O._Henry

Candice Cooper Mr. Nikolaus ENG—11 31 March 2010 The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry Plot: The story starts out with “one dollar and eighty-seven cents” This is all the money that Della has to buy her wonderful husband a Christmas gift. With Christmas being the next day, she sits on the couch and bursts into tears while deliberating what she can possibly do to get enough money to buy her husband an amazing gift. As she’s sitting on the couch the author goes into detail about their financial situation. He explains how Jim’s hours have been cut back and expenses outweigh their salary. Although they do not make much money, each other’s love is all they need to make them rich. After her episode of sobbing, she has a quick look out the window. Then in a quick turn, turns around and shortly after lets her knee-length hair down. The author then describes how the young couple have but two possessions in which they were very proud of; Jim’s family heirloom, a gold watch, and Della’s hair. She “nervously” puts her hair up and gets dressed for the cold. She walks to the beauty shop and asks the beautician if she would buy her hair. The lady said she would give twenty dollars for it. Just what she was hoping for! With the money she earns she buys the perfect gift for her husband; a chain for his watch. She then returns home. Worried Jim will no longer find her attractive she tries to make her hair presentable. After that she begins cooking dinner and starting the coffee. When Jim arrives home he simply stares at her with no expression on his face. Extremely worried she hurried over to him and explained that she had to do it for money because she couldn’t bare not getting him a wonderful gift for Christmas. After that, Jim explains that once she opens her gift she would understand what made him have the reaction he did. She tears open her gift to find a fancy set of combs she’d wanted for a while. She cries out in joy only to immediately after begin sobbing. Once she gets over it she gives Jim his present. When Jim sees the chain he explains to Della that he had sold his watch to get her a present for Christmas. He then suggests they put the gifts away and have dinner. As they do, the narrator ends by saying how Della and Jim are the wisest of everyone who gives gifts. They are the magi which were the group of the three wise men in the bible who visited Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Jesus bringing with them gifts. Characters: Della- she is a very loving and selfless young lady. She lives for one thing and that is for her husband James. Her love for Jim seems to outweigh any of the problems that have come about in her life such as being poor. I would definitely say she was devoted to him in every way; so much that she would give up her one prized position, her hair. It is described as being capable of “depreciating” the Queen of Sheba’s gifts and jewels. She sells her hair to get her husband a chain for his gold watch. She does this as a sign of respect for her husband. Since he is the bread winner for the young family she wants to show him that appreciates his hard work. James (“Jim”) - he seems to be a little tired, overworked, and even underweight. He doesn’t seem to have time for anything other than work including eating much. He, too, seems completely dedicated to the happiness of his wife. He brings in the salary for the young family and yet no where is it mentioned that he complains. Although it is implied that it is not a pleasant job, he doesn’t seem to mind as long as his wife is happy. He is also selfless when it comes to getting his wife a Christmas gift. He gave up his only prized possession for enough money to get his beautiful wife some combs for her gorgeous hair. He would do anything to make his beloved Della happy. He does this to show his love for Della. I think he may feel as though he is not good enough for his wife sometime with his low paying job and by giving up his watch he is showing her that he really loves her and he would do whatever it took to make her happy. Setting: The story primarily takes place in a cheap flat that Della and Jim live in and it’s December considering the holiday. Point of View: I feel this story is told in third person limited. It is limited because we do not know things until the characters know them. We do not know when Della cuts her hair that her husband has sold his watch. The reader learns that at the same moment Della does. Themes: Sacrifice- the entire story is a story of sacrifice. Della sacrifices her prized possession to get her husband a great gift only to find out her husband had done the same thing and the gifts they had gotten each other were no longer of use to them. Love- even though they were a poor couple and were barely getting by the love of one another was all they need to make them rich. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this would definitely be it! Symbolism: The possessions that each character gives up could be seen as symbols. Jim gives up all his time and Della all of her beauty which in turn leads to most important gift of all, each others love. I also find the number three to be of significance. In paragraph one it is said how Della counts her money three times. Their chops are mention three times. In paragraph five he says grey three times. There were three wise men and they bore three gifts. The story centers on three valuables: Jim's gold watch, Della's hair, and the love Jim and Della share. This is all in reference to Christianity. The number three has significance in Christianity as a whole and even more specifically to the story of Jesus' birth: three wise men came to celebrate the birth of Jesus, they brought with them three gifts, they were from three different places, Jesus died as one of three who were crucified and he rose after three days, and three is the number of the people of God in the Trinity. Tone and Irony: Tone- The narrator seems as though to be speaking directly to his audience in maybe a tone of wisdom' He is certainly telling a story within a story. He seems as if he is giving you a lesson in gift giving and how you should be selfless in doing so. Irony- The story definitely has a sense of irony. Although they were both unselfish in sacrificing their possessions in order to better the others, they end up having no use of either of the gifts in the end when they learn of they each others sacrifice. Critical Analysis: Religious- I approached this short story with a religious analysis. Knowing the story of the three wise men helps me to better understand this story by making the connections of sacrificial gift giving. In the story of the three wise men, they brought gifts such as perfumes and gold. Neither of which are really any use to a baby, but they were their most prized possessions and therefore were perfect sacrifices of the men.