And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone. Work Cited "The Gift of the Magi. Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table, gift of the magi essay. Henry, O. The perception of marriage differs from person to person.
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One of the reasons why short story The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry continues to enjoy an undermined popularity with contemporary readers is that, despite its apparent shortness, it presents a high literary and philosophical value. In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that, while exposed to this story, readers become enlightened of what accounts for the actual qualities of a truly loving relationship between both spouses and what can be considered the discursive significance of the act of gift-giving. In this paper, I will aim to explore the validity of the above-statement at length. The plot of The Gift of the Magi is rather straightforward. While experiencing the acute shortage of money, Della Dillingham decides to cut off and sell her luscious hair, so that she would be able to buy her husband a respectable Christmas gift — a platinum chain for his pocket-watch.
However, by the time Jim returns back home and is being presented with his gift, Della realizes that he had sold his pocket-watch, in order to be able to buy his wife the set of jeweled combs for her hair. Apparently, O. Henry knew perfectly well that the strength of the romantic involvement between husbands and wives men and women is being reflective of their willingness to sacrifice for each other, while deriving a strong emotional satisfaction out of the process. Therefore, even though that, as a narrator, O. Everywhere they are wisest.
By presenting her husband with a platinum watch-chain, she unconsciously strived to assure him of the fact that being a remarkable individual; he well deserved to be sacrificed for — the considerations of practicality did not bother Della, whatsoever. It appears that Della used to perceive her husband in terms of a godlike figure, whose existential significance did not have anything to do with his de facto social status. The message that is being conveyed through the story lines, in regards to the acts of gift-giving, on the part of both characters, can be interpreted as follows: the condition of poverty, which loving husband and wife get to experience, as they go through life, has no effect on the actual quality of their relationship. In fact, it is something that allows this relationship to thrive — whatever illogical it may sound.
That is, of course, for as long as the individuals in question are thoroughly noble, in the discursive sense of this word. The way the characters of Della and Jim are being represented in The Gift of gift of the magi essay Magi leaves no doubts that, despite their poverty, both spouses were capable of not allowing their worrisome financial situation to affect their sense of self-identity. Apparently, he wanted to promote the idea that, even while experiencing hardships, existentially noble people never allow the resulting sensation of frustration, on their part, to begin defining who they actually are. herefore, there is nothing incidental about the fact that in his story O. Nevertheless, even though that, formally speaking, O. That is, the fact that throughout the course of his life, O.
Henry never ceased taking an active stance on the matters of a socio-political importance, while suffering a number of setbacks, such as having been in jailed for the duration of 5 years, naturally endowed him with the sense of perceptual wisdom. The above-quotation suggests that, having been an gift of the magi essay minded person, gift of the magi essay, O. Yet, gift of the magi essay, instead of finding a more practical use for the money that she received from selling her hair, Della end up buying a watch-chain. Therefore, there can be only a few doubts that, gift of the magi essay, while exposing readers to the characters of Gift of the magi essay and Jim, O, gift of the magi essay.
Unfortunately, this is rarely being the case. Hence, the strongly defined tragic overtones to the story of Della and Jim — apparently, the author wanted to emphasize the sheer unfairness of the situation when, due to poverty, existentially noble individuals are being denied the chance to make their lives count, in the social sense of this word. The very same overtones, however, cause The Gift of the Magi to emanate the spirit of humanism. In light of what has been argued, there indeed appears to be a good rationale in referring to this particular story by O, gift of the magi essay.
Henry, as such that will continue representing an uncompromised literary value well into the future. Henry, O. PDF file. Need a custom Essay sample written from scratch by professional specifically for you? certified writers online. The Gift of the Magi. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. If you continue, we will assume that you agree to our Cookies Policy. Learn More. We will write a custom Essay on The Gift of the Magi specifically for you! Not sure if you can write a paper on The Gift of the Magi by yourself?
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interpretive essay
The story of Jim and Della on a cold Christmas Eve at the turn of 20th century America is centered around what is remarkably relevant to what many readers have experienced in their own lives; the inevitable stresses, sacrifices, and joys of the holiday season. Strapped for cash and wanting to give her beloved husband the most luxurious gift for Christmas to express her deep passion for him, we are immediately introduced to the initial situation at hand. This is what leads us to the major conflict of the short story. Though in a more traditional style, a story will introduce you to a situation and will then carry out events that eventually lead to a major conflict. Instead, in O. Though this decision has led to the solution of the original situation at hand of how Della will find money for her gift, it has ultimately led to the most considerable conflict of the story that is the question of whether or not Jim will appreciate her gift, or be upset at the cost of the gift.
He is visibly neither upset nor elated, but simply stares with little emotional expression at Della. Della, of course, does not know what to make of this reaction and struggles to understand if he approves or not. After finally snapping out of his staggered trance, Jim explains the reasoning for his reaction that is found within the gift that he had bought for Della as we reach the climax of the story. Jim had bought Della a set of combs that she had coveted for a length of time, but Jim had never been able to get her due to his lack of money. This climactic twist in the plot is what may surprise, or ensure, the reader and his or her thoughts of how Jim would react, though the suspense is not yet fully lifted as the reader is still left to guess how Jim may react to what Della spent the money for her hair on, and also how Jim was able to get the money for his gift considering the rather equivalent financial status of both partners at the time.
It is at this point that we realize that both of their gifts had become relatively futile to their respective recipients, yet both Jim and Della found themselves more delighted than if they had received the most useful gift in the world. The comparison O. In this story, we see a man and a woman so blinded by love that they are willing to make ultimate sacrifices for the happiness of the other. Similar to the Magi, Della and Tim put each other before themselves and through their generosity and considerable lengths they both went to achieve that generosity is something more admirable than any materialistic gift they could ever offer each other, thus making the uselessness of their gifts irrelevant.
But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good. Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art. Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length. Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet. On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street. Hair Goods of All Kinds. Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out.
It was a platinumfobchain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not bymeretriciousornamentation—as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. It was like him. Quietness and value—the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain. When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love.
Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task. Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like atruantschoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically. But what could I do—oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty- seven cents? Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two—and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Be good to me, for it went for you.
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