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 ew Testament, deli!ered gifts to Jesus on the first Christmas "see "#hat's $p with The Title%" for more on
this comparison&.
'n addition, there are two other Biblical allusions, both made in connection with Jim and Della's pri(e possessions. Della's
hair is said to be so gorgeous that it would inspire en!y in the )ueen of *heba. Jim's watch would ha!e been the en!y of
+ing *olomon. Both the )ueen of *heba and +ing *olomon are famous figures from the ,ld Testament.
#hat do all three of these references ha!e in common, besides being Biblical figures% #ell, they're all royal, !ery rich
Biblical figures. The magi are often said to be kings, and brought Jesus three !ery e-pensi!e gifts "gold, frankincense, and
myrrh&, while *heba and *olomon 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 gi!e away. But that's not all the images of *olomon and *heba do. By bringing
them up, and by mentioning the magi, ,. /enry creates a sharp contrast between their spectacular riches and the ob!ious
po!erty and Jim and Della.
#e ha!e to wonder why ,. /enry would do that. Because ultimately the story wants us to think about what it means to be
truly rich. #here it really counts, Jim and Della are as rich as *olomon, the )ueen of *heba, and the magi, because they
lo!e each other. Just like the magi and *olomon "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 in!oking the Bible at moments, ,. /enry makes
"0ift of the 1agi" feel more morally weighty.
Drabness, Drabness Everywhere
To contrast with the "inner richness" of Della and Jim's lo!e for each other, ,. /enry throws in lots of little details to make
their e-ternal circumstances about as drab and meager as can be.
There's the flat itself, with its malfunctioning mailbo-, dead doorbell, worn red carpet, and cheap mirror e2ui!alent. There's
the dull scene out the window3 a "gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard" "4&. There's Della's "old brown 5acket"
and "old brown hat" "66&, and Jim, with his worn o!ercoat and glo!eless hands. 7ll of this imagery creates a contrast
between the rich, warm, inner world of lo!e and affection which Della and Jim create, and the gray, ugly, outer world of
money and work and miserly, hair8buying business owners. Their lo!e transforms their flat from a particularly drab part of
that dreary world into a home.
etting!
" #rab flat in a gray city $n %hristmas Eve
The narrator calls our attention almost immediately to the two most important details of the story's setting3 it takes place on
a Christmas 9!e, and its two main characters li!e in a !ery unassuming flat. The action of the story depends on the fact that
Christmas is sufficiently close that Della needs to buy a present now, e!en with her small amount of money. The couple's
!ery humble abode brings out their po!erty !i!idly. 't's their po!erty which both forces them to make the sacrifices they do,
and which makes those sacrifices meaningful. ,. /enry sketches the flat with 5ust enough detail to con!ey an image of its
s2ualor3 it's cheap, sparsely furnished, and has a broken mailbo- and a broken doorbell.
The drabness of the physical setting in which Jim and Della li!e creates a contrast with the warmth and richness of their
lo!e for each other. The fact that e!erything outside the flat is "grey" : Della watches a "gray cat walking a gray fence in a
gray backyard" "4& : de!elops the contrast e!en further. 'nside, we get the sense, Jim and Della's affection creates a
welcoming lo!e nest, in spite of the flat's humble nature. ,utside, it's a cold, gray world, and one that is about as uncaring
as 1adame *ofronie.
7s for the larger "where and when," we don't ha!e much in the way of specifics. 't is possible the story is set in a city :
"flats" are the kind of thing you often associate with cities : but not necessarily so "the flat has a backyard, which is a little
less urban&. ;rom the "gas" which Della lights "<=& and the gadgets she has "i.e., a sto!e and curling irons&, it is a safe bet
that the story is set 5ust about the time ,. /enry wrote it "first decade of the <=th century&, or slightly earlier.
&$int Of 'iew!
Thir# &ers$n (Omniscient)
Technically, the story seems to be third person limited omniscient. 't's told in the third8person, and only follows Della. #e
don't see what Jim is doing during the story, and once he does show up, he remains closed to us3 we don't know what his
reaction to Della's hair is any more than Della does.
#e can't be entirely satisfied with this classification, though, because the narrator has such an independent personality and
seems to know a lot more than Della does at times. /e's "The *toryteller." 't's as if he sees e!erything, but usually limits
himself to Della's point of !iew by choice for storytelling purposes. 'f the narrator described e!erything that were going on,
he'd ruin the surprise ending.
