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The Gift of the Magi
ABOUT STORY
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
This short sentimental story "The Gift of the Magi" was written by O. Henry an American writer. This story was first published on December 10, 1905. This story is about a young couple who deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. Both Della and Jim love each other so much. They sacrifice their most prized possessions in order to give each other a Christmas gift. The main theme of this story is the concept of love. It has provided us with the moral lesson about gift-giving. It has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time.
The plot and its twists at end are well known; the ending is generally considered an example of cosmic irony.
FULL PLOT SUMMARY
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
When the story begins the day before Christmas, we see a young woman named Della sitting at home, counting her savings. She is the main character of the story. She lives with her husband, Jim, in an inexpensive, furnished rental apartment. In the past, when they first moved here, Jim was making more money, but the couple has experienced hard times, and now they live their lives in poverty. Della has been setting aside money to buy groceries for several months. Della is sad and worried because, despite her efforts, she hasn't saved enough money. She was hoping to buy Jim something special for Christmas with her savings. Della sits on her couch and starts to cry as she realises that she doesn't have enough money to buy a Christmas present for Jim.
After stopping her cry, Della cleans her face and looks out through the window, indulging herself in thought. She suddenly sees her reflection in the dirty mirror on the wall and gets an idea. She leaves her long brown hair down and gazes at her for a while. Her hair, notable for its beauty, is her prized possession. She wears her old coat and hat and goes to a shop that buys and sells hair. When Della asks to sell her hair to the shopkeeper, Madame Sofronie, Madame agrees to cut and buy her hair. After selling her hair, Della spends the rest of the day wandering around the city, looking for the perfect gift for her husband, Jim.
Jim's prized possession is a gold pocket watch, which has been passed down to his family. She wants to buy him a nice, special, and rare chain. Finally, she finds the perfect platinum chain for him. It takes away all the money she has earned from selling her hair and even most of her savings. Della moves to her home, being very excited with a chain to give Jim as his gift.
When Della returns home, she styles her new haircut as best she can. She even worries about Jim, saying he will become angry and no longer think she is beautiful. When Jim notices Della's haircut, a strange expression appears on his face. Not knowing what it means, Della approaches him quickly and explains that she has sold her hair to buy a Christmas present for him.
Jim hugs her and tells her that he loves her, no matter what her hair looks like. Later, he provides her with a Christmas gift: a set of jewelled tortoiseshell combs that she once saw and admired in a shop window. Della loves the Christmas gift so much, but begins to cry when she realises that she is unable to use Jim's thoughtful gift. As Jim consoles her, she reassures Jim that her hair will grow back quickly. She then enthusiastically gives him the platinum watch chain. Jim laughs and explains that he has sold his prized watch to pay for the tortoiseshell combs. The narrator concludes the story by admiring the selfless gifts of love given by the couple and describing both of them as wiser than the three wise magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus on Christmas Eve.
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