Themes In The Gift Of The Magi
Themes In The Gift Of The Magi - The Gift of the Magi' is a short story written by the American short story writer O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). His stories are characterized by humor, narrative style, their occasional emotions and their unexpected surprises. All of these things have become a signature feature, and 'Gift of the Magi' includes them all to some extent.
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Themes 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 the summary and analysis of O. Henry's story below. We discuss some of the key themes of 'The Gift of the Magi' in a separate post.
It's Christmas. Jim and Della are a couple who live in a modestly furnished apartment in New York. They have little money. The story begins with Della being upset because she only has one dollar and eighty-seven to spend on Christmas for her husband. The narrator says that the couple each have their favorite things.
For Jim, it's a gold watch that belonged to his father before it belonged to his grandfather. Della's most valuable asset is her beautiful hair. Della went to the seller. The woman agreed to buy Della's hair for twenty dollars. With the money she recently earned, Della went to buy a platinum fob for Jim's gold chain.
The Gift Of The Magi And Other Stories Questions And Answers
This costs him twenty-one dollars, leaving him only eighty-seven dollars in the world. When she got home she got ready to twist what was left of her hair so it was visible. When Jim returns home, he is surprised by his wife's actions, but when he explains why he cut her hair, he hugs her and gives her the gift he bought her: two jewels, which he happily displayed in the shop window.
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Fame won't do him any good until his hair grows back, but at least he can give Jim his present... But in the end, Jim tells Della that he sold his gold watch to pay for the expensive fame he bought her. So now she has two breasts but no hair to go with them and she has a platinum chain for a gold watch that she no longer has.
Many of O. Henry's short stories - most of them only five or six pages long - are characterized by their twists and turns, and 'The Gift of the Magi' is a good example of this quality of his work. In an attempt to buy each other Christmas presents, young Jim and Della end up sacrificing the very things their gifts were meant to complement: Della's hair accessories (sold) and Jim's watch line (sold).
As the narrator notes in the last paragraph: The magicians, as you know, were clever - wonderfully clever - who brought gifts to Babe in the ark. They invented the art of Christmas gift giving. Being smart, their talents were undoubtedly smart, they probably had the ability to exchange in case of imitation.
Study Guide For The Gift Of The Magi And Other Stories
And here I share with the disabled the unmistakable story of the two foolish children in the attic who made a foolish sacrifice of their house's great wealth. But O. Henry invites us not to laugh at their stupidity, but to celebrate their sacrifices. Indeed, what motivated them was not stupidity, but wisdom, as the narrator says in the story's closing words: But in a final word to the wise men of today, let us say that of the gift-givers these two are the most convinced.
Of all people who give and receive gifts, such as wisdom. Everywhere they are smart. They are eggs. So there are, in a way, two unexpected things at the end of 'The Gift of the Magi': the plot to sell the evidence of many short stories about O. Henry, and the 'revolution' where he undermines our first answer - which could be
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a good laugh - in a nice unexpected way the situation has already been mentioned - and it makes a moral point that Jim and Della behave with wisdom even if they end up giving 'useless' gifts. That's all well and good, but it's worth noting that the narrator doesn't spoil why he thinks Jim and Della were the 'smartest' of all gift-givers.
Of course, the 'wise man' is referred to here by the Magi, the Zoroastrian astrologers, who in the Gospel of Matthew visit the baby Jesus and bring him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh: hence the title of the story. . But what makes Jim and Della so smart?
Essays For The Gift Of The Magi And Other Stories
And why doesn't O. Henry tell us? Was it because he wanted us to decide for ourselves, or did he think the answer was self-explanatory? The latter seems more likely. In fact, the 'moral' of 'Gift of the Magi', based on its Christmas and the fact that Jim and Della really love and care for each other, even though they don't have money to buy the good things in life, is that love
are more important than possessions. When it comes to Christmas and buying gifts for our loved ones, it's really the thoughts that matter. But there is not much more to 'The Gift of the Magi' than this old hasty fable, which would reduce the story to sentimental and rather twee fables about 'giving is better than receiving' and 'love is stronger than money'.
These two expressions are related to the story, but what is also appropriate is the sacrifice that both characters make and their reaction to learning the consequences of this. So Jim is happy to part with a gold watch that has been worn by men for three generations, while Della is happy to lose her hair (which, despite her protests, will take months to grow out) to buy someone else's gift
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. But with the twists and turns of the story, they realize that their sacrifices - their will to love each other - have been in vain. But they enjoyed it, not because of gift shopping, but because of the high cost of using the other person.
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Love, O. Henry seems to say, is giving up what you love most in order to show your lover - the one you should love most - an example of your devotion. In other words, the strange thing about 'The Gift of the Magi' is that its attitude seems to be that 'giving is better than receiving' but 'giving and losing is all that matters' because it
they receive, is not important. Apply to. 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, an affiliate marketing program designed to allow websites to earn money from advertising through Amazon.co.uk.
Della and Jim's selfless love underpins every decision they make in the story: Della, for example. gets several months of Christmas shopping for Jim. With a lot of energy to spare, she sacrificed what she loved most - her hair - to buy a gift that expressed her undying love for Jim.
Later, Jim reassures and affirms Della's victim, saying that her outward appearance, like her haircut, does not affect his love for her. Similarly, Jim sells his precious watch to buy Della a full-length curly hairstyle. Couples who sacrifice their best interests for each other's happiness embrace a rich, everlasting love that transcends material possessions and material possessions.
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