“The Gift Of The Magi”

By O. Henry

Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Biblical Imagery

There's not a whole lot of imagery or metaphor in this story. That makes the few Bible allusions stand out all the more.

There's the whole "magi" reference. The last paragraph compares Jim and Della to the three wise men who, according to

the Christian New Testament, delivered gifts to Jesus on the first Christmas (see "What's Up with The Title?" for more on

this comparison).

In addition, there are two other Biblical allusions, both made in connection with Jim and Della's prize possessions. Della's

hair is said to be so gorgeous that it would inspire envy in the Queen of Sheba. Jim's watch would have been the envy of

King Solomon. Both the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon are famous figures from the Old Testament.

What do all three of these references have in common, besides being Biblical figures? Well, they're all royal, very rich

Biblical figures. The magi are often said to be kings, and brought Jesus three very expensive gifts (gold, frankincense, and

myrrh), while Sheba and Solomon were both powerful monarchs renowned for their wealth and splendor. The comparison of

Jim and Della's possessions to those of Biblical figures helps bring out how precious those two items are to their owners; to

Jim and Della they're treasures, which they give away. But that's not all the images of Solomon and Sheba do. By bringing

them up, and by mentioning the magi, O. Henry creates a sharp contrast between their spectacular riches and the obvious

poverty and Jim and Della.

We have to wonder why O. Henry would do that. Because ultimately the story wants us to think about what it means to be

truly rich. Where it really counts, Jim and Della are as rich as Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and the magi, because they

love each other. Just like the magi and Solomon (both figures famous for their wisdom), they're also wise, as the last

paragraph tells us.

The Biblical imagery also beefs up the story's credibility as a parable. By invoking the Bible at moments, O. Henry makes

"Gift of the Magi" feel more morally weighty.

Drabness, Drabness Everywhere

To contrast with the "inner richness" of Della and Jim's love for each other, O. Henry throws in lots of little details to make

their external circumstances about as drab and meager as can be.

There's the flat itself, with its malfunctioning mailbox, dead doorbell, worn red carpet, and cheap mirror equivalent. There's

the dull scene out the window: a "gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard" (6). There's Della's "old brown jacket"

and "old brown hat" (11), and Jim, with his worn overcoat and gloveless hands. All of this imagery creates a contrast

between the rich, warm, inner world of love and affection which Della and Jim create, and the gray, ugly, outer world of

money and work and miserly, hair-buying business owners. Their love transforms their flat from a particularly drab part of

that dreary world into a home.

Setting:

A drab flat in a gray city on Christmas Eve

The narrator calls our attention almost immediately to the two most important details of the story's setting: it takes place on

a Christmas Eve, and its two main characters live in a very unassuming flat. The action of the story depends on the fact that

Christmas is sufficiently close that Della needs to buy a present now, even with her small amount of money. The couple's

very humble abode brings out their poverty vividly. It's their poverty which both forces them to make the sacrifices they do,

and which makes those sacrifices meaningful. O. Henry sketches the flat with just enough detail to convey an image of its

squalor: it's cheap, sparsely furnished, and has a broken mailbox and a broken doorbell.

The drabness of the physical setting in which Jim and Della live creates a contrast with the warmth and richness of their

love for each other. The fact that everything outside the flat is "grey" – Della watches a "gray cat walking a gray fence in a

gray backyard" (6) – develops the contrast even further. Inside, we get the sense, Jim and Della's affection creates a

welcoming love nest, in spite of the flat's humble nature. Outside, it's a cold, gray world, and one that is about as uncaring

as Madame Sofronie.

As for the larger "where and when," we don't have much in the way of specifics. It is possible the story is set in a city –

"flats" are the kind of thing you often associate with cities – but not necessarily so (the flat has a backyard, which is a little

less urban). From the "gas" which Della lights (20) and the gadgets she has (i.e., a stove and curling irons), it is a safe bet

that the story is set just about the time O. Henry wrote it (first decade of the 20th century), or slightly earlier.

