O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”
Episode 19
It's December and you know what that means... winter tales and holiday stories! This week Professor Pipes is talking about a Christmas classic: O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi"!
Transcript
Introduction:
Hello and welcome to Piper’s Paraphrases! As a little holiday gift for you, today I’m discussing a Christmas classic, O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.” So grab your hot cocoa and let’s travel back to 1905.
Summary:
It’s Christmas Eve and we’re met with a traditional holiday scene: nope, not snuggling under the tree, not playing in the snow, either, Cooper, stressing over money. Classic, am I right? Della Young is counting her dollars, and she has 187! Oh wait, I read that wrong, it’s pennies. She has 187 pennies, and tomorrow is Christmas! However is she going to buy a present for her perfect husband, Jim? Suddenly, it hits her, her long, beautiful hair! She hurries out to have her hair cut and sold and she gets $20 for it. I wonder how much I could get for my purple hair... Then Della finds a gift almost as perfect as Jim himself: a gold watch chain to go with his most cherished possession, his pocket watch. As she waits in her admittedly shabby apartment for Jim to arrive, she worries that he won’t love her or won’t find her pretty without her beautiful locks. Wrong kind of locks, Cooper. I’m talking about locks of hair, obviously. When Jim gets home, his shock and surprise are evident, particularly when he hands Della her Christmas present: decorative, jeweled hair combs, now useless. Although, I mean, hair does grow. Della then gives Jim his watch chain, and in an ironic twist, he smiles and tells her that he sold the watch to buy her the combs. Oops. O. Henry finishes the story by bringing up the magi, aka the wise men, and saying that Jim and Della SEEM foolish. After all, they gave away their most valuable possessions. However, ultimately, they were really the wisest of gift givers. THEY were the magi.
Analysis:
Before we delve into a full analysis of this short story, we’d probably better discuss what the title means. It is an allusion. Now, Cooper, before you put up a picture of Houdini or David Copperfield, I said Allusion, not Illusion. A literary allusion is an implied or indirect reference to something that is widely known or recognized by the audience. In this case, it is a Biblical allusion to the birth of Jesus, when the wise men, or magi, brought him gifts. O. Henry says that, since they were wise men, they obviously brought wise gifts, although, to be honest, I have no clue why a baby needs frankincense, other than maybe to cover the smell of a dirty diaper. Clearly, O. Henry wants us to compare the gifts of the wise men to the gifts of Jim and Della. And, according to the author, the young couple’s sacrificial gifts are wiser, which brings us to our next topic: symbolism.
Della’s hair is symbolic of her physical beauty, and this is made clear when she worries that Jim won’t find her pretty anymore, now that she has cut off her beautiful hair. This outer beauty is placed in stark contrast to her inner beauty. She essentially throws away her physical beauty in an act of selflessness, kindness, and love, showing her inner beauty. Similarly, Jim’s gold watch is symbolic of physical wealth, which is placed in contrast to the immeasurable and intangible wealth of love he has for his wife. He gave away his monetary wealth in favor of emotional wealth. Both Jim and Della sacrificed the less important things in life - beauty and money - because ultimately their love was more important.
This holiday classic has been told and retold over the years, in the form of songs, storybooks, films, and television specials all over the world! Sooo… why has this simple tale endured? Why is it so universally loved? I’d say it’s O. Henry’s iconic, ironic twist ending. He makes it clear that love and sacrifice go hand in hand. It doesn’t matter to Jim and Della that they no longer have their most prized possessions; they have each other. They sacrificed the items they held most dear in order to demonstrate their love to the person who meant even more, and that’s what makes them the wisest gift givers. They see what is truly most important in their lives. While a child might lament this situational irony and grieve over the fact that both Jim and Della have lost everything, all for nothing, that’s not how the author, or the couple feels. Jim even smiles as he tells Della that he sold his cherished watch, since his love is what makes him happy. And that’s why this is a classic, beloved Christmas story. There’s always a lot of talk about how giving is more important than receiving AND about how Christmas isn’t about the gifts, but about the love, and this little tale demonstrates both those themes in the realistic and humble home of Jim and Della Young.
Food for Thought:
1. Do you think the reactions of Jim and Della at the end are believable? Why or why not?
2. Describe some of the direct and indirect characterization of Jim and Della. What does it tell you about them?
3. In addition to the allusions to the Magi, the story alludes to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. Why do you think it does this? What is their significance?
