the gift of magi essay with subheadings

The Gift of the Magi Essay: Summary & Analysis

Looking for The Gift of the Magi essay? Summary and analysis of the themes, characters, and irony in the short story by O’Henry are below.

• Main Characters
• Main Themes
• Personal Opinion

Works Cited

O. Henry, an American writer, is famous for his short stories with an unpredictable ending. The Gift of the Magi is one of his masterpieces, which has become a traditional Christmas tale. In this story, the author shows genuine love between young spouses, which is more precious than any material possessions. In this essay, the plot will be summarized, the main themes and characters will be discussed, and personal opinions will be given.

The Gifts of the Magi Summary

The story takes place just before Christmas, and Della Young is concerned about what she should give her husband, Jim, as a present. She counts her savings and finds only $1.87, which is not enough to buy a worthy gift. She is frustrated since she wants to present her husband with something he deserves for his hard work. Della tries to find a way out of the situation and finally comes up with an idea. The most precious thing she has is her long shining brown hair. After she looks at it in the mirror, she dresses up and goes to Madame Sofronie, a hairdresser. The woman cuts Della’s hair quickly and gives her $20.

Having enough money, Della visits several shops to find a present for Jim. She is not satisfied with anything she finds until she knows exactly what she needs. Della remembers that her husband’s most valuable thing is his gold watch, but he has to wear it with a leather strap since the original one has been broken. The woman finds a platinum chain that will perfectly suit the watch, pays $21 for it, and goes home.

When Jim arrives and sees his wife without her gorgeous hair, he becomes surprised and puzzled. Della cannot understand his reaction until she unpacks his present for her. She discovers a set of combs that she has desired for a long time, but since she does not have her long hair anymore, they appear to be useless. To comfort her husband, she hands him the platinum chain, only to find out that Jim has sold his gold watch to buy a present for her. Jim suggests they should put away their Christmas gifts and have dinner. The story ends with the statement that Della and Jim are the wisest of those who give presents.

The Gifts of the Magi Characters

Della is one of the two main characters of the story. She is young and beautiful, and she is distinguished by her complete devotion to her husband. Della appreciates him so much that she does not agree to present him with some trifle because he deserves something precious. For this reason, she dares sell her hair, which is the only treasure she possesses. She explains to Jim that she “couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present” (O. Henry 5). Apart from being deeply in love with her husband, Della is a highly emotional person. She does not hold back her tears when she is desperate and does not restrain her laugh when she is happy. Moreover, her mood can change in an instant, which happens when she grieves over her haircut, and the next moment she is anxious to give Jim his Christmas gift. Perhaps, the abundance of emotions contributed to Della’s deep affection for her husband.

Since Jim appears on the scene only at the end of the story, readers do not know his thoughts, but they see his actions. Like Della, Jim sacrificed the most precious thing he had, his gold watch, to buy a present for his wife. Thus, it may be assumed that he is as deeply in love with Della as she is with him. After all, the story is intended to show true affection, which is why the author made his characters so pure and loving.

The Gifts of the Magi Themes

The major theme of the story is pure love, which is the most valuable thing in the world. It is unconditional since Della and Jim do not need anything special from each other; they are just happy to be together. When Della counts her scarce savings, she does not even think to blame her husband for earning little money. On the contrary, she is happy to be his wife and wants to give him the best present she can afford ( Study Guide 5). Due to the couple’s sacrifices, the author compares them to the magi who brought presents to baby Jesus (Zhang and Wang 657). However, he says that Jim and Della are wiser because they gave each other the most precious gift in the world, which is pure love (Zhang and Wang 657). Thus, the story conveys the idea of a relationship that should be pursued by everyone.

