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The gift of he Magi

            
             Many people make sacrifices for others to let them know just how much that person means to them, to let them know they are really loved. It is such sacrifices that are held near and dear to a person's heart if recognized for what they are. This holds true in one particular piece of literature. That particular piece of literature would be the short story ofThe Gift of the Magi,? written by William Sydney Porter, better known in the literary world as O. Henry. This famous story talks about a young married couple, each of whom sells a cherished belonging to obtain money to buy a Christmas present for the other. It is a type story from which one can learn a lesson.
             The conflict of the story is introduced at the very beginning of the story. Della frantically attempts to find a way to get her husband a gift for the next day, which happens to be Christmas. With a dollar and eighty-seven cents she finds it quite difficult to do so. It is not as if she had not made an effort to save up some money for the occasion and is now suddenly panicking at the realization that she has no money. In fact that dollar and eighty-seven cents was saved up a couple of cents at a timeby bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheek burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.? Her only option to get enough money to get Jim 'something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned? by him was to cut off and sell her hair to a local hair shop. With the money she receives from that, she finds the perfect gift when after a search through almost every store in town when she finally finds a fob for that seems to be made especially for Jim's gold watch. When Jim returns home from work that night he is stun by the new look of his wife but not for the reasons she suspects. He is stunned by his wife's new haircut because the gift he had purchased for her was a set of jeweled tortoise shell combs, which she had been eyeing for a long period of time.


Essays Related to The gift of he Magi

1. The Gift of the Magi

... characters have for each other which many people can relate to. In the beginning of the story, Della and Jim, a young couple struggling to earn money, have an undying affection for one another. First of all, every day Della is waiting at home to meet Jim with open arms when he arrives to their flat. Also, with Christmas being a day away, all Della could think ... about is the fact that she only has $1.87 to spend on a present for Jim. This makes her very upset and she spends the beginning of Christmas Eve moping and sobbing around the house because of her lack of money. Although she was...

  • Word Count: 660
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. The Gift of the Magi

"The Gift of the Magi" In the story, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, I believe the theme was, sacrificing what you take great pride in is not always the best choice. It is not how much or what the gift is, it is what the meaning behind the gift is. Della and Jim are a married couple. The author wrote, "There were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took mighty pride in." This proves Della and Jim ... grandfather's. When Jim walks in to find that Della has cut her hair, he says, "You've cut off your hair." He wasn't upset, just surprised. He was cautious to wh...

  • Word Count: 378
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Three Kings a Day Celebration

... king has its own date after the initial feast. These originally were the days to honor the Magi also known as the wise men.Melchor was the king of Sultan who was from Arabia. He was oldest of the kings. It was said to believe Melchor was a gentle and warm man. Melchor gift was the gift of gold. Balthazar was a Nubian King and ruler of Ethiopia. The gift Balthazar had given was the gift was myrrh. Myrrh was a precious ... and pleasant smell which was known to come from the bark of thorny African ... ...

  • Word Count: 1424
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

4. An Overview of Three Classic Short Stories

... chose are "The Gift of the Magi," and "Hearts and Hands," by O. Henry, and "The Necklace," by Guy De Maupassant". The reason why I chose these three short stories in particular is because they all involve some sort of situation with money. From "The Gift of the Magi,"" in which the poor, loving couple spend all the money they have to buy each other the perfect Christmas gift, to "The Necklace,"" where the main character loses ... her friend's necklace and has to pay it off. In contrast, the last story, "Hearts and Hands,"" expresses a plot ... (that it involves wanting money), but also...

  • Word Count: 1490
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Theme Essay - The Gift of the Magi

The Gift of the Magi By O. Henry takes place on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, one gives presents at this time of year, and Della and Jim want to buy something very special for each other. As they have little money, they both sacrifice their most valued possessions that ironically cannot be used. O. Henry calls these two "wise" rather than foolish for doing this, and uses the setting ... to the gifts is very positive, as he is happy with what he gets, and ends up laughing off the irony that they caused. Jim and Della put away the gifts. They decide that the money the spent was spent well, and ...

  • Word Count: 941
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Great Christmas Gift

The Great Christmas Gift The story of the Gift of the Magi shows Della's courage to fight against short income, persistence to struggle with horrible life, and the ability to deal with adversities to forgo her favorite thing in very critical situation. This story also focused the deeply love between two people who sacrificed each other to buy a Christmas gift. On the occasion of Christmas, both Della and James wanted to buy a very special gift to ... known that Jim had a gold watch, which had no chain, given by his father. Della also wanted that James Dillingham would have pulled out his watc...

  • Word Count: 723
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

7. The Gifts

... three gifts: Gold, Incense, and Myrrh. These three gifts would tell the life story of Jesus by what each gift represents. Gold : This gift represents Kingship. Matthew 2 vs. 1 - 12 tells of how the magi came to worship Jesus. This underlines that Jesus came to take away the sins of the whole world. Their first stop was at the palace of king Herod where there they would have found much gold, and a king ... but he was not the king they where looking for. No, this king would be found ... were shouting "Call yourself the King of the Jews." Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father and...

  • Word Count: 848
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Divination of the Druids

... He returned to the king the next morning and said, "Art thou asleep, O King of Erin and Alban (Scotland)?- "Why the addition to my Title?- asked the king. "I am not king of Alban."" The Druid answered to him that he had talked to "the clouds of the men of Erin,"" which told him the kink would conquer Alban, Britain, and Gaul, which he did during that next year.1 One Druid named Finn Mac Cumail had the gift of ... divination which only this rite he could use. He would have someone bring him a basin (bowl) of clear water which he would ... of these trees and inscribed in them Ogham, which ...

  • Word Count: 1004
  • Approx Pages: 4
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9. Gross Income

... income the annual incremental redemption value. When the TP elects to report the income annually, then he must do so to all such securities. Exceptions Applicable to Accrual Basis Taxpayers: Prepaid Income is taxed in the year of receipt. Deferral of advance payments for goods → can defer if the method of accounting for the sale is the ... the gross income of the owner of the property. Interest accrues daily. Gift of income producing property, the donor must recognize his/her share of the accrued income at the time it would have been recognized had the donor continued to own the proper...

  • Word Count: 1743
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

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