The Gift Of The Magi By O. Henry

Jim is a young man, 22 years old. He and his wife are going to have a baby. He is handsome and very proud of his gold watch. He loves Della.

Della is Jim's wife. Della takes pride in her long, flowing hair. She is very beautiful and wants to give Jim a special present for Christmas.

Jim loves her.

$1.87

Della wants to buy Jim a present for Christmas.

Dillingham Young

It went from $30.00/week to $20.00/week.

1. Jim's gold watch 2. Della's long hair

She cuts her hair sells it for $20.00.

A chain for his watch.

Jim gives Della hair combs to pull her long hair back as a Christmas gift.

Jim sells his gold watch.

Della's gift is capitalized because the combs that Jim bought her were special combs that she always wanted. These combs were beautiful, expensive, and she never thought that she would ever possess them.

Irony is when you expect one thing to happen and the opposite happens.

This is ironic because Della has cut off all her hair and sold it to buy Jim a gift. She sacrificed her most important possession for Jim.

Della gave up her prized possession, her long hair, to buy a fob chain for Jim's watch. Jim gave up his prized possession, his gold watch, to buy combs for Della's hair. NEITHER ONE OF THEM CAN USE THEIR CHRISTMAS GIFTS.

Jim sells the thing that is most important to him to buy a gift for Della, but Della's gift requires the watch he sold.

The Magi were the so-called three wise men from the east who traveled to Bethlehem, following a bright star, to present gifts to the infant Jesus.

When Jim and Della gave gifts to each other, they thought only of the other person and not of themselves when they gave their gifts. They are gifts of sacrifice.

Giving is the best gift of all and often involves sacrifice. I give to charity (tsedakah) every week at religious school because there are people who need things more than I do. I have to give from my own allowance so I have to sacrifice a little.

She prays to God that Jim won't think she's ugly.