The Gift of the Magi also tackles the theme of wealth and poverty. According to Nagel, the story “resonates throughout American marriages, many of which went through periods of economic struggle at some point” (102). Indeed, the Young family is very poor, and Della has to haggle with vendors over every single penny (Tong 207). Even though they hardly make ends meet, Della and Jim are happy because they possess a much greater treasure than money – their love. As Zhang and Wang rightly stated, “There is no pure love in the world of money while there is no money in the world of love” (657). The story, therefore, conveys the idea that material possessions do not play a significant role in human life because deep affection is the only thing that matters.

The Gifts of the Magi Critique

Although the story is written to show readers pure love and encourage them to pursue this feeling in their lives, it seems slightly unreasonable when regarded from a realistic rather than a romantic point of view. The exchange of useless gifts would not have happened if the spouses had discussed their desires and plans with each other. Perhaps, they could have agreed upon a festive dinner or something pleasant for both, which would have saved their money and their personal treasures. After all, communication is a crucial part of a strong relationship. Therefore, instead of sacrificing something precious to surprise one’s partner, one had better inform him or her of one’s plans to avoid possible unpleasant consequences.

In conclusion, The Gift of the Magi is a kind and inspiring story about two young people truly loving each other. Their love is revealed by their willingness to sacrifice the most valuable things they own to bring joy to each other. Apart from the theme of affection, the story is concerned with the concepts of poverty and wealth. It asserts that rich people are not those with much money but those who love and are loved in return.

Nagel, James. The American Short Story Handbook . John Wiley & Sons, 2015.

O. Henry. The Gift of the Magi . Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing, 2018.

Study Guide for O. Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi.’ Gale, Cengage Learning, 2015.

Tong, Lu. “A Brief Analysis on the Typical Writing Styles of O. Henry.” Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research , vol. 30, 2016, pp. 205-208.

Zhang, Yue, and Lijun Wang. “On Different Types of Love Stories Written by O. Henry.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research , vol. 6, no. 3, 2015, pp. 656-661.

The Gifts of the Magi FAQ

• What Is the Theme of The Gift of the Magi? The main theme in the story by O’Henry is unconditional love. Sacrificing their most precious things to make the other one happy, Della and Jim show that love is more important for them than any material possessions.
• What Is the Irony in The Gift of the Magi? The most ironic episode in The Gift of the Magi takes place when Della opens the box with the gift from Jim. When she sees the tortoise shell combs, for a moment, she forgets that her hair isn’t long enough so she can use them.
• What Point of View Is The Gift of the Magi? The Gift of the Magi is written in the third person point of view. The narrator is a non-participant. The story is told using pronouns like “she,” “he,” “they,” and “it.”
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

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A Summary and Analysis of O. Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Gift of the Magi’ is a short story by the US short-story writer O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). His stories are characterised by their irony, their chatty narrative style, their occasional sentimentality, and by their surprise twist endings.

All of these things became something of a signature feature, and ‘The Gift of the Magi’ embodies them all to some extent. But what does this Christmas story mean?

You can read ‘The Gift of the Magi’ here before proceeding to our 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.

‘The Gift of the Magi’: plot summary

It is Christmas Eve. Jim and Della are a married couple living in a modest furnished flat in New York. They have little money. The story opens with Della upset because she has just one dollar and eighty-seven cents to spend on a Christmas present for her husband.

The narrator tells us the married couple each have a possession in which they take great pride. For Jim, it’s a gold watch that had been his father’s and, before that, his grandfather’s. Della’s prized possession is her beautiful hair.

Della goes to a woman who deals in hair goods. This woman agrees to buy Della’s hair for twenty dollars. With the newly acquired money, Della goes to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim’s gold watch. This costs her twenty-one dollars, leaving her just eighty-seven cents in the whole world. When she gets home, she sets about curling what’s left of her hair so it looks presentable.

When Jim gets home, he is surprised by his wife’s actions, but when she explains why she had her hair cut off, he embraces her and gives her the present he has bought her: two jewelled tortoiseshell combs she has long admired in a shop window. The combs are useless to her until her hair grows out again, but at least she can give Jim his present …

But in a last twist, Jim tells Della that he sold his gold watch to pay for the expensive combs he bought for her. So now, she has two combs but no hair to use them on, and he has a platinum fob chain for a gold watch he no longer owns.

