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by Bri Mason, Kassie Marsala, Victoria Goodale

Robert Louis Stevenston has said that, “The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish” (Literature quotes). This is accomplished by different authors, even though it may be hard. One example of a writer who has been able to achieve this would be O. Henry. O. Henry was able to write what he meant and affect the reader as he wished in his short stories. The most well know short story that he has written was, “The Gift of the Magi”. A way that he was able to reach these things  was through his themes,  which happened to be love, generosity, and materialism.  When analyzing O. Henry’s story “The Gift of the Magi”, it is seen that the author uses various literary elements to help the reader better understand the themes of the stories.

Characters in “The Gift of the Magi” portray qualities of love, generosity, poverty, realism to life and obstacles people face everyday. O. Henry created a very intriguing main character of beauty and emotion for his protagonist, who happens to be Della Young. She is a selfless, giving character whose main focus in life is her love, Jim. She has beautiful long locks, which is the fairest hair in town and she sacrifices it for Jim’s Christmas gift, this is displayed when the narrator states, “She got out her curling irons and lighted up the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love” (O. Henry). Della tries to mend her elegant hair, in hope that Jim still thinks she beautiful. After, she had sold it to lady Madame for money to purchase Jim’s gift, it shows her love for him and her selflessness as she would do anything in order to get money for him. As stated in the story, “…two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house” (O. Henry). Therefore, O. Henry gives proof that even at the end of the story Della still puts their love first and will go to extreme lengths for him no matter the cost. With only one dollar and eighty-seven cents she had to find a way to earn enough money to please Jim for Christmas. All in all, this act shows Della’s flat character status, and impacting love for Mr. Young. This explains O. Henry’s moral of the story of how those that give, receive out of the gifts, are the wisest and this is the purpose behind the story line. Hint, the deeper meaning of the title chosen for the story, Della and Jim are the Magi.

Along with flat, Della’s character runs side and side with her static characteristics.  In the beginning, O. Henry draws out her sadness and how her emotions are on a rollercoaster from the struggles in her life, but the one thing she can fall back on for support and a smile is Jim. Interestingly enough, her worry for their love and trying to please Mr. Young makes her cry. O. Henry writes, “Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles with sniffles predominating” (O. Henry).  Starting off the story with this shows her depression for her opposing force of society, but her young love picks her up, leaving her with only sniffles to trail off. This stays constant till the end, Della worries the only sure thing in her life could be a less perfect if she fails to please Jim. The narrator describes, “Jim, darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present” (O. Henry). Showing, her sobs in worry of what Jim will think of her cause she still wants to be everything to him, but she could not resist giving him nothing, to show her affection on Christmas Day. Love and Family are the most important things in life and so much more than materialistic needs and money. They cannot buy or replace the inner happiness they receive from love. Love cannot be duplicated and Della displays all these qualities and never changes her priorities.

Della, throughout the entire story has only one purpose in mind. Her ultimate goal is to buy her loving husband a gift, yet she cannot buy a lot with only a dollar and eighty-seven cents, “Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present” (Henry). In such a short period of time, Della is out to search for the perfect gift. After she cuts her hair off and sells it for extra money, she is excited to show Jim her thoughtful present. “...but nobody could ever count my love for you” (O. Henry). Here, Della is crying out to Jim to show him her ever-lasting love she still has with him. After giving up the one thing she wore best, her hair, she still has Jim's love without it. Capturing her goal at last, making her husband happy.

          The Gift of the Magi, expresses a different social living situations. In this story the antagonist is society, and the society in this story is flat. The Dillingham Young's are the typical, low-income family with only the love of each other to get by. Jim and Della, save up every penny they receive to make end meet. Thus, society is making their living situation even harder than it is. The reader read, “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” (Henry). Every penny matters, everyday they are put up to the task to scrabble for change here and there. Society is making life hard for them, yet it doesn't seem to bother the couple. The narrator states, “In the vestibule below was a letterbox into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring” (Henry). No letters, not anything to make things better, yet this couple is still strong on the love they have for each other never changes. Society is very static, throughout the story there is a sense of always struggling to get extra money. The house shared by the Dillingham Young's, was not the greatest of houses. As read in the story, “A furnished nat at $8 per week” (Henry). Their surrounding made it difficult for them to buy any better. Their love for each other canceled out having great gifts, and the money they needed to buy them, “let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just as a present” (Henry). After realizing that they gave up their possessions for each other, fancy gifts were no longer a goal to them. Their surroundings never changed though, they keep to what they believe in. Society always tries to keep the Youngs down, but they find a way in the end to not worry so much about the possessions they love, and focus on the love they share for one another, “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs” (Henry). Jim has done what Della would do for him, their generosity for each other only grows at the end. Generosity is also a theme in the story, it is understood that giving up ones possession to give to another is a good decision. O. Henry describes his two characters as two whole-hearted people who care for one another. As said by Rena Korb, “Della is akin to saint like figure in her capacity for acceptance. She does not regret her lifestyle” (Korb). She shows that O. Henry creates a down to earth women who doesn't care what others think. She goes on to show that the Dillinghams will eventually change their ways, “He and Della will not always be poor, and their lives will be enriched for this sacrifice: instead of having only two possessions” (Korb). Rena feeds off of O. Henry's work, and critiques that they will not always have two things to make them happy, yet gain so much more in return.

