Della In The Gift Of The Magi
Della In The Gift Of The Magi - The Gift of the Magi' is an American short story writer O. Henry whose real name was William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). His stories, in their irony, their playful narrative style; They are notable for their occasional moodiness and their surprising twist endings. All these things form a prominent feature and 'The Gift of the Magi' embodies them all to some extent.
Source: images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com
Della In The Gift Of The Magi
But what does this Christmas story mean? You can read 'The Gift of the Magi' here before continuing with O. Henry's story summary and analysis below. In a separate post we discuss some of the main themes of 'The Gift of the Magi'. Christmas Eve.
Jim and Della are a married couple living in a nicely furnished apartment in New York. They have little money. The story begins with Della getting upset because she only has one dollar and 87 cents for a Christmas present for her husband. The narrator tells us that each couple has a proud possession.
For Jim, It was his grandfather's and his grandfather's gold watch. Della's prized possession is her beautiful hair. Della goes to a woman who sells hair products. This woman agreed to buy Della's hair for twenty dollars. With her newfound money, Della went to buy a platinum fob strap for Jim's gold watch.
The History Of O. Henry’s ‘The Gift Of The Magi’
It cost her twenty-one dollars, leaving only 87 cents worldwide. When he gets home, he curls the rest of his hair to keep it stylish. When Jim comes home, he's surprised by his wife's actions, but when she explains why he hasn't cut her hair, she hugs him and gives him the gift he bought for her: the pair of tortoiseshell wheels she'd long admired in the shop window.
Source: www.studiolum.com
It's useless to him until his hair grows back, but at least Jim can give him his gift... But in a final twist, Della says Jim sold his gold watch to pay for the expensive wheels he bought. So now she has two wheels, but no hair to use them, and a platinum corkscrew for a gold watch she no longer owns.
O. Henry's short stories - most of them only five or six pages long - are characterized by their unexpected twists, and 'The Gift of the Magi' is a good example of this typical feature of his work. In their quest to buy each other Christmas presents of their dreams, young Jim and Della sacrifice items designed to complement their gifts: combs for Della's hair and chains for Jim's (sold) watches.
As the narrator notes in the last stanza: The Magi are the wise men—the wise men—as you know, who bring gifts to the baby in the manger. They invented the art of Christmas gift giving. Being wise, their gifts are sure to be wise, and if they match, they may be allowed to exchange.
Cite This Page As Follows:
Here I have told you an incident of two foolish children of a flat, who unwisely sacrificed to each other the greatest treasures in the house, but, O Henry, not to laugh at their folly. We are invited to honor their sacrifice. Indeed, What motivates them is not stupidity;
not wise, As the narrator notes in the story's closing words: But a final word to the sages of today. Let's just say these two are the smartest of all the gift givers. Because he is the wisest of all who give the gift. They are the best everywhere.
Source: storiestogrowby.org
They are magic. So, in a sense, there are two surprising twists at the end of 'The Gift of the Magi': the trademark twist that characterizes most of O. Henry's short stories, and the 'twist' narrative that reverses our initial reaction. -Unfortunately, in the turn of narration of events, which is good-natured and possible to laugh at, Jim and Della end up with each other's 'useless gifts', but the moral point is that Jim and Della have acted unwisely.
That's all good, But it's worth noting that the narrator doesn't say what Jim and Della think are the 'smartest' of all the gift-givers. In the Gospel of Matthew, he went to the baby Jesus and gave him gold, the Magi who brought gifts of frankincense and myrrh;
Zoroastrian astrologers suggest that 'wise' here; Hence the title of the story. But what makes Jim and Della smart? O. Why didn't Henry tell us? Is it because he wants us to decide for ourselves, or does he think the answer is fairly self-explanatory? The latter is more likely.
Because its Christmas and the 'moral' of the 'Gift of the Magi' where Jim and Della can't afford the finer things in life but clearly love each other and treat each other well. More important than possessions. When Christmas comes, buying gifts for loved ones is really something to think about.
But there is little more to the old adage that 'giving is better than receiving' and 'giving is better than receiving' and 'giving is more important than money and love'. Both of these statements are relevant to the story, but what is relevant is the two characters' sacrifices and their reactions to learning its implications.
Source: chicagocritic.com
So while Jim is happy to part with a gold watch that's been passed down through three generations, and Della is happy to lose her hair (it will take months to regrow, despite her objections); The gift someone else wants most. But in a twist of the story, they learn that their personal sacrifices made for the love of the other are in vain.
But they are happy about this because they are bringing it to someone else, not because of the gesture of buying a gift, but because of the high cost. love, O. Henry seems to be talking about giving up what you value most in order to show your loved ones that you should love them more.
In other words, the unique thing about 'giving' is that its virtue is 'giving is better than receiving', but 'giving' is more important because 'giving' is more important. It's not practical. Use it for them. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates program designed to earn advertising fees for websites by linking to Amazon.co.uk. Our editors will review your submission and decide if the article should be revised. Our editors will review your submission and decide if the article should be revised.
The short story The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry was published in the New York Sunday World in 1905 and collected in The Four Million (1906). The story revolves around James and Della Dillingham Young, a poor but young couple who decide separately to give each other a present on Christmas Eve.
the gift of the magi sparknotes, protagonist of the gift of the magi, the gift of the magi characters, the gift of the magi literary analysis, summary of the gift of the magi, della and jim, the gift of the magi theme, gifts of the magi story