‘The Gift of the Magi’: analysis

Many of O. Henry’s short stories – the majority of which stretch to only five or six pages – are marked by their ironic twists, and ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is a good example of this typical feature of his work.

In their attempts to buy each other their dream Christmas gift, young Jim and Della end up sacrificing the very things that their presents are designed to complement: the combs for Della’s (sold) hair, and the chain for Jim’s (sold) watch. As the narrator observes in the final paragraph:

The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.

But O. Henry is not inviting us to laugh at their folly, but to celebrate their sacrifice. Indeed, what motivated them was not foolishness but wisdom, as the narrator remarks in the story’s closing words:

But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

So there are, in a sense, two surprise twists at the end of ‘The Gift of the Magi’: the trademark plot twist which characterises most of O. Henry’s short stories, and the narratorial ‘twist’ in which he overturns our initial response – which might be to laugh good-naturedly at the unhappy turn of events which have just been narrated – and makes a moral point that Jim and Della behaved out of wisdom, even though they ended up with ‘useless’ presents from each other.

This is all well and good, but it’s worth noting that the narrator doesn’t gloss why he believes that Jim and Della were ‘wisest’ of all gift-givers. Of course, ‘wise’ here is suggested by the Magi, the Zoroastrian astrologers who, in the Gospel of Matthew , visited the infant Jesus and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh: hence the title of the story.

But what makes Jim and Della wise? And why doesn’t O. Henry tell us? Is it because he wanted us to make up our own minds, or did he assume that the answer was fairly self-explanatory?

The latter seems more likely. For surely the ‘moral’ of ‘The Gift of the Magi’, given its Christmas setting and the fact that Jim and Della clearly love each other and treat each other well despite having no money to afford the finer things in life, is that love is more important than possessions. And when it comes to Christmas and buying gifts for our loved ones, it really is the thought that counts.

But there’s a little more to ‘The Gift of the Magi’ than this rather hackneyed old adage, which would reduce the story to a sentimental and rather twee fable about ‘giving being better than receiving’ and ‘love being more important than money’. Both of these statements are relevant to the story, but what is also relevant is the element of sacrifice the two characters make, and their reaction to learning the implications of this.

So Jim is happy to part with a gold watch that has been passed down the male line for three generations, while Della is happy to lose her hair (which would, despite her protestations, take many months to grow back fully) in order to purchase the gift the other one most desires. But with the story’s twist, they learn that their personal sacrifices – committed for their love of the other one – have been in vain.

But they are happy about this, not because of the gesture of buying the gift but the great cost that it has incurred for the other. Love, O. Henry seems to say, is about giving up that which you most treasure in order to show your beloved – whom you should love even more – the extent of your devotion.

In other words, what is remarkable about ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is that its moral seems to be not just ‘giving is better than receiving’ but ‘giving and losing is all that matters’, since what they receive is of no practical use to them.

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Home › Literature › Analysis of O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi

Analysis of O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 24, 2021

Although many critics do not view O. Henry ’s stories as first-rate literature, some of his many hundreds of tales have become classic. “The Gift of the Magi,” touching as it does a common human cord, is one of those stories. Not tragic, perhaps sentimental or a little didactic, it combines the themes of married love and selfl essness with the techniques of suspense and the O. Henry surprise ending.

Della Dillingham Young and her husband, Jim, on the edge of poverty but deeply in love, wish to purchase Christmas gifts that will surprise and please the other. The narrator focuses on Della as she tries to figure a way to find enough money to buy her husband a fine gift. Each of them has a prize possession: Jim’s is a gold watch that belonged to his father and his grandfather, and Della’s is her long, thick, luxuriant hair. Suddenly Della realizes that she could sell her hair for enough money to buy Jim a gold chain for his watch. The touches of realistic detail add to the poignancy of her sacrifice: She had only $1.87 but, with the sale of her hair, she receives the $20 to buy the watch chain.