        O. Henry does not come out and ever tell the readers all the facts. He sort of trails off and gives them a hint here and a clue there so people can try to piece it all together by themselves. He follows this style as he tries to set the setting. “Gift of the Magi” is in New York, as most of O. Henry’s stories, New York is the location. He created a setting to show that Jim and Della are poor in “the city” (“The Gift of the Magi”). He never flat off says the Youngs live in New York, but assumes you will figure it out by his previous stories’ settings and context clues. This is Henry’s way of telling you where the characters live and their poverty lifestyle.  He uses his strong points and infamous styles to portray his inner meanings, “The story contains many of the elements that O. Henry is known for such as; poor, working class characters, humorous tone, realistic detail and surprise endings” (“Plot Summary: ‘The Gift of the Magi”). He uses these things he is known for and first collection stories in 1906 to illuminate the realism of the characters lives and their surroundings. He takes these clues to create an environment of a poor young couple in a run down depressing part of NYC by his patterns and actions of Della and Jim Young.  The author gives physical details of the apartment’s conditions, city life, clothes and language to build a mental picture of the setting in where the Young’s story takes place.

Therefore, Henry has then to develop a time period the Young’s story and lives take place in as well.  He demonstrates this when he is talking about the time of year it is when Della begins to brainstorm a gift idea for her darling Jim, “Tomorrow would be Christmas Day and she had $1.87 with which to buy Jim a Christmas present” (Henry). This shows that it is the day before Christmas morning and partaking in the harsh winter. Hint to the coldness and brutal times winter can bring out with degrading emotions. Henry tries to initiate this when he places the setting in the dead of winter. The author built the Youngs in an era of low wages and working class showing a past time of lower earning and payments. “He refers to NYC and that the story occurs around the time he wrote it – early 1900’s” (“The Gift of the Magi”). Early 1900’s involved the Great Depression that demonstrates the time of money struggles and salaries were not at their best, putting the Youngs in a perfect setting for money troubles. The Impact of when the story is set shows the rush of industrializing in the city, time period and new rough starts that take tolls on their lifestyle. Along with the more specific time of year, Christmas time, the time for love, family, and giving Della and Jim try to make. They try to put Christmas as a priority to them despite the downs in their lives. The time of Christmas also goes into the depth of the title.  It gives the inner meaning of the Magi and how Della and Jim are the just that. How during the time of Jesus’ birth, the wise men had the wisest gifts and created the idea of giving gifts they where the magi. When Della and Jim followed in their shoes making them magi and creating the title.  Developing a loving and yet depressing atmosphere for these two lovebirds.

The tone of  “The Gift of the Magi” is very controversial. Henry creates stories with the best of both worlds as he demonstrates feelings of sadness and emptiness along with the emotions of love and selflessness in his context. “...letter box in which no letter would go, and no electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring” (Henry). Giving examples of how the Youngs are not important in society because they do not fall into an upper class but are important to each other. Placing the mood of the short story and setting in the category of their self-sacrifices and true necessities in life. Della in the story cries frequently because she is living in a moment of her life where things are not at their best and she relies on her relationship to cancel that out. “Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard” (Henry). Using the term “gray” Henry tries to show the dullness and lifeless of the place she is living. There are no colors, just plain old black and white life that Della has no excitement or upsides.  Della is the real character that details the meaning and emotion of this story. Jim, her husband, is the reason why she demonstrates these emotions and actions though. She tries to find happiness out of her love even though she is going through hard times. The reasoning for her mood swings, tears and smiles. “The Gift of the Magi” is a great example of lives bittersweet moments, extraordinary love and lives obstacles and trials.

