The Gift of The Magi

The Gift of the Magi is a short story written by O. Henry is a story about a wife and her husband buying Christmas gifts for each other with just a little money that they have. I greatly admire the character, Della. Della is a very devoted housewife and Della has given Jim everything she has. She's been saving for months just to buy him a gift. She has humiliated herself in front of other people many times by being a penny pincher but in the end only gets $1. 87. She not only has humiliated herself but when she comes up with an idea of cutting her hair just to buy a watch chain she never hesitated a bit. The short story made me think about is it worth sacrificing something you love for someone? There are pros and cons of sacrificing yourself for something you love. The pros are that you have a long lasting relationship, and have proven yourself what it takes to be a good relationship partner, and gaining their trust and caring for you. But on the downside, you might not be true to yourself because your partner expects you to give up something you want or want to do just for the sake of your partner.

An idea that showed in this story was the sacrifice. Della and Jim who had to give up the most precious possession to be able to afford gifts. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. "Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its colour within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length" From this, we can see they the term whirl actually means that she comes up with an idea of cutting off her hair and selling it. and her eyes were shining brilliantly makes us think that she is more excited by giving Jim a gift than sad when she loses her hair. Another idea that shows in this story is wealth. There is an extreme poverty in the story. Their life is pretty much the same working every day and living paycheck to paycheck. However, they are rich in a different way. They are rich in love and in kindness. "“Mr James Dillingham Young. ” When the name was placed there, Mr James Dillingham Young was being paid $30 a week. Now, when he was being paid only $20 a week, the name seemed too long and important. It should perhaps have been “Mr James D. Young. ”" The husband and wife are self-conscious about their poverty and cares about how others see like them.

Overall the story was very heartwarming. It also had a little twist at the end where the husband also had given up his gold watch just to buy her a comb with jewels which took me by surprise because the story was focusing more on Della on how she dealt with her Christmas gift. I would recommend this story to be read at Christmas a place where it feels warm because not only the story is a warm story and truly enjoyable to read it also has Christmas feeling to it which tells the true meaning of gifting.