Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

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O. Henry is a well-known writer for his short stories, and one of his most famous short stories is called the “Gift of the Magi”. Although this piece centers around the Christmas holiday, the meaning of it transcends the Christmas season and can be put into everyday life. In some instances throughout the “Gift of the Magi,” irony is used to drive the central themes. O. Henry emphasizes the themes of love, selflessness and the practicality of gifts given at Christmas time.
The story centers around Jim and Della Young. Within the story, Jim and Della both have something that is important to both, for Della it was her hair and for Jim it was a pocket watch that was handed down to him from his father. It is the Christmas season and both are trying to find gifts for the …show more content…
Della only has $1.87 and the amount of money that Jim has is never really disclosed. But to get something for the other one they sacrifice something that is of great importance to the, for Della it was her hair and for Jim it was his pocket watch. When the time came for them to give each other their gifts that they bought, neither one of them could make use of the gift that the other one had bought. An idea that has great importance placed upon it is love.
One of the main themes in the “Gift of the Magi” is love. A use of irony was when Della was fearful of Jim not loving her because she cut her hair, but instead of being mad Jim said, “Nothing like a haircut could make me love you any less” (5). In saying this to Della, Jim eases her fears of what he is going to think. To Jim, Della’s hair is trivial to the woman herself. Jim does not love Della for her hair, he loves her for who she is, and that is what true love is all about. Love is when you put up with someone no matter what they look like, what they do and what they think. By having the main character’s love, each other no matter what the other looks like shows that love is a main

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