“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 a new problem Della is not sure if Jim will be upset over the loss of her hair in order to purchase his gift. She also wonders if Jim will appreciate it and the effort it took for doing it. Things got complicated when Jim arrives and stares at Della; he shocked by the loss of her hair and does not like what he sees for he loved his wife’s hair. He doesn’t seem angry and Della is not sure how Jim is really feeling about it neither does the reader. Della wanted to know what Jim thought of his gift but was still in shock. Once he came out his state of shock Jim tells Della that it will all make sense once she opened the gift he had purchased for her. Jim had bought her some combs; this is why he was in shock and was not angry with her. No matter if Della sold her Jim still displayed his undying love for her. Della is not sure where he got the money to purchase the expensive combs. He finally told her that he had sold his watch in order to buy the combs with a smile and asks how about those pork chops, meaning the gifts are useless and would rather eat the pork chops. The narrator identifies that it didn’t matter what the gift was they were both happy no matter what had happened for they are the Magi. The point of view is set up as for the reader to feel and know the exact thoughts of each character, their reactions and the nature of giving gifts as each situation unfolds. The setting is Christmas Eve and that Della needed to purchase a gift for her husband right away but didn’t have enough money. Poverty forces both Della and Jim to make sacrifices because they love each other. The tone throughout the story is that there was no anger towards each other only that love had no boundaries and that it didn’t matter; they were going to continue to be happy no matter what. The characters in this story are protagonist which struggle with being poor and the antagonist is money and the world views that make it most important over anything.
The story is written in third person omniscient and only follows Della as far as Jim it doesn’t show what he was doing throughout the story until he appears on the scene and shows no reaction other than being in shock over the loss of his wife’s hair. The symbolism was centered on the bible. Della’s hair was so gorgeous that it would make the Queen of Sheba envious. Jim’s watch would be the envy of King Solomon. The Old Testament in the bible shows reference to both the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon whom were very rich. The Magi were kings and were very rich the reference to Della and Jims prized possessions though very poor. References
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education Inc. Retrieved November 22, 2012 from, https://content.ashford.edu
The Gift of the Magi Theme And Narrative Essay. Anti Essays. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from the World Wide Web: http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/122296.html
Shmoop Editorial Team. (November 11, 2008).The Gift of the Magi.
Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www.shmoop.com/gift-of-the-magi/