The Gift of the Magi Essays

  • Symbolism In O Henry's The Gift Of The Magi

    1084 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the short story, “The Gift of the Magi”, written by, O' Henry, the theme is, when a person truly loves someone they are willing to sacrifice just about anything to see a loved one happy. Such message was demonstrated in the story through the usage of the following literary devices: irony, symbolism, and diction to set a tone. Irony is when the opposite of what is expected does not happen. Symbolism is a person, place, or thing that suggests more than its literal meaning. Diction is the word choice

  • The Gift Of The Magi Essay

    703 Words  | 3 Pages

    The gift of the Magi is a famous short story written by O. Henry, also known as William Sydney porter. O. Henry is mostly known for his surprising, often ironical endings to his short stories. This aspect is the pivotal reason as to why his stories are so widely recognized. One may interpret ‘The gift of the Magi’ as his most famous story. It is part of O. Henry’s second collection of short stories called four million, which were released in 1906. The title four million refers to the population

  • Sacrifice In The Gift Of The Magi

    1568 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry the main theme is the occasionally, love involves sacrifices. Sacrifices were made in the story “The Gift of the Magi”. The two main characters Della and Jim made the sacrifices for each other. Della sacrificed her beautiful long hair. She cut her her hair very short so she could sell it for money to buy Jim the perfect gift. Jim sacrificed his grandfather’s very antique pocket watch. He sold his pocket watch in order to buy Della a special christmas gift.

  • Gift Of The Magi Irony

    305 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Henry O.’s short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” his use of indirect characterization and situational irony assist the reader in apprehending the theme: love beats all. First, the indirect characterization used by Henry O. in “The Gift of the Magi” helps the reader decipher the theme by using Della’s emotions and actions to explain her current life. For instance, when Della runs to the hair store and offers to sell her long luscious hair to the store owner for 20$, Della says, ‘"Give it to me

  • Gift Of The Magi Irony

    306 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allen Poe used it in their short stories “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, respectively. In like manner, both pieces include situational irony. In addition, both ironies consist of characters celebrating for a particular cause. On the other hand, the main characters are the ones celebrating in “The Gift of the Magi” while insignificant characters are celebrating throughout “The Cask of Amontillado”. In “The Gift of the Magi”, the main character, Della, has beautiful, long

  • 'The Necklace And The Gift Of The Magi'

    1139 Words  | 5 Pages

    are interesting are "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry and "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. Della in "The Gift of the Magi" wants to find Mr. James Dillingham Young, Jim, her husband, the best gift for Christmas, but she has just one dollar and eighty-seven cents. Mathilde Loisel in "The Necklace" loses the necklace which she borrows from her friend for good-looking for going to the ball at the Ministry. While there are some obvious similarities,

  • Gift Of The Magi Poverty

    320 Words  | 2 Pages

    that are not material. Many people don’t understand what rich in poverty means. In the story “The Gift of the Magi” by O.Henry one of the main themes is that people can be rich in poverty. In real life situation you don’t necessarily need to be rich to be happy. Being rich in poverty is to be happy with the things you already have and not the things you want. For example, in “The Gift of the Magi” Mrs. Dillingham wants to buy her husband a worthy Christmas presents with just the $1.87 she has been

  • Symbolism In The Gift Of The Magi

    700 Words  | 3 Pages

    and envy. That is the case in The Gift of the Magi and The Necklace. The Necklace, who was written by Guy de Maupusant, shows that things that people want, aren’t really what they need and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry shows that some are willing to sacrifice what they love, for the ones they love most. The idea revolving "The Gift of the Magi" is that the value of a gift is in the the one who gives it, rather than the just gift. Jim and Della bot bought a gift that needed them to sacrifice something

  • Syntax In The Gift Of The Magi

    277 Words  | 2 Pages

    A story of selflessness with an ironic ending, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry has a distinct style. O. Henry’s style techniques including, diction and syntax, of this story are noticeable from the first sentence to the last. Narrated as though the story is being told aloud, this story is strung together with short incomplete sentences. O. Henry throws grammar rules out the window, using a lot of sentences that depend on other sentences to make sense. He writes this story similar to the way

  • Gift Of The Magi Irony

    336 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the “Gift of the Magi” O. Henry talks about irony and symbolism. Della and Jim are a young couple that don’t have enough money to buy each other gifts for Christmas. Della and Jim do whatever it takes to get each other something. Some of the irony and symbolism that’s in the short story is when Jim bought Della a comb without knowing that she had sold her hair to get money to buy his gift. The watch is something that symbolizes an antique that was important to Jim. There are three different types