Point Of View:

Third Person (Omniscient)

Technically, the story seems to be third person limited omniscient. It's told in the third-person, and only follows Della. We

don't see what Jim is doing during the story, and once he does show up, he remains closed to us: we don't know what his

reaction to Della's hair is any more than Della does.

We can't be entirely satisfied with this classification, though, because the narrator has such an independent personality and

seems to know a lot more than Della does at times. He's "The Storyteller." It's as if he sees everything, but usually limits

himself to Della's point of view by choice for storytelling purposes. If the narrator described everything that were going on,

he'd ruin the surprise ending.

We know the narrator is really more like an omniscient being, though, because every so often he "zooms out" to make much

more general pronouncements that fly way above the action of the story's characters. The most obvious of these is at the

end, when he mentions "the magi" (to which Della and Jim are totally oblivious). But there are other places too, like when he

zooms out from the weeping Della to describe the flat. There are also all those moments when he makes a more universal

remark about "the way life is," such as, "Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating" (2).

Tone:

Wise, A Bit Preachy, Grandfatherly

The narrator of "Gift of the Magi" is not a character, but he's certainly not a neutral observer either. Rather, he comes across

distinctively as a person, and one who's telling you a story, maybe even at your bedside. He's willing to take breaks from the

"action" of the story to paint a vivid scene. The narrator seems to speak directly to his "audience":

While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A

furnished flat at $8 per week. (3)

The narrator also take breaks from the action to "make a point." He speaks as if he's seen the world and understood it well

– he's wise, in other words – and he wants to teach you some lessons about it. Mainly on the nature of gift-giving, but he's

plenty happy making short but sweeping statements about other things – like the nature of life, love, or women – while he's

at it:

Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. (2)

She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love.

Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends--a mammoth task. (20)

Although it might feel slightly heavy-handed at times, on the whole the narrator seems like a very gentle, well meaning, and

wise fellow.

Themes:*Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

1) Theme of Love

"Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives.

Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The

warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems

to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects

her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it.

2) Theme of Sacrifice

The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be

able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through

the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the

same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven

themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or

how it has affected them.

3) Theme of Wealth

In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in

how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters are very poor – this is

repeatedly emphasized – and yet the story suggests that their love for each other makes them very rich. It is that love,

which motivates them to give up the only things of monetary (or personal) value they have to buy presents for each other.

Perhaps their poverty is what enables them to appreciate what really matters.

4) Theme of Women and Feminity

The main character of "Gift of the Magi" is a woman named Della. Loveable as she is, at times, Della is hysterical, often

overreacting, a characteristic that the narrator identifies as "feminine." Della's complete and single-minded devotion to her

husband could raise the question of whether the love in their relationship is between equals or based on a difference in

power between the two.

Major Characters:

Della: One Devoted Woman

Della is the loving, warm, selfless, and occasionally hysterical heroine of the story. Della's financially poor. She spends all of

her days in a cramped flat, as "mistress of the home" (3). In other words, she's a homemaker. Della basically lives for one

thing (or rather, person): Jim, her husband. She's spent a lot of the time leading up to Christmas just thinking of what to get

him:

She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses

had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy

hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. (5)

As you might gather from that, Della throws just about every bit of energy she has into being good to Jim. She's been saving

for months just to round up money for a Christmas present. She has even endured the humiliation of pinching pennies at

stores.

He may not be bringing in much money, but Jim is the cat's pajamas for Della. He deserves the absolute best, which is why

she's so set on getting him the perfect present: "Something fine and rare and sterling – something just a little bit near to

being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim" (6).

Della is willing to go to any length to achieve this goal, and ends up selling her one prized possession – her hair – to do it.

Although she sheds a tear or two over the hair, really it doesn't seem to affect her that much. She doesn't even think it's

much of a choice. She has to get Jim a present: "I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through

Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again – you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it" (28).

