“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry takes place in New York in the early1900s during Christmas and is about a couple known as Della and Jim Dillingham Young who sacrificed their most treasured possessions for each other. They did this so that they could buy each other nice presents for Christmas. Della’s most valued possession was her hair which she cut and sold for money. The husband, Jim, gave up his gold watch to sell so he could buy a gift for Della. They both sold their most treasured possession to buy something special for each other. When Della sold her hair, she bought a platinum chain for Jim’s watch, and Jim bought Della tortoise shell combs for her hair. Because both had given up their most valued possessions, the gifts no longer have a practical use. However, the gifts were special in each other’s eyes because of the thought behind them. O. Henry displays a wonderful true love story by depicting a picture of how true love is and the sacrifices that are made to have a relationship like Mr. and Mrs. Dillingham Young. O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” uses an ironic ending to argue that money and material possessions are fleeting while love is a greater and more important source of happiness.
Going along with this idea, before the exchange, Mr. and Mrs. Dillingham Young each had one prized possession. Each of their possessions was valuable by itself and belonged to each person. The watch was the husband’s, and the hair was the wife’s, both having a fleeting nature because they are material things where hair grows and watches measure time. Both of their possessions are sacrificed, and in exchange, each of them gets something new that does not have any sentimental meaning as a token of their love between the two of them. That love is not something they have as a person, it is something they share together. Therefore, in the gift exchange, the husband and wife become closer together in a concrete manner.
Moving along, the ending describes how Jim jumps on the couch and smiles saying that they should put their presents away because they were too nice to use at that moment before he told Della he sold his watch to buy the combs for her. They both decide to have dinner, and then the narrator concludes the story with a small paragraph about the magi. He describes them as “wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents” (para.45). The narrator says the magi are the wisest of gift-givers because they were three kings who brought gifts like gold, frankincense, and myrrh to baby Jesus after he was born. However, none of these gifts required sacrifices because the kings were rich so the value of the gifts was not a consequence. On the other hand, for Jim and Della Dillingham, the gifts they gave each other required great personal sacrifice. Della sells her beautiful hair so she can buy Jim a chain for his gold watch, but he sells his watch to buy combs for her hair. The narrator calls them, “two foolish children . . . who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi” (para.45). The husband and wife both succeeded in what they wanted to do and both Jim and Della have shown that they were willing to sacrifice the most valuable possession they have to give something to each other. This makes their “useless” or “worthless” gifts greatly valuable in the end. The selfless love that both of them feel for each other is embodied within those gifts, and as long as they have and keep the gifts, they will be able to remember them for the rest of their lives and will eventually be able to use them for practical use once Della’s hair grows back and Jim buys back his watch or gets a new one. The kind of gifts they got for each other could not be bought, which makes the gifts more special and personal than they really are, signifying their realization of love for each other.
Additionally, in paragraph 44, Jim said, “ ‘Dell,’ said he, ‘let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ‘em a while. They’re too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on.’ ” This was an important moment, also the climax point, when we discover the surprise ending. The husband’s reaction of smiling and spending time together reinforces their truly loving relationship. Instead of worrying about gifts, they go to prepare dinner for the night. Even though they are poor, they were both determined to still give a physical gift to each other signifying their sacrificial love for each other, observing the Christmas tradition, and sacrificing something to show their love for each other. Even though the gift has no practical use right now, it is priceless in a way.
Moreover, a pattern that stands out to me in this passage is the diction, where they use more loving and caring words that were typically used in an affectionate matter. They also shorten the words they say. For example, when the husband says the phrase “em” in paragraph 43 instead of “them” to express a more casual and comforting tone. In addition, the sentences are also broken up by what each character’s dialogue is in the story. This passage overall relates to the larger theme of how unconditional love overcomes the purchase of materialistic items because of the husband’s carefree mood by showing how relaxed he was and how the gifts did not matter in the end, and that it was their love that kept them together.
Overall, O. Henry’s ironic ending proves to show and argues that money and materialistic possessions are valued less and provide less happiness than their love for each other. A gift has to come from the heart and have value, not of how much it costs, but of how important it is to the individual and useful it is in a pragmatic way. O. Henry shows this theme by describing how much they do to make each other happy when Della cuts her hair to buy Jim a present for Christmas. She initially only had one dollar and eighty-seven cents, and cut her hair and sold it to buy the gold chain for her husband. Sacrificing something we value is a bold task to do for someone you love, but the gift of joy is worth the price, which many of us lack in today’s world and need to value and appreciate more. When the worst came to worse, they gave up their most prized possessions for each other, and in the end, it was all for love.
Works Cited
Asife (no date) Beautiful and happy young woman in love hugging her boyfriend holding…, iStock. Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/happy-and-beautiful-couple-in-love-gm878474692-244997414 (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
Carrie Like4770 Comments and Carrie (2016) Love vs money, Voices of Youth. Available at: https://www.voicesofyouth.org/blog/love-vs-money (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
Christian, B. (2022) The wise men, three years late for the nativity (matthew 2:8-11) [An epiphany card talk], A Game For Good Christians. A Game For Good Christians. Available at: https://www.agameforgoodchristians.com/blog//late-magi (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
Couples photos, Download Free Couples Stock Photos & HD Images – Pexels (no date). Available at: https://www.pexels.com/search/couples/ (Accessed: December 1, 2022).
Fizkes (no date) Serious young couple sitting together on sofa, talking about…, iStock. Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/serious-young-couple-sitting-together-talking-about-relationships-gm1143696716-307234126 (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
Miyako et al. (2022) The gift of the magi story ~ A holiday story for kids, Stories to Grow By. Available at: https://storiestogrowby.org/story/the-gift-of-the-magi-a-christmas-story-for-kids/ (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
Spinelli, L. (2019) Jordyn + Bryan / NYC Rockefeller christmas tree engagement session, lauren spinelli photo co. Available at: https://laurenspinelli.com/2019/12/19/nyc-rockefeller-christmas-tree-engagement-photos/ (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
The Gift of the Magi. americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-gift-of-the-magi. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.
The gift of the Magi (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_the_Magi (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
The gift of the magi video summary (2021) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fdCwvgkhN8 (Accessed: November 30, 2022).