  • Sacrifice In The Gift Of The Magi

    913 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote reveals that if something will become great, it requires great sacrifice. Correspondingly, this incident happens in the short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, when a couple with the names Della and Jim sacrifice in order to make each other happy, despite hard times. I claim that the theme of the story, “The Gift of the Magi,” is great treasure comes with sacrifice and tough challenges. One dramatic challenge that Della and Jim have to withstand is living on a low budget

  • Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

    869 Words  | 4 Pages

    The main characters of both stories are similar by reason of they are poor. Della has a job that does not have a good salary. When she tries to buy a gift for her husband, "everything had cost more than she had expected" (Henry). She cannot think of anything with the money that she has, one dollar and eighty-seven cents. This amount is hard to come up with anything, anything that will be good enough for him. Obviously, her job is not providing her good earning enough to spend. Similarly, Mathilde

  • Gift In O. Henry's The Gift Of The Magi

    761 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life’s gift In O. Henry’s “The Gift of The Magi” his warm, comforting tone and descriptive style keeps the audience captivated until the end without losing the essence of the story, which revolves around love and sacrifice. This story is about the struggles of a poor, young couple on Christmas Eve and how they overcome it with love. The author’s description of the couple’s life gives a clear picture of their status and financial struggle. When the author mentions the eight-dollar rent

  • What Is The Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

    465 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Lamb to the Slaughter” and “The Gift of the Magi” are separate stories with a tale of two lovers, be one darker than the other. Both of these are fine examples of writing with irony sprinkled throughout. They use this technique to create interesting and effective twists and endings. With their ironic similarities, they can be compared to display their differences as well, with their situations being light and dark when set next to each other. “Lamb to the Slaughter” displays irony in a grim fashion

  • Compare And Contrast The Perfect Gift And The Gift Of The Magi

    464 Words  | 2 Pages

    many similarities and differences in “the Perfect Gift” and “the Gift of the Magi.” Each story has its own strengths and weaknesses.I believe “the Gift of the Magi” has a lot more weakness then “the Perfect Gift”.This is the reason I prefer “the Perfect Gift” more. In this essay I will explain both stories, There strengths and weaknesses but both stories revolve around love and friendship. Let's start with “the Perfect Gift.” In “the Gift of the Magi” I certainly feel like it has stronger emotions

  • Materialism In The Gift Of The Magi And The Necklace

    990 Words  | 4 Pages

    In both these stories, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the themes of human heartbreak and materialism are closely examined, through the characters’ dreams, minds, and worlds. An example of this would be the portrayal of the main characters’ relationships with others, and their desperate attempts to impress others through assets. In both these stories, irony is a common theme, with materialism being at the crux of each characters’ eventual downfall, and

  • The Gift Of The Magi Literary Analysis

    574 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alexus, a young middle school student can make connections to the story “The Gift Of The Magi” because like Jim and Della she has to make sacrifices for her loved ones. In the story Jim and Della don’t have enough money to buy each other christmas gifts. So Della has to cut her hair and sell it and Jim has to sell his watch to make money for gifts.The author of the story develops the theme when being in a relationship sacrifices is often needed. The couple acts in a caring way when they both do

  • How Is The Gift Of The Magi Similar

    538 Words  | 3 Pages

    articles, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Diamond Neckless” there are similarities and differences. Della and Mathilda are two very different characters, but they too have similarities like the fact that they wanted something they couldn’t afford. The differences are Della was selfless, and Mathilda was envious. In, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Diamond Neckless” there alike, because they couldn’t afford what they wanted. In, “The Gift of the Magi” the author explains that Della wanted a gift for Jim

  • Use Of Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

    586 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Gift of Love While “The Gift of the Magi,” seems to be a story about two people who foolishly gave up their prized possessions for one another, it is actually about making sacrifices for the ones you care about. Henry, uses irony, allusions, and tone to express that love should be more valuable than that of material substances. Rather than loving your possessions, Henry emphasizes loving one another and having the will to do anything for each other by his use of situational irony. In the story

  • Gift Of The Magi Compare And Contrast

    287 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story, " Gift of the Magi" and the video version have a lot of similarities and differences. The similarities between these two stories are that they cared about the other person that lived with them because of the relationship they have had, and they thought that person deserve something special, something they would want to have or something they didn't have. One of the differences was what each story got as a gift. For the story the wife got her husband a chain for that expensive watch his