In fact, the thing that seems to bother Della most about losing her hair is that Jim likes it so much. She's worried he won't

find her pretty anymore (though she doesn't really have anything to worry about). She barely seems to think of herself at all.

That's devotion.

Is Della Too Devoted?

Della's so devoted, in fact, you might be a little bit bothered. It might be difficult to define Della apart from Jim: she lives for

her husband. But it looks like her husband might live only for her too. After all, he sacrifices his watch – which is a precious

object that's been passed down through his family for generations (and won't grow back) – to get her a gift. And given how

humble their circumstances are, and how hard his work must be, it's not clear what else he would have to live for besides

Della. So is Jim just as devoted to Della as Della is to Jim? It's likely that he is.

If that's the case, though Della and Jim definitely play different roles, they're in a relationship of equality, and equal devotion.

That makes Della's own devotion less strange, and kind of wonderful – like it's supposed to be. Della and Jim's utter

devotion to each other is the whole point of the story, after all. It's because of this devotion that both sacrifice their only

prized possessions to get gifts for each other. That selflessness is what makes them wise givers – magi – and what teaches

us the lesson about the meaning of giving that the narrator wants to get across.

Still, it's true that we don't actually ever get to go inside Jim's head and see whether he loves her as much as she loves him.

So if you want to be skeptical of the narrator's heartwarming ending and be cynical about Della, we suppose you can.

Della's Hysteria

But you might still find one more complaint to make about Della. She might seem unrealistically emotional. The very first

thing we see her do is collapse into a sobbing fit on the couch. And once she gets Jim's present, she shrieks in ecstasy only

to burst into tears almost immediately afterwards:

And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the

immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat. (37)

Not only that, throughout the story Della just seems on edge, as if she were continuously overexcited. Do you ever notice

how Della never just walks or turns, she "suddenly whirls"? As in "suddenly she whirled from the window" (8) or "with a whirl

of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door" (11). Then there's the time when she

"leap[s] up like a little singed cat and crie[s] 'Oh, oh!'" just because she wants Jim to have his present so badly (40).

Yes, Della's a little on the excitable side, to say the least. You might find it particularly irritating that the narrator seems to

think that's part of what it means to be "feminine" (let's remember that O. Henry wrote this story in 1906). Still, in our

opinion, Della's excitement is more something to make you chuckle. It makes her more lovable. Della's just head over heels

in love. That inflates the importance of just about everything, and makes it rather easy to swing from the heights of

happiness to the depths of despair in a matter of seconds. Can't we all relate to that a bit?

(As for Della's sudden eruption of wails over Jim's present, our opinion is that there's a reason for that too: it's only at that

moment that it really hits her that her hair is actually gone.)

Jim: The Husband

Jim's job is not so great. He's the only breadwinner for the Dillingham Young family (that is, him and Della), and it seems he

works long hours, but his salary is low. And it recently went from bad to worse: whereas he used to make $30 a week he's

now down to just $20. He and Della are struggling just to pay the expenses of their small flat. So if Jim happens to seem a

little tired, serious, overworked, and perhaps a tad underweight, there's a good reason for it.

He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new

overcoat and he was without gloves. (22)

The one thing that keeps Jim going is his love for Della. She's his Della (33).We don't get half as much exposure to his

feelings as we do for Della's, but all evidence points to him being just as devoted to her as she is to him. Just like Della, Jim

gives up his most precious possession to find a perfect gift for the person he loves. And it's not just because of her looks,

even though she worries about them:

"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a

shampoo that could make me like my girl any less." (35)

Why does Jim love Della so much? Probably in part because she loves him so much.

You may have noticed that Della is also a little jumpy. Jim's definitely the more levelheaded one in the relationship. While she reacts to his present with shrieks and wails, he just reacts to hers by rolling onto the couch and smiling (43).