O. Henry wrote The Gift of the Magi in 1906 and this short story deals with the warmth that people have around Christmas day. The story happens the night before Christmas and the atmosphere is very familiar and inviting because the main characters are people who care about each other and who are good-hearted. All of the elements in the story suggest that people should have faith in humanity and that the Christmas spirit still spreads love through the world.
This short story is great and both Della and Jim are caring and benevolent characters who show that love is all that matters. The story is sentimental and restores optimism in people especially because of the twist in the end. The story is told by the omniscient third person narrator and this gives it the tone of credibility. “It is short, compact, swift-moving, and it concludes with a surprise which powerfully implements the theme – self-sacrificing love” (Pooley 246). The story is not completely self-sacrificing because nobody loses their life as it develops, but both Della and Jim lose what is most precious to them. However, there is a slight difference between the two of them because Della’s hair will grow back and be stunningly beautiful, while Jim can never get his watch back because it has more sentimental than real value. Both of them are loving and caring people who believe in humanity and in good in people.
The Gift of the Magi is a very special story because it reflects human nature in particular because of the depiction of great emotions that only great people are able to experience. This is a real holiday story which inspires people in countless ways because it makes them be aware of their own spirituality and the symbolism of giving presents to dear people.
Love is one of the main themes in this story because it is related to young people who are poor but who believe in love and self-sacrificing behavior. Their home is welcoming although they are very poor and have to sell their most valuable assets in order to buy gifts for each other. This is in contrast with the world that revolves around money which is distant from their kitchen table, but affects their life. Della is worried about Jim’s reaction to her new styling because she thinks that he might find her unattractive anymore. This story tells people that all they need in this cruel world is to love and be love in return. That is one thing which is priceless and cannot be bought. While Della is looking for the present for Jim she says that she needs: “Something almost worth the honor of belonging to Jim” (O. Henry 2). She is happy to be his wife and nothing else matters to her apart from finding a suitable present for her love. The fact that it is Christmas time, when people are generous towards one another, makes her wish even more valuable.
Della and Jim are the protagonists of the story and they sell their most valuable assets in order to buy Christmas presents to each other. This story teaches people about sacrificing and nothing is too expensive when it comes to love. The whole story revolves around sacrificing for love and about the grandeur and splendor of this feeling. “Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result” (O. Henry 2). Della is devastated by the fact that she did not manage to save enough money to buy a present worthy of her husband. She was thinking about it for a long time, but her result was modest which is why she resorted to selling her hair.
This married couple is wise because they show each other the fact that sacrificing for love is the greatest present. When Della finds out that Jim made the same sacrifice for love, she finds out that her decision was the right choice. The two of them are soul mates because they cherish their love more than anything else in the world which is why they come across the same idea of committing self-sacrifice.
There is also the topic of wealth in the story and its true meaning because this story proves that love is worth more than having lots of money. Della and Jim are poor, but they love makes them as rich as if they were billionaires. Their respect for each other makes them respectable and admirable. They have much dignity and this makes them real valuable human beings whose glory lies in the fact that they are capable of loving.
Another interesting topic is femininity which is reflected by Della who shows her love by selling her hair. If she was admired for having luscious hair, she will be even more admired for being selfless. Della is a loving person, but she is afraid about what her husband might think about her looks. “If Jim doesn’t kill me, “she said to herself, “before he looks at me for the second time, he’ll say I look like a girl who sings and dances for money” (O. Henry 4). She is too much concerned about Jim’s reaction and she should not be because it is her body and she can do whatever she feels like with it.
This story teaches people about love and sacrifice as well as about the true meaning of wealth. The most important thing in life is to find love and get married so that a person can share the good and the bad with that person. None of these feelings can be bought which is what this story shows to the readers.
Works Cited
Henry, O. "The Gift of the Magi." americanenglish.state.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. <http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/1-the_gift_of_the_magi_0.pdf>.
Pooley, Robert C. "Lesson Plans in Reading: V. Teaching a Didactic Short Story." 33.5 (1944): 246-47. Print.