         One of the most important parts to the story, “The Gift of The Magi” is the way the story is written, and from the point of view the reader is told. Throughout the story, O. Henry uses third person limited to tell the Magi’s story third person limited captures the thoughts and feelings of only one character throughout the story. One critic from Short Stories from Students said O. Henry’s work is a “trademark”. That critic stated that O. Henry, “opens with another of O. Henry’s trademarks: a quick, compelling beginning that immediately involves the reader while providing a sense of the background of the narrative drive” (“The Gift of the Magi”). The drive from the narration capturers the reader by using an outsider point of view to tell the life of two poor people, and the risks they take to be happy. This critic was right, because Henry’s quick beginning sets the reader up for more surprising events.

O. Henry uses third person limited, and by doing so, he shows the reader a day in a life of a women who doesn’t have the fine things in life. His narration throughout the story is simple and gets the readers attention. The narrator says, “Three times Della counted it” (Henry). This quote is used in the story to show the reader that the main character is doing all the actions and her feelings through the events that happen. The narrator only follows Della's actions throughout the entire story. The two characters in the story are represented as being full of love, also one of the themes displayed in the story. Henry does a good job of letting the readers know each theme in the story as well. The narrator states, “Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag” (Henry). This quote also is an example of third person limited, by showing Della's feelings. She is crying because she doesn’t have the money to buy her husband a gift. O. Henry tells the stories theme through the characters actions. By having the character cry, it symbolizes love for another person. The narrator reflects on the theme of love and generosity. By showing the love each character has, the narrator teaches the reader a lesson about life, and the things one does for another.

  Another life lesson in this story is the theme generosity. In the story each character sacrifices their most wanted object for each other. O. Henry uses dialogue when the two characters figure out what each one did for the other. O. Henry does not zone in the feelings of the other character Jim, because he wants the main focus on the women, Della. The narrator states, “You say your hair is gone? He said, with air almost of idiocy” (Henry). In this quote, the male character is expressing the feelings that he had for Della’s hair. Yet, he did not say it directly to her, it is represented by the way he struggles to ask the question. Jim is a minor character, yet his feelings and expressions are not expressed as well as Della's. O. Henry does a good job of using limited point of view to display the characters. The way this repeating dialogue is throughout the story is the way the story is told by each character. Even though the reader does not know the direct feelings of Jim, the reader can still figure out how he reacts with the main character. The thoughts and feelings of each character is expressed by a narration that explains the life of the under class of people. If the story was told in first person, the reader would of gotten the actual feelings and thoughts of one individual instead of the one character. The reader would have personally known one of the characters in the story. By reading this story, readers can tell that the specific narration is because of where the story is set. Critics tend to review stories that O. Henry has written, as being good. Another critic stated that O. Henry, “Uses a folksy narrator to tell the story of Jim and Della” (“The Gift of the Magi”). “The Gift of the Magi” has a sense of olden day times where the living situations are hard, but the narrator expressed each character like they were just people getting through a tough time. The way the story took off in beginning, and the way it came to end, really shows the point of view the story was told from. Third person limited worked in this story because the narrator only followed one character and told the thoughts of one in the story. The point of view captures the reader’s attentions and the ending has a change of pace. This story would not have been the same if it were told directly from the character that it was happening to.                                          

 As you engage in story you deiced that you either enjoy it or you do not.  One thing that seems to please many readers is a twisted ending that surprises you. These are usually very enjoyable and unique, which is exactly why “The Gift of the Magi” is both enjoyable and unique. As you read writings created by O. Henry, you notice that, “Henry uses a humorous style and tends to have a lot of surprise endings” (Helps). By using these endings so often, it began to become a style to him or a trademark. When you read his stories you were caught off guard with a twist, giving the reader an enjoyable brainteaser read.  As read in many overviews,  “O. Henry created shot, often humorous stories with ironic twists or surprise endings, a type still referred to as ‘ the O. Henry style’”(William Sydney Porter). This statement shows that O. Henry had a preferred style, and not only that but he was so well at performing it, the style itself became associated with his name.  Many writers, readers, and critics use the phrase O. Henry style when someone using the technique of surprise endings. In short stories written by O. Henry it is seen to supply people with yet another example of how this writer used this style because it gives ironic endings such as in his story “The Gift of the Magi”. One way, O. Henry gave you enjoyment through his stories was by delivering an ironic ending that you didn’t expect, and another way would be through Manipulation of Syntax.

