...Critical Review “The Gift of Magi” and “The Necklace” Short stories, "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Necklace", by O. Henry and Guy de Maupassant, have many similarities and differences. These stories deal with love, greed, and envy. “The Necklace” shows that some things one wants may not be the things that one needs and “The Gift of Magi” by O. Henry shows that some people will give up their most prized possessions for the one they love. One main difference between these two stories is that in “The Gift of Magi” the couple are selfless, but in “The Necklace” Mathilde is selfish. She is known as social-climbing and vain woman who is unsatisfied with her life. She lives with a low-ranking husband and she ends up with debt because she lost a necklace she borrowed that ended up as just imitation. However, in “The Gift of Magi”, the two just want to make each other happy. They sacrifice some of their treasured belongings just to give each other gifts. In essence, they’re trying to make each other happy and Mathilde is only trying to please herself. A major similarity is the pride. Both couples could have saved themselves an immense amount of sacrifice and grief if they weren’t so prideful. The Youngs, are not capable of buying each other gifts but will not admit it. They don’t take a second to think before giving away sentimental items for gifts. The Loisels, on the other hand, have a larger amount of issues related to this. From the beginning Mathilde was described as a...
Words: 484 - Pages: 2
...The Gift of the Magi Ashlee Stevens ENG125: Introduction to Literature Amy Sloan September 10, 2012 Ashford University The Gift of the Magi The Gift of the Magi was about sacrificial love. The story explained how important it is to be willing to sacrifice for the one that you love. No matter what the circumstance, if a person can unselfishly give of themselves for another, they can experience life in a whole new way. Many people give what is not important to them and makes no difference. I think the term “it’s the thought that counts” has been used to justify just giving anything to a person without actually put your heart and soul into the gift you are giving. O. Henry uses The Gift of the Magi to demonstrate the importance of expressing your love through sacrifice. O. Henry uses setting throughout the whole story to show the reader how little Mr. and Mrs. James Dillingham Young have. In the first paragraph the reader already has a sense of how meager their living conditions are when Della has counted the one dollar and eighty-seven cents three times. He explains the lengths she went through to save that much money, and sixty cents of it was all pennies. He does not immediately describe their way of living all at once. He draws it out through the whole story so the reader never loses the sense of the struggle that Della and James are living in. In the second paragraph he says that she flopped down on the “shabby little couch”. (Clugston...
Words: 1271 - Pages: 6
...Contrast Gift of the Magi and The Necklace Deanna Pennington Eng125 Journey into Literature Instructor Carter September 28, 2014 There are many differences in The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry and The Diamond Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant, there are also various similarities. Some of the similarities include being set around the same time of year, winter, both set at the turn of century, both couples have the same economic situation, both couples love each other, both couples made sacrifices and the pride shown in both stories. The differences are what stands out the most, Mathilde is selfish and only thinks of herself, Della and instead of just bemoaning their lack of funds figure out a ways to get each other a gift for Christmas, Mathilde lies to her friend about the necklace. Although there are many similarities and differences, these are just a few. Both stories are set in the winter, this is made obvious in both stories by certain passages. In The Gift of the Magi we know that Della is trying to by a Christmas gift for Jim. “One dollar and eighty seven cent. And the next day would be Christmas” (Henry, 1906). In The Diamond Necklace, we are left to draw the conclusion that it is winter with the date of the ball being January 18th. “The Minister of Public Instruction and Madame Ramponneau request the honor of M. and Madame Loisel at the palace of the Ministry on Monday evening January 18th” (de Maupassant, 1884). The time of year in The Gift of the Magi is told...
Words: 2472 - Pages: 10
...Analysis of The Gift of the Magi ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Analysis of The Gift of the Magi Love is a powerful feeling and when you are in love there is not anything you would not do or sacrifice to see a smile on their face and happiness in their eyes. Almost everyone can relate to the main characters wanting to find that perfect present. O. Henry’s short story The Gift of the Magi is about love and reveals to the reader the sacrifices one will make for the one they love. The story shows its readers the true meaning of love. O. Henry’s story The Gift of the Magi tells the story of a poor couple in love, Della and Jim. They live in a shabby, little flat. The story starts with Della wanting to buy Jim a present but doesn’t have enough money. She loves her long hair. It is one of the two things that the couple prides themselves on, the other is Jim’s watch. Della decides to sell her hair to pay for a watch chain for Jim’s watch. Jim comes home later and sees Della’s short hair and is puzzled by the change in her appearance. He then shows her the present he bought her, the hair combs she had wanted for her long hair. He sold his watch earlier to pay for the combs. Della then gives him his present, the chain for his watch. They decided to put their presents away and eat. There are several themes that radiate throughout the story love, wealth, and sacrifice. The theme represents the idea of the story (Clugston, 2010). The first theme would...
