The Gift of the Magi The parts that led to the end of the story are that Della was begging for money so that she could buy something for her husband for Christmas, but she only had $1.87. So in order to get the present for her husband she had to sell her hair for $20. Once Della sold her hair, which was her prized possession, she had enough to buy her husband a gold watch chain for her husbands watch. She stated, “As soon as she saw it, she knew that Jim must have it. It was like him. Quietness and valueJim and the chain both had quietness and value.” Then she ran home to wait for her husband to walk through the door so she could surprise him with her shortened hair and the beautiful gold watch.
When Jim arrives home and realizes Della has short hair it creates suspense because Della thought that Jim only liked her due to her beautiful hair and when he walked it seemed like it was true as it states, “Jim stopped inside the door. He was as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird. His eyes looked strangely at Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not understand. It filled her with fear” The way that Jim was staring at her and not saying a word makes the reader wonder what is going on inside of his head as he is staring at Della, does he not like her anymore? What is he going to do? The suspense builds as he continues to stare at her.
The author refers to the man and the woman as the magi in the last paragraph stating, “But let me speak a last word to the wise of these days: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise. Everywhere they are the wise ones. They are the magi.” The Magi were men who gave the Babe in the manger gifts and created the tradition of gift giving during Christmas. This is a good comparison to Della and Jim because they were willing to give up their most cherished possessions to get each other a gift. Which is why the comparison is a good one.
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Even though Della and Jim can not use their gifts I believe that they gain a sense of happiness through the sacrifice. Della can use it for her hair once it grows back and for Jim’s watch chain he can keep just like he kept the gold watch passed down from generations in remembrance of a time where love shone through the dark times of which they were earning a few dollars a week and could barely live in their home. The author uses situational irony to teach readers lessons by depicting an image of two people, a man and a woman, who sacrifice their most cherished possessions in order to purchase a gift for their lover. However, they realize that they sold the items that they bought gifts for. For the woman it was combs for the man it was a gold watch chain. Yet, now they can not use if because the woman sold her hair and the man sold his watch. This irony teaches readers that if you’re in a tough situation it’s smart to not sell your most important items because you never know what’ll happen in the future.