O. Henry/Wikimedia

At home, feeling shorn and sheepish, Della greets Jim with her school-boyish haircut. Because the narrator has focused on Della’s thoughts rather than Jim’s, readers feel suspense in waiting for his response. Not only does he tell her that he will love her no matter what she does with her hair, but he gives her two beautiful jeweled, tortoiseshell combs that she had admired. When Della gives him the watch chain, he suggests putting their fine presents away for a while: He has sold his watch so that he could buy Della the combs for her hair. The narrator points out that the two may have unwisely sacrificed their valuable possessions, but they are the wisest gift givers of all. Despite the moral and the sentiment—or perhaps because of them—“The Gift of the Magi” in its very simplicity appeals to a love and loyalty for which many modern readers, no matter how sophisticated, may still yearn.

Analysis of O. Henry’s Stories

BIBLIOGRAPHY Blansfi eld, Karen Charmaine. Cheap Rooms and Restless Hearts: A Study of the Formula in the Urban Tales of Porter Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Press, 1988. Henry, O. “The Gift of the Magi.” In Stories, edited by Harry Hansen. New York: Heritage Press, 1965.

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The Gift of the Magi

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

"Gift of the Magi" revolves around a young couple, Della and Jim , who lack a lot in the way of material possessions and external amusements. The beginning of the story focuses on their poverty—the shabby couch, the lack of mirror, the eight-dollar flat, the broken doorbell. Despite this, the narrator adds that Jim always arrives home to be “greatly hugged. Which is all very good.” Their poverty doesn’t seem to affect their cozy home…

Della’s main concern is that the money she’s saved by pinching pennies isn’t enough to buy Jim a worthy Christmas present. For her, the main obstacle that poverty poses to her happiness is its limitation of her expression of love.

After the twist ending, Jim sits back on the couch and smiles, even after it’s revealed that both their gifts are now useless. Because while the gift themselves have no purpose, the giving of the…

At the beginning of the story, Della and Jim have only two prized possessions—Della’s hair and Jim’s watch . In order to overcome their poverty and to give a good Christmas present to the other, each sacrifices the item that they value the most. The sacrifices turn out to have been made rather uselessly, since the gifts they buy can’t be used. One could argue that they ended the story in the same place they…

“Gift of the Magi” constantly contrasts the idea of inner beauty and value with outside appearances. The story begins, for example, with a description of bleak surroundings (“a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray background,” “shabby couch”) while hinting at a warm home life that brightens the exterior ( Jim arrives home “to be greatly hugged”). When Della examines the watch chain, she also compares its exterior appearance and actual value to…

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• The Gift of Magi

Introduction

The Gift of Magi is a short story written by an American short story writer, William Sydney Porter . He has written his literary works under the pen name of O’ Henry . This story was first published in 1905.

It is a sentimental tale of a financially upset couple. Both of them sold out their prized possessions in order to buy presents for each other for Christmas. In the end, their gifts become useless.

This story is written in the 19th century highlighting the economic disturbance of those times. It also throws light on the prevailing materialism in society. One can also find it a commentary on the sufferings and struggles of the middle class trying to overcome the upset financial situation.

The Gift of Magi Summary

Della Dillingham, holding 1.87 dollars in her hand wanders here and there in the room. She is worried because it’s Christmas Eve and she needs to buy a gift for her loving and caring husband to show that she loves her too.  Also, she feels like crying because she doesn’t know what to do.

Moreover, the couple lives in a small and simple apartment. James Young Dillingham is a gentleman and husband of Della. He works in an office in the city. Recently he was receiving 30 dollars a week which has drastically fallen to 20 dollars a week and due to which the family upsets a bit. 

