The Gift of the Magi
Short Story
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O. Henry
The Gift of the Magi Main Text
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was cle...
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The Gift of the Magi Characters
Della ✪✪✪: Della is the main character of the story. She is a young wife who is poor but full of deep love. To buy a gift for Jim, she sells her most precious possession: her long, beautiful hair. Her action symbolizes pure love, sacrifice, and sincerity. Della is emotional, soft-hearted, and responsible. Her husband’s happiness is the most important thing to her. Throughout the story, her sacrifi...
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The Gift of the Magi Key Facts
Full Title: The Gift of the MagiAuthor: O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)Language: EnglishWritten Date: 1905First Published: 1905 (in The New York Sunday World newspaper)Later Included: 1906 short story collection “The Four Million”Genre: Short Story / Realistic FictionForm: Short Fiction (ironic, emotional, simple narrative)Type of Work: A sentimental Christmas story about love, sacrifice, and pov...
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The Gift of the Magi Literary Device
Figures of SpeechImageryDefinition: The use of words or expressions that create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind and make them see, feel, or sense the scene clearly.Example: “Like a cascade of brown waters.” (Della’s hair is described like brown water.)Explanation: Here Della’s long brown hair is called a “brown water.” The reader can clearly imagine her hair falling like a stream of water. It...
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The Gift of the Magi Quotations
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents.” – The narratorExplanation: This line shows Della’s poverty. It clearly presents her financial problem at the start of the story. “Shining like a cascade of brown waters.” – The narrator Explanation: This line describes Della’s long brown hair. It shows her most precious possession. “Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims.” – The nar...
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The Gift of the Magi Summary
Della and Jim’s poverty and love: Della and Jim are a very poor couple. They live in a small, cheap flat in New York City that costs only eight dollars a week. The flat is so cheap that no letter fits into the mailbox downstairs, and the electric doorbell does not work either. These small details show how difficult their life is. Jim once earned thirty dollars a week, but now his income has fallen...
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The Gift of the Magi Themes
Love and Sacrifice: The main theme of the story is selfless love and the beauty of sacrifice. Della and Jim are poor, but they are very rich at heart. To make each other happy, they give up their most precious possessions. Della sells her long hair, and Jim sells his family’s gold watch. Their sacrifices show that true love cannot be measured by material things. Love becomes truly noble when someo...
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Notes
Explore 6 detailed notes related to The Gift of the Magi. Each note provides in-depth analysis, explanations, and critical insights.