The Gift of The Magi

I.
Title :
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
II. Author :
William Sydney Porter "O. Henry"
III. Setting :
The story takes place in New York during the Christmas
holiday season.
IV. Characters :
▪ Della - Jim’s loving housewife who lives in abject
poverty in New York City.
▪ Jim - a thin man of twenty-two who bears the burden
of supporting himself and his wife on a meager income.
He is known for his punctuality, likely the result of his
glancing constantly at his watch.
▪ Madame Sofronie - the cold, tough businesswoman to
whom Della sells her hair.
V. Summary :
The story tells of a young married couple, James, known
as Jim, and Della Dillingham. The couple has very little
money and lives in a modest apartment. Between them,
they have only two possessions that they consider their
treasures: Jim's gold pocket watch that belonged to his
father and his grandfather, and Della's lustrous, long hair
that falls almost to her knees.
It's Christmas Eve, and Della finds herself running out of
time to buy Jim a Christmas present. After paying all of
the bills, all Della has left is $1.87 to put toward Jim's
Christmas present. Desperate to find him the perfect gift,
out she goes into the cold December day, looking in shop
windows for something she can afford.
She wants to buy Jim a chain for his pocket watch, but
they're all out of her price range. Rushing home, Della
pulls down her beautiful hair and stands in front of the
mirror, admiring it and thinking. After a sudden
inspiration, she rushes out again and has her hair cut to
sell. Della receives $20.00 for selling her hair, just enough
to buy the platinum chain she saw in a shop window for
$21.00.
When Jim comes home from work, he stares at Della,
trying to figure out what's different about her. She admits
that she sold her hair to buy his present. Before she can
give it to him, however, Jim casually pulls a package out
of his overcoat pocket and hands it to her. Inside, Della
finds a pair of costly decorative hair combs that she'd
long admired, but are now completely useless since she's
cut off her hair. Hiding her tears, she jumps up and holds
out her gift for Jim: the watch chain. Jim shrugs, flops
down onto the old sofa, puts his hands behind his head
and tells Della flatly that he sold his watch to buy her
combs. The story ends with a comparison of Jim and
Della's gifts to the gifts that the Magi, or three wise men,
gave to Baby Jesus in the manger in the biblical story of
Christmas. The narrator concludes that Jim and Della are
far wiser than the Magi because their gifts are gifts of
love, and those who give out of love and self-sacrifice are
truly wise because they know the value of self-giving
love.
VI. Conflict : "man vs. himself"

Della not having enough money to buy Jim a gift, because
of this she cuts her hair to make money so she can afford
a gift for him. Because she is afraid that jim wont like her
anymore. But he is suprised because he got her the
combs for her hair.
VII. Theme :
If you love someone, you are willing to sacrifice for
them. Selflessness and love are the greatest gift of all.
VIII. Plot :
a. At a glance, Della is determined to give her husband a
Christmas gift. In order to afford the fob for her
husband's watch, she sells her long, beautiful hair, only to
learn that he has sold his beloved watch to buy her a set
of combs.
b. Della Young decides to sell her beautiful hair to buy a
watch fob for her husband’s beloved watch.
c. Jim comes home, he is saddened and surprised to see
Della’s beautiful hair missing. He offers her his gift:
bejeweled combs that she no longer needs.
d. Della offers her gift to Jim. He looks at her and admits
that he has sold his watch to buy her the combs.
e. The two are overcome with love as they realize they
have sacrificed their most prized possessions for one
another.
IX. SHE (Significant of Human Experience) :
Christmas is not about buying gifts, expensive or small it

is welcoming the son of God into the human world. Our
family is poor that we can't even afford simple Christmas
gifts to each other. But, love and sacrifice truly are the
most important gifts to give at Christmas.

The Gift of The Magi

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

The Gift of The Magi

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

I.

VI. Conflict : "man vs. himself"

IX. SHE (Significant of Human Experience) :

Christmas is not about buying gifts, expensive or small it

Você também pode gostar