The only pride with the Dillingham family is the gold watch James is having which is believed to be given to his father by his grandfather. On the other side, Della’s most beautiful thing is her hair. James loves her long brown hair.

Della is thinking about how to give James a gift. Meantime she comes in front of the mirror in her room. The narrator describes it as not a good mirror as it is thin and gets very difficult for anyone to catch his glimpse in it. However, Della is a thin girl so she easily catches a view of herself.

In all of her nervousness, she opens her hair which falls to its full length to her knees. She has beautiful brown hair which shines brightly. Upon seeing her hair, an idea probes in her mind. She rushes to the stairs and goes down to the street and sees the name of the shop on the street Mrs Sofronie. 

She runs towards the shop and goes inside and asks Mrs Sofronie whether she will buy her hair or not. She tells her to open her hair. When she sees her brown hair fall like a stream from top to her knees she at once says 20 dollars.

After the haircut, Della goes to the market to buy a gift for James. Now she has 21 dollars and 87 cents. She crosses the whole market and a number of shops until she finds a beautiful watch chain. When she looks at it she at once thinks of buying it. Eventually, she buys it and thinks like it was made for James. She returns home happily.  

Similarly, she is smiling and blushing that how happy and delighted James will be when he sees this beautiful watch chain as he was already in need of one.

Subsequently, she comes home and straightly goes to her room. Sitting in her room she thinks about her hair cut which seems more like a schoolboy cut. On this, she becomes slightly upset as it was her most beautiful and dear possession.  Due to this, she also imagines how badly James will feel when he comes to know her hair is gone. Then, she keeps waiting in her room for James to return home.

 At 7 o’clock, James arrives and she listens to his steps approaching the room. She excitedly goes downstairs and stops there as James looks at her strangely because of her haircut. She tells him not to look at her like that because his weird look is hurting her. She asks whether James loves her in long hair and will not love her like this. 

Upon hearing this from Della, James comes near her and says nothing can lessen his love for her. Then, he expresses his disappointment by showing the gift he bought for her. At that time, he says to Della if she sees what he has brought for her as a gift she would feel the same as he felt. Della steps towards the gift and as her white finger opens the box tears come out of her eyes.

There are two beautiful jeweled combs which she has seen in a shop and wanted it but she couldn’t buy it. James says that he sold his gold watch to buy this for her. Now her hair is gone so they are of no worth or use for her. Della, though upset, builds courage and says to James to forget about these gifts as they are worthy of not our use for now, and let’s enjoy our Christmas night as we are losing time.

Themes in The Gift of Magi

Endless love.

One of the themes of this story written by O’ Henry is the revelation of endless love between the couple. They both sell their valuable things to buy gifts for one another and to show how much they love each other. Della sells her hair and buys a watch chain for her husband and lover as he has not got a good chain with his family watch. So she sells her hair, a beautiful thing for her love.

One the other side James sells his family watch given to him by his father to buy a gift for her wife. This shows and proves how much they love each other. In the end, the love they are having for one another triumphs over the material things.

O’ Henry has tactfully interwoven the theme of inner and outer beauty. Throughout the story, one can see the narrator praising Della’s hair and Jim’s watch. Similarly, there are also the glimpses of outer beauty occurring in the prized gifts they bought for each other.

However, all those things possess only outer beauty as those are only material objects. The very inner beauty lies in both characters; the love they are having for each other. Those material objects also reflect the love and selflessness they are having. In the end, the objects of outer beauty fail but love gains victory.

Readers may find the spark of selflessness in both characters. This very element leads them to sacrifice. Della, being a woman of beautiful hairs, the only possession she has, sacrificed it for her love. She just wanted to see delightfulness on Jim’s face.

On the other hand, Jim also sacrificed his prized possession, passed down to him from generations for her wife. He wanted to give Della happiness on the Eve of Christmas. For this, he sold his watch.

Characters Analysis

Della dillingham.