Words: 938 - Pages: 4
...Why does O. Henry call his story “The gift of the Magi”? What do you think about the last phrase of the author’s remark? What do you think is his point of view of love and sacrifice? “The gift of the Magi” is a famous story by O. Henry. The author calls his story “The gift of the Magi” because he wants to emphasize the meaning of the gift and shows his admiration for the love of Jim and Della. First of all, the Magi were the three wise men from the Bible. They brought unique gifts to the baby Jesus (“Biblical Magi”, para. 1). This is reflected in the story by O. Henry. Della and Jim sold their most precious possessions to give each other the most valuable gifts for the Christmas. Della was willing to sell her precious hair to buy Jim a platinum chain, and Jim was willing to sell his precious watch to buy Della a beautiful comb. Both Jim and Della have shown that they were willing to sacrifice the most treasured thing they have to give something to the other. In the exchange, they gained something new. Love is not something they have of their own; love is something they share together. They unwisely scarified in order to make their sweetheart happy. The presents seemed to be useless but it is priceless indeed. Their gift giving shows the selfless love of each for their loved one. They care deeply and want to please the other. The gift was valuable because it came from the heart. At the end of the story, O. Henry expressed his love for the characters. He admired their unconditionally...
Words: 355 - Pages: 2
...“Journal writing through short story” Submitted by: Leslie Daryl S. Rabago Submitted to: Mrs. Joji F. Chiong I. Data Gathering 1. http://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-gift-of-the-magi Plan of activities 1. Emphasize what the story wants to tell us about 2. Read and understand a short story 3. Make a journal II. Introduction: “The Gift of the Magi” is a short story, one of several hundred written by O. Henry between 1903 and 1910. It was published in a New York City newspaper in 1905 and in a collection, The Four Million, in 1906 The Magi were the so-called three wise men from the east who traveled to Bethlehem, following a bright star, to present gifts to the infant Jesus. The term magi (singular, magus) come from the Greek word magoi, a rendering of a Persian word for members of a priestly caste. The Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 2, Verse 11) says: "And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him: and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh." These offerings, though valuable, were not as important as the recognition, respect, and love they gave the Christ child. Frankincense was used as a treatment for illness and as an fragrant additive to incense. Myrrh was also added to incense, as well as perfume, and found additional use as an ointment. The three wise men have been identified in western tradition as Balthasar, king...
Words: 1328 - Pages: 6
...LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY THE GIFT OF THE MAGI The Gift of the Magi is one of the most popular short stories by O. Henry, a pen name for William Sydney Porter - a renowned American author. Originally published in 1906, in O. Henry’s second collection of short stories, The Gift of the Magi which displays all of the major O. Henry traits in abundance has given him credit for his genuine talent. It has been retold in various forms since then, especially at Christmas time. The story is about a young poor couple, Jim and Della Dillingham Young, who each sells their most precious possession in order to buy a Christmas gift for their partner, but in doing so, they end up making each others gift worthless. The profound philosophy about love, generosity and gift-giving is successfully delivered to readers by O. Henry in part through a compelling plot and a unique point of view. A simply inspiring storyline with a clever twist ending, for which O. Henry is well-known, helps bring the short story a huge success. Despite some different attitudes on fundamental plot elements which should be included in a great story, Freytag’s idea of five key parts – exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement, is predominant. These factors are also apparently demonstrated in The Gift of the Magi. In the phase of exposition, James Dillingham Young, also called Jim, and his wife, Della, are introduced as a poor young couple living in New York. Even so, there are...
