Short and Sweet The short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, was published in December of 1905. In only a few pages, William Sydney Porter, under his pen name O. Henry, composes a magical story of love and sacrifice. Both characters are willing to give up what they love most for the person they love. O. Henry shows his excellence as a writer in “The Gift of the Magi” with his plot, use of irony, and his theme of love. According to Emily Wenstrom from “The Write Practice”, there are a few elements that are key to writing a successful short story (Wenstrom). Wenstrom states that a short story gets right to the heart of the conflict (Wenstrom). O. Henry does this by stating the conflict in the first two lines, “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all” (O. Henry). The main conflict for Della, the main character, is the fact that she has a very limited amount of money to buy her husband, Jim, a present for Christmas. Another element Wenstrom suggests is that the climax is efficiently built up to (Wenstrom). O. Henry builds up to the
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However, these gifts became pointless, because the gifts pertained to what the other had sold (O. Henry). This situational irony enhances the story significantly by providing an unexpected end that the reader will find very interesting as the characters react to the situation. Della becomes an emotional wreck after opening Jim’s gift and realizing it was “The Combs,” the set of hair combs she had been eyeing in a Broadway store, but were too expensive to buy (O. Henry). She is ecstatic, then begins to bawl because she has already sold her hair in order to buy the chain for Jim’s pocket-watch. Jim, on the other hand, stays very calm after Della gives him his chain for the watch he sold to buy her the hair comb. Jim, on the other hand, after recovering from his shock at the fact that Della cut her hair, simply reclined and “put his hands under the back of his head and smiled” (O.
However, these gifts became pointless, because the gifts pertained to what the other had sold (O. Henry). This situational irony enhances the story significantly by providing an unexpected end that the reader will find very interesting as the characters react to the situation. Della becomes an emotional wreck after opening Jim’s gift and realizing it was “The Combs,” the set of hair combs she had been eyeing in a Broadway store, but were too expensive to buy (O. Henry). She is ecstatic, then begins to bawl because she has already sold her hair in order to buy the chain for Jim’s pocket-watch. Jim, on the other hand, stays very calm after Della gives him his chain for the watch he sold to buy her the hair comb. Jim, on the other hand, after recovering from his shock at the fact that Della cut her hair, simply reclined and “put his hands under the back of his head and smiled” (O.