She is the caring, beautiful, and loving wife of Jim Dillingham. She calls him Jim shortly and with love. Moreover, she has only prized possession that is her beautiful hair with the length from head to knees. Readers may explore most of the story through her perspective.

Similarly, she is described as an affectionate and selfless character. From the start of the story, she seems worried about how to purchase a gift of Christmas for her husband. She tried her best to save even a single penny. But in the end, money is not enough to buy any gift for Jim. So, she thought it best to cut her hair in order to buy him a fob chain. This shows her deep love for Jim and her selfless nature.

James Dillingham

James Young Dillingham called by Della as Jim is a gentleman of age 22 but has a burden of responsibilities of running home and family. Nevertheless the heavy burden, he seems content, quiet, and good-natured.

Just like his wife he has only prized possession of a gold watch passed down from generations. Similar in manner to his wife, he sold his prized possession and bought a gift of tortoise comb for Della. This describes his love and cares towards Della. 

Madame Sofronie

She is the owner of the hair shop to which Della sells her hair. She is described as a brusque and cold lady. Moreover, she so much to the point that she didn’t waste time in evaluating and paid twenty dollars for the hairs of Della.

Literary Analysis

This story recounts the endless love between the couple, the way they sacrificed their prized possessions for each other. On one hand, Della cut her hair to make enough money to buy a fob chain for Jim. On the other hand, Jim sells his gold watch, passed down from generations, just to buy a beautiful comb for Della.

However, their sacrifices also elaborate foolishness. They bought one other beautiful and prized gifts but that turns out in vain. Tortoise comb is useless without Della’s hair. In the same way, the fob chain is useless with Jim’s gold watch. This alludes to the very gifts brought by wise men for Jesus on his birth. Similarly, those gifts were also useless for Christ but all that matters is love and sincerity with which gifts are bought.

The couple expressing the way of love is also weird. This depicts the materialism that was prevalent in those times. The 19th century was the age of industrialism which sprouts out materialism, economic disturbance, and class consciousness. Readers can find the aforementioned glimpses when both characters chose materials to express love for each other.

Moreover, the view of their apartment also mirrors the middle-class society of those times. Jim was overburdened with financial responsibilities. Though, he struggles a lot but couldn’t stabilize his family.

Despite low income, they have maintained to furnish their apartments so the people can socialize with them. This highlights the concept of that society that everyone socializes with materials, not with humans. Emotions and feelings were kept aside.

O’ Henry seems to be rebuking the concept of materialism. He alludes to the Queen of Sheba and King of Solomon to represent the jewels and wealth by comparing them with the possessions of Della and Jim. He is of the view that strong emotions are attached to those things; Della’s hairs and Jim’s watch. However, they sacrificed it for love.

In this way, he criticizes society’s proclivity towards material gains. He seems to advocate the value of sincerity and love that society lacked. Though those three kings also bought precious presents, their emotions and sincerity are counted anyway.

In the end, O’ Henry calls both of the characters wise. There he makes it explicit though both of them sold out things to buy gifts for Christmas. However, the only thing that beheld the couple and remained until the end was love.

O’ Henry uses the situation of Christmas to highlight that occasion not just means exchange of gifts. Rather it means unity, sincerity, and love. Even without materials, you can celebrate it if one’s heart is pure.

Significance of the Title

The title of this story can be elaborated with two perspectives.

Firstly, the title is a biblical allusion of three wise men or kings who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh for Christ on his birth in Bethlehem.

Likewise, O’ Henry develops this idea of precious gifts and love via Della and Jim’s character. Della and Jim have sacrificed their most prized possessions for one another so they are relatable with aforementioned wise men.

The story takes place in a tiny apartment which costs eight dollars a month. However, the location and time period is not explicitly mentioned. But one can assume that the story is set in the early 1900s in New York.