#e know the narrator is really more like an omniscient being, though, because e!ery so often he "(ooms out" to make much
more general pronouncements that fly way abo!e the action of the story's characters. The most ob!ious of these is at the
end, when he mentions "the magi" "to which Della and Jim are totally obli!ious&. But there are other places too, like when he
(ooms out from the weeping Della to describe the flat. There are also all those moments when he makes a more uni!ersal
remark about "the way life is," such as, ">ife is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating" "<&.
T$ne!
*ise, " Bit &reachy, Gran#fatherly
The narrator of "0ift of the 1agi" is not a character, but he's certainly not a neutral obser!er either. ?ather, he comes across
distincti!ely as a person, and one who's telling you a story, maybe e!en at your bedside. /e's willing to take breaks from the
"action" of the story to paint a !i!id scene. The narrator seems to speak directly to his "audience"3
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. "@&
The narrator also take breaks from the action to "make a point." /e 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. 1ainly on the nature of gift8gi!ing, but he's
plenty happy making short but sweeping statements about other things : like the nature of life, lo!e, or women : while he's
at it3
Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. "<&
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. "<=&
7lthough it might feel slightly hea!y8handed at times, on the whole the narrator seems like a !ery gentle, well meaning, and
wise fellow.
Themes!
AThemes are the fundamental and often uni!ersal ideas e-plored in a literary work.
+) Theme $f ,$ve
"0ift of the 1agi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose lo!e for each other is the most important thing in their li!es.
*uch is their lo!e that they're led to sacrifice their most !aluable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The
warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their po!erty and the dreary world outside. Their lo!e 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. 'f e!er there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is lo!e, this is it.
-) Theme $f acrifice
The two main characters in "0ift of the 1agi" are a husband and wife who gi!e up their most precious possessions to be
able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas 9!e. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. #e watch Della go through
the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to disco!er that her husband has made the
same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to gi!e up all they ha!e, they ha!e pro!en
themsel!es the wisest of all gift8gi!ers. 't might remain unclear, though, e-actly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or
how it has affected them.
.) Theme $f *ealth
'n many ways, "0ift of the 1agi" is a story about what it means for something to be !aluable. Does something's !alue lie in
how much money it is worth% ,r are other things more !aluable than money% The main characters are !ery poor : this is
repeatedly emphasi(ed : and yet the story suggests that their lo!e for each other makes them !ery rich. 't is that lo!e,
which moti!ates them to gi!e up the only things of monetary "or personal& !alue they ha!e to buy presents for each other.
Berhaps their po!erty is what enables them to appreciate what really matters.
/) Theme $f *$men an# 0eminity
The main character of "0ift of the 1agi" is a woman named Della. >o!eable as she is, at times, Della is hysterical, often
o!erreacting, a characteristic that the narrator identifies as "feminine." Della's complete and single8minded de!otion to her
husband could raise the 2uestion of whether the lo!e in their relationship is between e2uals or based on a difference in
power between the two.
Ma1$r %haracters!
Della! One Dev$te# *$man
Della is the lo!ing, warm, selfless, and occasionally hysterical heroine of the story. Della's financially poor. *he spends all of
her days in a cramped flat, as "mistress of the home" "@&. 'n other words, she's a homemaker. Della basically li!es for one
thing "or rather, person&3 Jim, her husband. *he's spent a lot of the time leading up to Christmas 5ust thinking of what to get
him3
She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. wenty dollars a week doesn!t go far. "#penses
had been greater than she had calculated. hey always are. $nly $%.8& to buy a present for 'im. (er 'im. )any a happy
hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. "C&
7s you might gather from that, Della throws 5ust about e!ery bit of energy she has into being good to Jim. *he's been sa!ing
for months 5ust to round up money for a Christmas present. *he has e!en endured the humiliation of pinching pennies at
stores.
/e may not be bringing in much money, but Jim is the cat's pa5amas for Della. /e deser!es the absolute best, which is why
she's so set on getting him the perfect present3 "*omething fine and rare and sterling : something 5ust a little bit near to
being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim" "4&.
Della is willing to go to any length to achie!e this goal, and ends up selling her one pri(ed possession : her hair : to do it.
7lthough she sheds a tear or two o!er the hair, really it doesn't seem to affect her that much. *he doesn't e!en think it's
much of a choice. *he has to get Jim a present3 "' had my hair cut off and sold because ' couldn't ha!e li!ed through
Christmas without gi!ing you a present. 't'll grow out again : you won't mind, will you% ' 5ust had to do it" "<D&.
