THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

O’ HENRY
THE THEME OF LOVE IN LITERATURE
THE STORY SEQUENCE
1 1 dollar and 87 cents
2 The Christmas present box
3 The mirror
4 The wig shop
5 The straps
6 The conversation
7 The combs
8 The watch
9 The Magi
 LOVE QUOTES FROM “THE GIFT OF THE MAGI”

 Della – “Maybe the hair of my head

were numbered, but nobody
could ever count my love for you.”

 Jim- “I don’t think there is

anything in the way of a hair cut or
a shave or a shampoo
that could make me like my girl any less.”
Vocabulary Meaning

1.Bulldozing The act of completely dominating a

conversation
2.Attend to one’s cheeks Apply (make-up) on one’s cheeks
3.Not go far If an amount of money doesn’t go far,
you cannot buy much with it
4.Take (a mighty) pride in Highly valuable
5.Collect oneself Control one’s emotion, get a grip on
oneself
6.Ransacking Searching through
7.On the sly Do something secretly
8.Turn white Become pale
9.Being burdened with/by something Have a lot of problems caused by something
10.Out of someone’s trance Out of someone’s daze/ regain
someone’s consciousness

11.Have somebody going To cause someone to be excited, aroused or

upset for a brief period of time
12.Without hope Hopeless
SUGGESTED ANSWERS FOR PART A
 1. The money she saved by bargaining with the grocer and the
vegetable man is not much
 2. Della finished her cry and apply blusher on her cheeks with the
powder rag.
 3. Twenty dollars a week are not enough
 4. The two possessions are highly valuable
 5. One flight up Della ran, and got a grip on herself
 6. She was searching through the stores for Jim’s present
 7. He sometimes secretly looked at it because of its old fashion
leather strap.
 8. When she heard him coming, she became pale for just a moment.
 9. He had a family to take care of.
 10. Jim seemed quickly to regain his consciousness
 11.But if you unwrap that package, you may see why you made me
feel upset for a while first
 12. She always looked at that beautiful fur overcoat with no hope of
owning
 Comparing the terms:
Climax
The point where the story reaches its
peak and becomes very intensive
Metaphor
An indirect way to compare two
things. Metaphors use one object to
explain the other
Examples: “They are the Magi”
Conclusion
The ending of the story, the answer
of the beginning questions and the
final results of all causes
Imagery
When a writer describes something
with words appealing to our senses
like sight, hearing, touch, smell and
taste, he has used imagery.
Example: “… look out dully at a grey
cat walking over a grey fence in a
grey backyard => create an image of
sadness and hopelessness
QUESTIONS FOR LITERARY APPRECIATION
 1. Why does O’ Henry call this story “The gift of
the Magi”?
The best gift to offer your husband/wife is love and
sacrifice. Della and Jim had given up their most
valuable possession for each other’s happiness.
The Magi were wise, they will surely gave wise
gifts. Although O’ Henry stated that Della and Jim
were “two foolish children” who sell their valuables
and buy things that the other could not use
anymore, they are still wise because they gave gifts
from their heart.
2. Tell in a few words about the theme, the plot and the characters of
this story. Among them which do you think is the most important factor
that makes this story successful and interesting? How does the plot
serve to reveal the theme? And how do the characters help to develop
the plot?
 Theme: Love, poverty, sacrifice
Characters:
-Della- the wife. Della did not have enough money to buy her husband a
Christmas gift, so she decided to sell her beautiful hair.
-Jim – the husband. Jim was a young man having financial problems to
deal with, he sold his watch to buy Della a set of expensive combs
 The surprise ending makes this story successful because it created a
case of irony, the ending is opposite to what the readers expected
 Love: The theme of love is shown through the sacrifice of Della and
Jim
Poverty: Della had only one dollar and eighty seven cents and that
money was saved by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and
the butcher. Jim’s overcoat was old, and he needed new gloves. The
couple lived in a flat at 8$ per week.
Sacrifice: the couple sacrificed their most valuable possessions for each
other
 The two characters both wanted to prepare a gift for each other on
Christmas. Their difficulty led the story to an awkward and
bittersweet ending.
3. How did Della prepare for Jim’s return?
 She curled her hair, made the coffee and
prepared to cook the chops
4.By what descriptions, details, characteristics,
turns of expression e.t.c does O’ Henry bring two
personalities to life in so short a story?
O’ Henry brings two personalities to life by:
 Describing their appearance

 Describing their actions, emotions and thinking

 Creating their conversations as natural as in real

life
5. What are the chief qualities in the two
characters?
 Della: devotion, sacrifice, generosity, a
homemaker
 Jim: responsibility, quietness, sacrifice,
generosity, a breadwinner
6. What do you think about the last phrase of the author’s remark?
What do you think is his point of view of love, and sacrifice?
 In his remark, O’ Henry was trying to show that in reality, the
actions of Della and Jim were considered foolish. However, when
it comes to love, their useless gifts are so precious that they
overshadowed their cramped flat, their old clothes and their
poverty. The writer believed that Della and Jim had given their
husband/wife the best gift in life: love and sacrifice.
 O’ Henry appreciates love and sacrifice. Poverty cannot defeat
true love, although the couple was poor, they still found a way to
express love to each other. Moreover, love is not about
appearance. Della’s hair was less important than her husband,
and her husband thought was: “I don’t think there is anything in
the way of a hair cut or a shave or a shampoo that could make
me like my girl any less.”
 When you love someone enough, you are willing to sacrifice for
your loved one. Love is about giving receiving. The other’s
happiness is your happiness
7. What is the tone and atmosphere of the story?
The tone: sentimental and sad
The atmosphere: touching and sad
 8. What do you think about the style of the story?
The writing style simple and informal. When we
read the story, we feel like somebody is telling it to
you since O’ Henry play the role of the third-person
narrator. Some sentences are not full sentences
such as “One dollar and eighty seven cents”,
“Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled
rims- just the shade to wear in the beautiful
vanished hair.” Some sentences started with
“which” or “and”, words that grammarians would
say are not grammatically right to begin a
sentence. Those creates a feeling of telling a story
orally and informally.
 9. In writing a story, a writer has first of all to
choose his standpoint, or in other words, to
choose his attitude towards his characters. What
do you think about the author’s attitude in this
story?
O’ Henry has a deep sympathy for Della and Jim –
the poor people. He knows how a poor person lives,
his humble flat, his old clothes, how he bargains
with the butcher, O’ Henry knows how hard his life
is and he sympathizes. Also, he respects their
sacrifice for love. That is why he compares them
with the Magi.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 O’ Henry is the pen name of

William Sydney Porter
 Genre: Short story

 A writer of the poorer working class and ordinary

people
 A writer of both Romanticism and Realism

 A humourist

 A master of surprise endings

WRITINGS
WHO ARE THE MAGI?

Three wise men who brought gifts to the new born Jesus
 THE GIFT OF THE MAGI SUMMARY
 Della and Jim, young and recently married, love
each other deeply and have very little money.
Della cuts off her beautiful long hair and sells it
to a wig maker so that she can buy Jim a
Christmas gift – a platinum chain for his watch.
Then she discovered that Jim had sold his watch
to buy her a set of elegant combs.