O’ Henry has used the following symbols in the story:

Della’s Hair

In the story, Della’s hair represents her youth and beauty. O’ Henry uses incredible imagery to describe her hair by depicting its length to her knees. Besides these, Della’s hair is also a symbol of love and sacrifice that she did for her husband Jim. She wanted to give him a precious present to show her love. However, she didn’t have enough money, so she cut her hair just to buy Jim a precious gift.

Jim’s Gold Watch

Jim’s gold watch has passed down to him through generations. This expresses the sentiments of Jim’s ties to his family. Moreover, it also symbolizes his love for Della and the time he spent working to support the household.

Nevertheless, the memories attached to the gold watch he sold it out to buy a beautiful gift for his wife Della. Given that, it represents the unstable financial position of the young couple as well.

O’ Henry has used incredible imagery at different places to mirror the exact view before the readers. At first, O’ Henry describes the mortification of Della of being a miser. He draws colour imagery to paint the image of Della’s cheek that “one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony”.

Moreover, O’ Henry has tactfully depicted the doleful feelings of Della that readers are fully able to understand it. The narrator says “She stood by the window and looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard” . This provides glimpses of her sorrows and disappointment as she hasn’t enough money to buy a gift for Jim at Christmas.

Similarly, O’ Henry shows the apartment of a young couple. He uses pun on certain words to contradict the outlook of Della for her house. He describes “ It did not exactly beggar description “. However, then he uses the phrase “mendicancy squad” which also means beggar. 

In this way, he shows that the apartment is tiny and in the possession of a financially unstable couple but they have managed to keep it well with all they have.

Likewise, O’ Henry pinpoints Della’s meagre situation by saying “ On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat”. This depicts how poor she is surviving a little.

Further, Della’s hair and Jim’s watch worth is described by comparing it with Queen of Sheba and King of Solomon. By this O’ Henry describes how Della makes Sheba envious by the charm of her hairs. Even King Solomon’s treasures lose their worth when Jim passes by with his watch.

Literary Devices

Verbal irony.

O’ Henry has applied verbal irony when describing the only prized possessions of both characters.  Firstly, he compares Della’s hairs with the jewels of Queen of Sheba that even Sheba would be envious of the beauty of her hair. On the other hand, he describes King Solomon despite the wealth that he would be anxious to hold Jim’s watch in his hands.

 However, in the end, both sacrificed their only prized possessions to buy gifts for each other. But those gifts; a fob chain is useless without Jim’s gold watch. Likewise, the tortoise comb is useless without Della’s hair. Their gifts are useless just like the gifts of those wise men who brought precious gifts for baby Jesus. But all that matters is love, intimacy, and sacrifice of those gifts.

Dramatic Irony

It happens when Della opens up Jim’s present finds a tortoise comb. For a short moment, she forgets that she had cut her hair and now it is useless for her.

Also, it may happen when readers beforehand know that Jim has sold his watch to buy the present for Della.

Situational Irony

It occurs when Della didn’t understand the expression of Jim’s face. She thought his love was gone with her hair. However, the reason was the wastage of Jim’s present for Della as she cut her hair.

Readers beforehand understood the weird expression of Jim’s face. But Della failed to comprehend that.

The title alludes to three wise men or kings who brought precious gifts for Jesus on his birth. Moreover, O’ Henry alludes to “ Queen of Sheba” and “King of Solomon” to describe the worth of both character’s possessions.

Hyperbole occurs when the narrator describes the prized possessions of both characters. Firstly he compares Della’s hair with “ Queen of Sheba” and how envious she becomes after seeing Della’s hairs despite Her Majesty’s jewels.

Secondly, he exaggerates the worth of Jim’s watch with the anxiousness of “King Solomon” just to catch a glimpse of it. He would forget all his treasures before this watch.

Metaphors, Personification, and Similes

One may find the narrator personifying Della’s haggling and desire of saving money with the power of bulldozers. The narrator says “Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer”. In the same manner, the narrator personifies Della’s embarrassment for being parsimonious with the burning “ one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony”.