'n fact, the thing that seems to bother Della most about losing her hair is that Jim likes it so much. *he's worried he won't
find her pretty anymore "though she doesn't really ha!e anything to worry about&. *he barely seems to think of herself at all.
That's de!otion.
Is Della T$$ Dev$te#2
Della's so de!oted, in fact, you might be a little bit bothered. 't might be difficult to define Della apart from Jim3 she li!es for
her husband. But it looks like her husband might li!e only for her too. 7fter all, he sacrifices his watch : which is a precious
ob5ect that's been passed down through his family for generations "and won!t grow back& : to get her a gift. 7nd gi!en how
humble their circumstances are, and how hard his work must be, it's not clear what else he would ha!e to li!e for besides
Della. *o is Jim 5ust as de!oted to Della as Della is to Jim% 't's likely that he is.
'f that's the case, though Della and Jim definitely play different roles, they're in a relationship of e2uality, and e2ual de!otion.
That makes Della's own de!otion less strange, and kind of wonderful : like it's supposed to be. Della and Jim's utter
de!otion to each other is the whole point of the story, after all. 't's because of this de!otion that both sacrifice their only
pri(ed possessions to get gifts for each other. That selflessness is what makes them wise gi!ers : magi : and what teaches
us the lesson about the meaning of gi!ing that the narrator wants to get across.
*till, it's true that we don't actually e!er get to go inside Jim's head and see whether he lo!es her as much as she lo!es him.
*o if you want to be skeptical of the narrator's heartwarming ending and be cynical about Della, we suppose you can.
Della3s Hysteria
But you might still find one more complaint to make about Della. *he might seem unrealistically emotional. The !ery first
thing we see her do is collapse into a sobbing fit on the couch. 7nd once she gets Jim's present, she shrieks in ecstasy only
to burst into tears almost immediately afterwards3
And then an ecstatic scream of *oy+ and then, alas, a -uick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the
immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat. "@E&
ot only that, throughout the story Della 5ust seems on edge, as if she were continuously o!ere-cited. Do you e!er notice
how Della ne!er 5ust walks or turns, she "suddenly whirls"% 7s in "suddenly she whirled from the window" "D& or "with a whirl
of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door" "66&. Then there's the time when she
"leapFsG up like a little singed cat and crieFsG ',h, ohH'" 5ust because she wants Jim to ha!e his present so badly "I=&.
Jes, Della's a little on the e-citable side, to say the least. Jou 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 ,. /enry wrote this story in 6K=4&. *till, in our
opinion, Della's e-citement is more something to make you chuckle. 't makes her more lo!able. Della's 5ust head o!er heels
in lo!e. That inflates the importance of 5ust about e!erything, 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%
"7s for Della's sudden eruption of wails o!er Jim's present, our opinion is that there's a reason for that too3 it's only at that
moment that it really hits her that her hair is actually gone.&
4im! The H5sban#
Jim's 5ob is not so great. /e's the only breadwinner for the Dillingham Joung family "that is, him and Della&, and it seems he
works long hours, but his salary is low. 7nd it recently went from bad to worse3 whereas he used to make L@= a week he's
now down to 5ust L<=. /e and Della are struggling 5ust to pay the e-penses of their small flat. *o if Jim happens to seem a
little tired, serious, o!erworked, and perhaps a tad underweight, there's a good reason for it.
(e looked thin and very serious. .oor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family, (e needed a new
overcoat and he was without gloves. "<<&
The one thing that keeps Jim going is his lo!e for Della. *he's his Della "@@&.#e don't get half as much e-posure to his
feelings as we do for Della's, but all e!idence points to him being 5ust as de!oted to her as she is to him. Just like Della, Jim
gi!es up his most precious possession to find a perfect gift for the person he lo!es. 7nd it's not 5ust because of her looks,
e!en though she worries about them3
/0on!t make any mistake, 0ell,/ he said, /about me. 1 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./ "@C&
#hy does Jim lo!e Della so much% Brobably in part because she lo!es him so much.
Jou may ha!e noticed that Della is also a little 5umpy. Jim's definitely the more le!elheaded one in the relationship. #hile
she reacts to his present with shrieks and wails, he 5ust reacts to hers by rolling onto the couch and smiling "I@&.