O. Henry use of figurative language and imagery in, “The Gift of The Magi” emphasizes and enhances the reader's understanding.
The author of The Gift of The Magi uses figurative language and imagery to enhance the reader's understanding. One example of figurative language from this short story is on page 153. The story says, “It (her hair) reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her”. This use of figurative language is personification because the hair has has human quality. Personification is something that describes an animal/ object or idea with human like qualities. This use of personification emphasizes that Della has very long hair. Another example of figurative language that O. Henry used was on page 154. The author stated, “So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters.” This is an example of a simile because her hair is being compared to a cascade of brown waters. A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as. This simile emphasizes that Della has exceptionally long beautiful hair. The next thing O. Henry uses to enrich the reader's understanding was imagery. Imagery is