O. Henry

necessary to ensure that they will be able to get it. In “The Gift of the Magi”, Della is particularly upset due to the fact that she only has $1.87 to spend on a Christmas present for her husband Jim. She wanted to buy him something nice, so she decided to do whatever was necessary to get the extra money, even if that meant giving up her most prized possession, which was her hair. The following actions performed by Della are described with, “‘Will you buy my hair’, asked Della. Down rippled the brown cascade. ‘Twenty dollars’” (O. Henry). This shows how Della sold her hair for $20 so she could buy Jim a nice Christmas present, which ended up being a watch chain. However, what Della didn’t know was that Jim sold his prized possession (his grandfather's gold watch), so he could buy her a present, which is able to be shown with, “Isn’t it dandy Jim? Give me your watch, I want to see how it looks on. Dell, I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs” (O. Henry). This explains how both Della and Jim were willing to give up their most prized possessions so they could buy gifts for each other. This proves that both Jim and Della were willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the benefit of the opposite person because they both gave up the one thing that really made them happy. This was all so they could buy nice Christmas gifts for each other. They didn’t have to do this. Instead, they could have boughten each other cheap gifts, or nothing at all. However, they did not,…

O. Henry 's three stories, “A Retrieved Reformation,” “The Gift of the Magi,” and “The Last Leaf” demonstrates the talent of this writer. In all three of these stories, unique literary techniques are used to create plot twists and unexpected turns. A common literary technique used in O. Henry 's three stories is irony, which is used to create a humorous and surprising effect. In addition, O. Henry uses foreshadowing in all three stories in order to build suspense as the reader anticipates the…

personality, rhetorically asking “And if existence will disturb a man with beauty, how can he help trying to impose on her the boundary of his two bare arms?” (Fry 18). This romantic interest in Alizon solely due to her beauty represents his impulsiveness because Nicholas is simply basing his actions on her external characteristics, rather than taking the time to truly get to know her. He also exhibits the masculine trait of aggression through his eagerness to fight again, asking Alizon, “Shall…

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…

The story The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry is about two criminals who kidnap a boy for a ransom, but it quickly backfires. In this story, the author uses certain details in the setting to help develop the characters thoughts and feelings. When they kidnap the boy, their mission is to gather a ransom from this boy’s father. They then take the boy into the woods not too far from where his father lives. And the two criminals proceed to move along with their objective smoothly. Although, they…

Result of Loss Romans 8:28 states “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Even though individuals receive unimaginable loss, God has the best intentions to work out the situation for his benefit. The situation of tragedy can teach lessons and strengthen individuals. The theme of loss traces through three meaningful situations. In the first instance a young woman called Gwilan loses not only, her prized…

Henry, portrays how sacrificing a prized possession of yours is worth it for the one you love. To enumerate, “The Gift of the Magi” is a story about a young couple who sells their treasured belongings in order to afford a nice Christmas gift for each other. This couple, James and Della Young, are both underprivileged people who do not make very much money. However, they both wanted to spoil each other with an expensive gift for Christmas that the other person would love. This is where the irony…

Colin Powell once said, “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” On a different note, Kevin Conroy stated, “Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one’s journey is easy. It’s how they handled it that makes people unique.” From these two quotes, one could say that it is possible to overcome adversity through the determination to preserve. Often in life, people will let hardships get the best of them. It can be hard for people to stay…

Title “A Retrieved Reformation,” by O. Henry is a story with a “twist of irony” and many themes and lessons that makes it interesting and easy to read. One of the best things about the story, in my opinion, is the lessons learned at the end of the story. The themes in “A Retrieved Reformation” are, the power of love, right vs. wrong, and appearances vs. reality. For Jimmy, the power of love is found throughout the story. Jimmy went to Elmore first to rob, yet another, bank. When he was…

The two short stories, "The Gift of the Magi" composed by O. Henry and "The Jewelry composed by Guy de Maupassant are both made out of two youthful, lovely ladies Mathilde and Della. Despite the fact that they are in various made stories that have comparable attributes that pass on all through the story, for example, they are both candidly and monetarily discouraged, have adoring spouses, and both need to accomplish something in an outrageous way. All through much the stories there similitudes…