new money Della goes to buy a platinum key chain for Jim's gold watch. It cost him eleven dollars, leaving only 87 cents worldwide.
The Gift Of The Magi Summary
When she comes home, she starts growing what's left of her hair so she looks better. When Jim arrives home, he is shocked by his wife's behavior, but when she explains why he cut her hair, he hugs her and gives her the gift she has received: two jewels.
Source: d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net
Lauri in a story pit show, which he had been admiring for a long time. . . The combs won't work for her until her hair grows back, but at least she can give Jim her gifts... But in a final move, Jim tells Della that he's paying for the expensive combs that she
bought So now, she has two combs but no hair to use, and a platinum key chain for a gold watch she no longer owns. Many of O'Henry's short stories, many of which are only five or six pages long, are noted for their iron words, and "The Gift of Maggie" is a good example of this characteristic of his work.
In their quest to get each other the Christmas gifts of their dreams, young Jim and Della sacrifice what their gifts were designed to complete: combs for Della's (sold) hair and Jim's ( Sold) chain for watch. As the narrator observes in the last paragraph: The magicians, as you know, were the wise men who brought gifts to the babe in the hermitage—great wise men.
Plot Summary
They invented the art of Christmas gift giving. Because they were smart, their gifts were undoubtedly smart and probably privileged to barter on repeat. And here I have told you the semi-obscure history of two idiot children in an apartment who very ignorantly sacrifice the greatest treasures of their home for each other.
But O'Henry invites us not to laugh at their folly, but to celebrate their sacrifice. Indeed, it was wisdom, not folly, that motivated them, as the narrator puts it at the end of the story: But as a final word to scholars today, it must be said that these two are the wisest of gifts.
Source: www.unisbank.ac.id
Givers They are the wisest of all who give and receive gifts. The smartest anywhere. They are magicians. So, in a sense, there are two surprises at the end of "The Gift of Maggie": the trademark plot that characterizes many of O'Henry's short stories, and the narrative "twist" that changes our initial reaction.
which can only be laughed at in the unfortunate turn of events described - and it makes a moral point that Jim and Della act wisely despite receiving "useless" gifts from each other. This is all well and good, but it's worth noting that the narrator doesn't explain why he believes that Jim and Della are the 'toughest' of all the gift givers.
Cite This Page As Follows:
Of course, the word "wise" is coined here by the Magi, the Zoroastrian astrologer who visited the baby Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh: hence the name of the story. But what makes Jim and Della smart?
And why didn't Henry tell us? Was it because he wanted us to make up our own minds, or did he think the answer was pretty self-explanatory? The latter seems more likely. Because given the Christmas setting and the fact that even though Jim and Della don't have the money to buy the finer things in life, the moral of "Maggie's Gift" is definitely love, given the fact that
They obviously. Love and treat each other well. It is more important than property. And when it comes to Christmas and buying gifts for loved ones, it's thought that really counts. But there's little more to "Maggi's Gift" than the over-complicated old proverb that turns the story into a sentimental and rather heartwarming tale of "it's better to give than to receive" and "love is more important than money."
Source: cdn.storyboardthat.com
. Both of these statements are related to the story, but what is also related is the element of sacrifice the two characters are made and their reaction to learning the consequences. So while Jim is happy to be separated from his male line by a golden watch that has spanned three generations, Della is happy that she lost her hair to buy it (it will take months to fully recover).
Premium Pdf
species to grow, despite his objections). Bill's most desirable gift. But as the story unfolds, they learn that the personal sacrifices they made to love each other were in vain. But they rejoice in this state, not because of the gift they receive, but because of the great cost it inflicts on the other.
As O. Henry said, love is giving up the things you value most in order to show the extent of your devotion to the person you love - that you should love more. In other words, the remarkable thing about "gifts of witchcraft" is that their moral value is not only "it is better to give than to receive" but "the only thing that counts is giving and losing" because
What do they get? It has no practical value. Use them. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. Fantastic Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk.
Our editors will review your submission and decide whether to revise the article. Our editors will review your submission and decide whether to revise the article. Maggie's Gift, a short story by O'Henry, appeared in the New York Sunday World in 1905 and was later collected in Four Million (1906).
gift of magi literary analysis, gift of the magi plot, gift of the magi summary, the gift of the magi answer key, gift to the magi, the gift of the magi sparknotes, the gift of the magi theme, gift of the magi study guide