Literary Review: O. Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi' - Themes Explored

This essay provides a comprehensive review of O. Henry's celebrated short story, 'The Gift of the Magi.' It delves into the story's dynamic plot, highlighting the conflicts faced by the young couple, Della and James Dillingham, as they struggle to find meaningful Christmas gifts for each other amidst financial constraints. The analysis focuses on Della's sacrifice of selling her hair to buy a watch chain for James, and the ironic twist when James sells his watch to buy combs for Della's hair. The review explores the themes of love, sacrifice, and the emotional depth of the characters, concluding that the story symbolizes the profound love between the couple, making them the wisest of givers, akin to the Magi. The essay also notes O. Henry's skillful use of perspective and the unexpected ending that defines his storytelling expertise. This assignment solution is available on Desklib, offering students a valuable resource for their studies.

Running head: GIFT OF THE MAGI; A REVIEW
GIFT OF THE MAGI; A REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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GIFT OF THE MAGI; A REVIEW
The “Gift of the Magi” is one of the most celebrated literary pieces written by William
Sydney Porter, commonly known as O. Henry. Henry had been a master of short stories, known
for his surprising endings and simplicity of the backdrop. Most of his stories are based on real
life themes allowing the readers to connect with the plot and theme of the story. The review will
analyse the artistic creativity of O Henry in composing a story with a dynamic plot, intriguing
course of development, with an unpredictable outcome, all composed in the shortest form. The
use of symbolism and irony has made the reading even more interesting that completely
complements the title of the story (Henry, 2014).
The ‘Gift of the Magi’ was first published in the New York Sunday in the Christmas
publication on 10th of December 1905 and was later published in the collection the Four Million
on April next year. The story is categorised as a genre of short story owing to its brief reading.
The backdrop of the story is delicately knit with elements that bring out the conflicts of the
character and their limitations (Eikhenbaum, 1968).
The plot revolves around the lives of a young couple who are struggling to meet their
ends and are at a complete dilemma in the eve of Christmas figuring out ways to buy a gift for
each other. The story unwinds meticulously by revealing the conflict of Della Dillingham the
wife of James Dillingham. The story runs through the efforts that Della puts in to get a gift for
her husband on Christmas Eve and makes a sacrifice of one of her personal possession to make
up for the price. She sells her hair for twenty dollars and gets a bracelet for the James gold
pocket watch. She hurries back home with excitement and waits eagerly for her husband to
return from work. The twist comes when her husband returns home and gets utterly surprised to
see his wife in short hairs (Eggert, 2012). The irony of the story is revealed here in the climax
where the James had brought a decorative comb that Della always wished to have by selling his

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GIFT OF THE MAGI; A REVIEW
pocket watch. The story is not just a tale of two couples and their love towards each other; in fact
it inspects the inner passion of the couple that drives them to sacrifice their dearest possessions in
order to get a gift for each other. O. Henry finally concludes by referring to them as the wisest of
the gifts given by wisest of the Magi’s.
The gift is just a symbolism being used in the story which actually stands for the love that
these two characters share for each other and is ready to sacrifice the most desirous possession
for each other. The emotional attachment of the character is the most important theme that is
being connected to here in the story. The story has been developed in two distinct perspectives
and leaves the reader completely unaware about the end which is seemingly twisted to derive a
tragic comedy that establishes the character of the protagonists which is the expertise of O
Henry.

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GIFT OF THE MAGI; A REVIEW
References
Eggert, M. (2012). Is the short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry still relevant today?:
An analysis of the major themes love, sacrifice and wisdom and the ‘O. Henry twist’.
GRIN Verlag.
Eikhenbaum, B. M. (1968). O. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story.
Henry, O. (2014). The gift of the magi. Simon and Schuster.
Nigmatyanovna, M. A., & Lubov'Sergeevna, I. (2017). Representation of the opposition inner-
material world in “the Gifts of the Magi” by o. Henry. Филологические науки. Вопросы
теории и практики, (7-2 (73)).