  By reading different pieces of writings you start to see that a certain stories/ authors have a certain sentence structure.  The syntax of “The Gift of the Magi” is effective. This is because it works with the story to help tell it. The General writing is usually simple. As observed, “The sentences are short and choppy, and just get the information out. There can also be fragments” (“The Gift of the Magi”).  This shows that there is simplicity to the story with the short and non-complex foundation. As the story begins, it starts with three dramatic sentences that demonstrate this exact style. As O. Henry wrote, “One dollar and eighty – seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.” These are the first three sentences of the stories itself. They are short and simple. This makes it dramatic and eye popping. It draws attention to the fact they do not have much money. This sentence structure also how serious the situation is for the Young family, and relates to their life as well. The sentences are straight forward, and aren’t too in depth, just like the story as a whole. The manipulation of syntax itself helps reflect the story and help explain and make it more of a reality to the reader. This style of syntax helps make the story more enjoyable for the readers, and so does the word choice.  

     As you read a story you may not notice it, but the choice of words can also help improve the story’s appeal to the reader.  In “The Gift of the Magi”, the word choice is yet again basic. O. Henry keeps it simple and easy to follow. He does not throw in jargon or things that make a story harder to read.  When O. Henry wrote this story, he stated, “Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Young in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim’s gold watch that had been his father’s and his grandfather’s. The other was Della’s hair”(Henry). The word choices in those sentences alone help reflect the meaning of the ending. The simple words reflect the simplicity of the theme. To use simple words to show how much those items meant to them, simply makes the sacrifice of giving them up show the love and generosity.  Once O. Henry uses his words to show how important those items are, at the end, when the situation of them both being sold, he states, “Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under his head and smiled” (Henry). His word choice when he said that he was just smiling shows that the situation that ended up occurring just emphasized the love and will to sacrifice something that someone loves for the person they love. He shows that, it did not bother Jim that he gave up his watch or that his wife’s beautiful hair is gone. The choice of his words can express so many things in a simple way, because the Youngs were simple people. The smallest things such as the words that are chosen make a story more enjoyable and unique, but not only that also the way things are described.                                   

While reading, one might not realized it but the use of description is one of the biggest factors that plays into the creativity and enjoyment of the reader. When writing this O. Henry did not use description excessively, meaning that he used it when he felt it was needed. Such as the story states, “So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shinning like a cascade of brown water. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her” (Henry). By describing Della’s hair he grabs the reader’s attention and draws them in. With this focus he is able to show how important her hair is and what it means he uses the description as a style to gain the attention and let them know the importance. The readers can then realize how much her hair means. As the story continues the readers learn that Della sells her hair for Jim. As the story seem to start to wrap up and begin to end, Jim comes home and the exchanging of the presents began. As Della decided to give Jim his present, “Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, ‘oh, oh!’ Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent sprit.” (Henry). This use of description her show the joy and happiness that her sacrifices brought her. This is because getting the best present for Jim is what she wanted, so by using description and painting a vivid picture of Della, draws us in. the readers are then able to witness the love and generosity that Della possess. Using descriptive phrases, such as O. Henry does, you are able to bring enjoyment into a story.                                                                                                                                    Beyond the obvious holes in the economy unbroken couple in the story, love conquers all in the end. First, love is the main theme that drives the character throughout the story. Second, the society around them is constantly trying to put them down, but they break through and forget about the materialism that surrounds them. In the end, however, generosity comes around to defeat the purpose of giving in the story. To sum up O. Henry's work, the way he uses vocabulary and patterns helps punctuate the main elements of “The Gift of the Magi.” Henry sets the story up so the materialism of poverty doesn't over come the love and care that two people have for one another. His constant reminder of money and love capture the readers mind and opens it to see beyond what is around them. “The Gift of the Magi” sets itself from other stories because society keeps on pushing the characters out the door, yet they fight back with something greater than money and wealth. This story goes beyond the limits to see what others do not. The love that people search all their life for, and the care that never seems to be found.

Bibliography

1.       “The Gift of the Magi.” Short Stories for Students.Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol.2. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 1997. 67-82. Short Stories for Students. Web. 13 Jan. 2010.

Helps, William Lyon. “O. Henry.” The Advance of the Enlgish Novel. Dodd, Mead, 1916. Rpt. In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resources from Gale. Gale. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.

2.        Henry, O. “The Gift of the Magi.” Lit Finder Classic Collection. Detroit:Gale, LitFinder for schools. Gale. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.

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4.       “William Sydney Porter.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.

"The Gift of the Magi." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 67-82. Short Stories for Students. Gale. Web. 8 Jan. 2010.

"Plot Summary: 'The Gift of the Magi'." DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Web. 8 Jan. 2010.

Henry, O. “The Gift of the Magi.” LitFinder Classic Collection. Detroit: Gale, LitFinder for School. Gale. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.