The Gift of the Magi

“While the lady of the home is slowly growing quieter, we can look at the home.”

O. Henry’s narrator makes observations throughout the story that shift the focus away from the characters and adds commentary on the characters’ lives and actions. The narrator knows things that are hidden from both characters and occasionally shares those details with readers.

“Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a gift. She had put aside as much as she could for months, with this result.”

O. Henry sets up Della’s dilemma and builds tension early in the story. Even with her careful saving, she has been unable to save enough to buy Jim a gift, and she has run out of time.

“Only $ 1.87 to buy a gift for Jim. Her Jim. She had had many happy hours planning something nice for him. Something nearly good enough. Something almost worth the honor of belonging to Jim.”

Della’s love for Jim is highlighted in this quote when she refers to Jim as “Her Jim.” Overshadowing the joy of planning a surprise for Jim is the reality that she doesn’t have the resources to buy him the present she feels he deserves.

“The James Dillingham Youngs were very proud of two things which they owned. One thing was Jim’s gold watch. It had once belonged to his father. And, long ago, it had belonged to his father’s father. The other thing was Della’s hair.”

O. Henry’s description of how much Jim and Della value the gold watch and Della’s hair foreshadows the sacrifice they will make to buy each other Christmas presents and establishes early how monumental their sacrifice is.

“Love and large-hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks.”

Della’s grief at losing her hair made her sacrifice nobler but also more difficult. She wonders whether Jim will still love her with short hair.

“Though the watch was so fine, it had never had a fine chain. He sometimes took it out and looked at it only when no one could see him do it.”

Jim’s character is quiet and reserved. Even though his watch is the finest thing he owns, he doesn’t show it off to gain social status.

“If Jim doesn’t kill me,” she said to herself, “before he looks at me a second time, he’ll say I look like a girl who sings and dances for money.”

Della’s worry that Jim’s opinion of her will shift after she cut her hair illustrates how much of her self-worth and societal position are connected to her hair.

“Be good to me, because I sold it for you. Maybe the hairs of my head could be counted,” she said, “but no one could ever count my love for you.”

Della tries to shift the attention away from her cut hair and emphasizes that even more valuable than her hair is her love for Jim.

“Jim put his arms around his Della. For ten seconds let us look in another direction.” 

O. Henry here uses an extreme form of intrusive narration in which the narrator not only addresses the reader directly but also turns the reader’s attention away from the main characters at the story’s dramatic high point.

“For there lay The Combs—the combs that Della had seen in a shop window and loved for a long time. Beautiful combs, with jewels, perfect for her beautiful hair. She had known they cost too much for her to buy them. She had looked at them without the least hope of owning them. And now they were hers, but her hair was gone.”

Though the story follows Della as she sacrifices her hair to buy Jim a gold watch chain, this quote reveals that Jim has also bought Della a thoughtful and expensive gift. Ironically, she can’t wear the combs since she sold her hair to buy Jim’s gift.

“Jim had not yet seen his beautiful gift. She held it out to him in her open hand. The gold seemed to shine softly as if with her own warm and loving spirit.” 

This quote highlights Della’s generosity and open-hearted attitude. Initially, she had struggled with the sacrifice of cutting her hair, but at the moment of giving Jim the gift, she feels very happy about it.

“Jim sat down and smiled. ‘Della,’ said he, ‘let’s put our Christmas gifts away and keep them for a while. They’re too nice to use now. I sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs. And now I think we should have our dinner.’” 

This is a moment of great maturity for Jim. He minimizes the sacrifice he made in selling his watch while also steering the focus away from the gifts to the simple, joyful act of sharing a meal.

“And here I have told you the story of two children who were not wise. Each sold the most valuable thing he owned in order to buy a gift for the other. But let me speak a last word to the wise of these days: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise.”

The narrator suggests that the sacrifice involved in Della and Jim’s gift giving was both child-like and simultaneously wise. Della and Jim knew the value of their love for each other and prized that over their most valuable material possessions.