Words: 1371 - Pages: 6
...this story by O'Henry is that giving is the greatest gift of all. Della gives up her most cherished possession, her beautiful hair, to get a gift for her husband, Jim. She buys him a fob for his favorite possession--a pocket watch. Jim sells his pocket watch to buy beautiful combs for Della to adorn her hair. Both gave up their most valued possession in order to give something to the one they loved. The story is classic O'Henry with well developed characters, a city setting for the impoverished pair of young marrieds, and an ironic twist to the end of the story. Two aspects of one theme that run together in this story are sacrifice and love. Jim and Della already possess the greatest gifts they can ever possess: they have each other's love, a love that is willing to sacrifice for that love. They are compared to the Magi, who knelt at the manger where the infant Jesus lay and brought gifts to honor him. But they knew, the Magi, that their gifts were small insignificant tokens compared to what this infant child would give to them. They honored him, just as Della and Jim honor each other by sacrificing their prize possessions to buy the other a worthy gift for Christmas. It is the sacrifice involved in this process that is at the heart of the theme--unselfish love, which is rare and should be cherished. In O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," the theme of the story is that of selfless giving from the heart, like that of the magi or wise men in the Christmas story. The irony, of...
Words: 1270 - Pages: 6
...“The Gift of the Magi” (1906) remains one of the most recognizable and frequently anthologized stories in American literature. In its time the tale was extremely popular, both commercially and critically, and O. Henry was called the “Yankee Maupaussant.” Today the story is considered juvenilia and has not garnered much serious critical attention. “The Gift of the Magi” initially appeared in one of O. Henry's best-known collection of stories, The Four Million, which was published in 1906. Plot and Major Characters On Christmas Eve, a young married woman named Della has cut and sold her long, beautiful hair to earn the rest of the money she needs for her husband's Christmas present: a platinum chain for his treasured watch. When her husband, Jim, returns to their apartment, he is shocked to see her hair gone; he has sold his watch to buy her a pair of tortoise-shell combs for her long hair. Touched by his thoughtfulness, Della assures him that her hair will grow back and she gives him the watch chain. When he sees the gift, he lovingly tells her that he has sold his cherished watch to buy her the combs for her hair. The story concludes with an omniscient narrator praising the sacrifice and love of the young couple. Major Themes Critics have noted the irony of the young couple sacrificing their most treasured possessions—Della's hair and Jim's watch—in order to buy each other gifts related to those same possessions. Poverty is also a prominent theme, as Della saved her...
Words: 505 - Pages: 3
...“The Gift of the Magi” Milton Wiscovitch Jr. ENG 125 Prof. Jennifer Chunn November 26, 2012 Theme and Narrative Elements of “The Gift of the Magi” O Henry’s short story written in 1906 “The Gift of the Magi” identifies the theme elements as poverty and love. The lack of money and living in a poor neighborhood affected both Della and Jim. They expressed their unconditional love for each other by sacrificing their most prized possessions in order to buy a Christmas gift. Through this act of love both Della and Jim saw how much they really loved each other by wanting to make their partner happy. This short story identifies that love has no boundaries over having money through self sacrifice when it comes to giving all you have for the one you love. The couple sacrificed items that brought them joy such as Della’s hair and Jim’s watch which was important to the both of them but wasn’t worth much financially (Clugston, 2010). The plot’s analysis centers around the initial situation which states that Della only has $1.87 to purchase her husband Jim a gift on Christmas Eve. Both Della and Jim are poor and love her husband more than in the whole world. Della’s long hair and Jim’s gold watch were the only things they had and gave them up for one another. In the conflict, Della sells her hair to get the money in order to purchase her husband Jim a gift. This solves the problem of not having enough money and later she finds the perfect present for her husband. This opposes...