Moreover, the narrator beautifies Della’s hair by metaphorically relating it to waterfall “ Down rippled the brown cascade”

Similarly, one can see similes when the narrator describes the hair cut of Della resembling “ like a truant schoolboy”. Moreover, with the help of simile narrator depicts her look after the hair cut “like a Coney Island chorus girl”

Genre & Tone

The Gift of Magi is a short story containing the elements of realistic fiction. It is told through a rueful and affectionate tone.

More From O. Henry

Short stories.

• A Retrieved Reformation
• The Green Door
• A Service of Love
• The Last Leaf
• The Ransom of Red Chief
• The Cop and the Anthem
• The Furnished Room
• Memoirs of a Yellow Dog

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Gift of the Magi — The Gift of the Magi: A Reflection of Pure Love and Sacrifice

The Gift of The Magi: a Reflection of Pure Love and Sacrifice

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Published: Feb 12, 2024

Words: 603 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

• O. Henry. The Four Million: The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories . First Avenue Editions, 2019.
• Rehman, Hassin ur, et al. “Sacrification of Beloved Things for the Sake of True and Pure Love with the Special Reference of the Gift of Magi by O. Henry.” International Journal of English and Education , vol. 7, no. 1, 2018, pp. 264-269.

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The Gift of the Magi Introduction

The first time you hear somebody mention O. Henry you might think they're sighing about some guy named Henry (Oh, Henry!), rather than referring to a particular person. But yes, there is an important author named O. Henry. Well, he's not really named O. Henry – that was just a pen name for the man whose real name was William Sydney Porter. And though he might not be quite as crazily popular as he was a hundred years ago, when he was writing, he's still considered one of the great American short story authors. O. Henry's stories are known for the sentimental warmth that shines through many of them, their playful and optimistic sense of humor, and especially for their twist endings. They're also often written in a uniquely oral style, as if the narrator (or O. Henry himself) were telling you the tale in person. They are perfect for reading aloud. " The Gift of the Magi " was originally published in 1906, in O. Henry's second collection of short stories, The Four Million . "The Gift of the Magi" is probably his greatest hit, and displays all of the major O. Henry traits in abundance. Since it was first published, it's buried itself deep in popular culture. It's been retold and repackaged in countless stories, magazine columns, TV specials, musicals, movies, parodies, you name it. It's also one of those classic "Christmas stories" that people usually read during the holidays. But even if you're familiar with one or more of the many imitations – whether it's the Sesame Street holiday special or The Simpsons – it's worth checking out the original. O. Henry's a master storyteller.

What is The Gift of the Magi About and Why Should I Care?

Have you ever loved someone and wanted to find him or her just the perfect present? Our bet is you have. Could be your mom, could be your significant other. And once you're in that gift-giving frame of mind, you're in the situation of Della, the main character from "The Gift of the Magi." That's why whenever the Christmas season rolls around, people (and television networks) go in for this story big time. You'll probably also face the same questions Della did. What is a perfect gift? And how much (money, time, etc.) are you willing to give up to find something that would really matter to that person? You might even be lead to some surprisingly large questions. What really matters, and what's really valuable? For a short, simple, and delightful way of assuring yourself that "all you need is love," this story's hard to beat. Read it to get a major case of the warm and fuzzies. Though it might also make you think more carefully about just what "love" means. Besides all that, to be honest, you've probably encountered this story somewhere even if you didn't know it. You might have seen it filtered through Sesame Street (which lodged it forever in your child subconscious), or you might have seen it recently parodied while watching The Simpsons . "The Gift of the Magi" is the original, though, and in our opinion, nothing's really touched it. It's hard not to be charmed by O. Henry 's storytelling style.

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The Gift of the Magi

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Discussion Questions

How do the narrator’s intrusive comments throughout the story affect your experience reading the story?

Compare and contrast Jim and Della’s characters.

How does the presumed setting (New York in the early 20th century) affect the characters and the plot of the story?

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