Words: 839 - Pages: 4
...more about the situation of Jim and Della. The short of it is they live in a shabby flat and they're poor. But they love each other. Once Della's recovered herself, she goes to a mirror to let down her hair and examine it. Della's beautiful, brown, knee-length hair is one of the two great treasures of the poor couple. The other is Jim's gold watch. Her hair examined, Della puts it back up, sheds a tear, and bundles up to head out into the cold. She leaves the flat and walks to Madame Sofronie's hair goods shop, where she sells her hair for twenty bucks. Now she has $21.87 cents. With her new funds, Della is able to find Jim the perfect present: an elegant platinum watch chain for his watch. It's $21, and she buys it. Excited by her gift, Della returns home and tries to make her now-short hair presentable (with a curling iron). She's not convinced Jim will approve, but she did what she had to do to get him a good present. When she finishes with her hair, she gets to work preparing coffee and dinner. Jim arrives at 7pm to find Della waiting by the door and stares fixedly at her, not able to understand that Della's hair is gone. Della can't understand quite what his reaction means. After a little while, Jim snaps out of it and gives Della her present, explaining that his reaction will make sense when she opens it. Della opens it and cries out in joy, only to burst into tears immediately afterward. Jim has given her the set of fancy combs she's wanted for ages, only now...
Words: 4685 - Pages: 19
...“The Gift of the Magi” – Deciphering the Theme Scott Cole ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Professor Patricia Vineski 6 Oct 2013 The theme of a story, as I’ve learned, is much more than what happened; this is the plot. Instead, the theme is much more; it “tells you what the story is about” (Clugston, 2010, para. 7.1). In order to decipher what the theme is, our text tells us to ask the question “how” a few different ways in order to come to a final conclusion. “How does the writer use setting to narrow the underlying idea? How do characters make particular aspects of the underlying idea clear? How does conflict reveal the strength or worth of the underlying idea?” (Clugston, 2010, para. 7.1). So, throughout this essay, I will be asking these questions, in order to come to a final conclusion as to what the theme of “The Gift of the Magi” really is. I will also discuss the plot, as well as some symbolism in the story that expands on the theme of the story. The plot, for The Gift of the Magi, is a short story about a couple, housed in a tiny apartment, living paycheck to paycheck. Christmas is just a few days away, and the Della, whom is the wife in the story, is struggling to find the perfect gift for her husband. Finally, after searching all over town, she comes across a fancy watch chain that is $20, and decides she must have it; the dilemma is she only has $1.87 to spend. After careful thought, she decides she will cut off her long, beautiful hair...
Words: 1082 - Pages: 5
...Poverty, Love, and Each Other “The Gift of the Magi” remains one of the most recognizable and frequently read stories in American literature. During its time the tale was extremely popular. Today the story is considered juvenilia and has not garnered much serious critical attention. “The Gift of the Magi” initially appeared in one of O. Henry's best-known collection of stories, The Four Million, which was published in the late 1906. This story’s plot has two main characters on Christmas Eve. A young married woman named Della has cut and sold her long beautiful hair in order to gain enough money to purchase her husband a Christmas present. The present that she wants for her husband is a platinum chain for his pocket watch. However when her husband Jim returns he is stunned to see that she has cut her hair. He is in turn has sold his pocket watch to purchase her a pair of tortoise-shell combs for her long hair. The author throughout this story is trying to explain to us the feeling of mutual respect people have for one another as well as the love that these two people feel for one another even though they are poverty stricken . As the author tells the story he is sure to describe the mutual feeling, love and respect that Jim and Della have for one another. He also is showing how much they were devoted to one another and gave themselves to one another to ensure that the other one was happy no matter what their situation may be. Jim and Della were totally devoted to each other...
Words: 1299 - Pages: 6
...The Gift of the Magi Themes Love "Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it. Sacrifice The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters...
Words: 10606 - Pages: 43
...of a story, as well as how the reader interprets it. The short story, “The Gift of The Magi”, there are several literary elements included in the story that would affect the theme. The overall theme of this particular short story is love. “…Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good…” (Clugston, 2010). The couple loved each other so much, that the two of them always had the best interest of the other at heart. They would nearly do anything for the other, if able. The symbolism shown in this particular story shows that because they loved each other so greatly, and even with their living conditions not being at best, they still sacrificed the little things that they thought to be so precious to them, just so they could both purchase gifts for the other during the holidays. “…Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs, in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair…” (Clugston, 2010). The wife in this story loved her husband so much, that she cut her hair and sold it, only for the ability to purchase him a gift. The husband in the story sacrificed his gold watch, which was his prized possession, so that he could purchase his wife a gift as well. The symbolism described, simply shows that because of the love the...
Words: 634 - Pages: 3
