The history of the creation of O. Henry's Christmas story
There are rumors that O. Henry wrote his story in 1905 in one of the New York taverns.
Like most of his miniatures, the story turned out to be light, laconic, with a little humor, which readers like so much.
The novella gained enormous popularity and is still passed on by word of mouth at family Christmas gatherings.
Genre and main characters
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry is written in the genre of a short romantic story, which is based on the story from the New Testament about the gifts brought by the Magi for the baby Jesus. The narration is told on behalf of the author. The work was included in the cycle of essays “Four Million”, dedicated to the residents of New York. The main characters in O. Henry's story “The Gift of the Magi” are:
- Jim Dillingham Young is a loving husband and caring man;
- Dela - his young wife, a housewife who dreams of pleasing her husband with a gift for Christmas;
- Owner of a wig and hairpiece making salon.
The author does not name the ages of the main characters. From the description of their appearance and emotional behavior it follows that these are young people who are ready to make any sacrifice to please each other. Their sacrifice and willingness to part with expensive things puts them on a par with the wise Magi.
They have important human qualities - generosity and love . Young Della has no question that she could get by with an inexpensive or more useful gift for her husband. It is important for her that the Christmas gift for her husband has not a material, but a spiritual meaning. Jim thinks and acts the same way. His dream is to please his wife and fulfill her desire.
The main characters and their characteristics
The main characters of this truly Christmas work are the married couple Della and Jim Dillingham.
Della
is the embodiment of femininity and beauty. The author describes her as a gentle, loving, modest and caring wife. She is sincere in her feelings, friendly and cheerful.
This is the kind of woman most men dream of, plus she is young, slender and very beautiful, and her long, thick and luxurious brown hair, as the author says, would be the envy of even the queen herself.
Jim
and the author introduces us as a young gentleman who, at the age of 22, already has to take care of his family, since he married early. But, despite all the hardships, he still remains a loving and caring husband.
They are both young and stupid, like children, but love forces them to make sacrifices that not every adult and sensible person would dare to make.
Summary of O. Henry's novella “The Gift of the Magi”
The story begins with a description of the living conditions in which the main characters of the book are forced to live. Their income was very modest. A rented furnished apartment for eight dollars a week, to quote the author, is not exactly poverty, but rather eloquently silent poverty.
Before Christmas, Della managed to save one dollar and eighty-seven cents for a gift for her dear Jim, but this is not enough. Della wants to give him something worthwhile, something he truly deserves.
After thinking a little, she decides to sell her precious hair and manages to earn as much as twenty dollars from her treasure. Now she will definitely have enough for an elegant chain for an expensive Jimma watch.
Before his arrival, Della is very worried about what her dear husband will say when he doesn’t see her beautiful hair, whether he will stop loving her. But all her worries are in vain.
When Jimm arrives, she presents him with a gift bought with the money, and he, a little confused, gives her a package with beautiful hair combs that she has dreamed of for so long. But that is not all.
The irony is that Jimm, in order to buy a gift for his beloved, had to sell his only worthwhile thing, namely a pocket watch, for which the chain given by Della was intended.
Summary of O. Henry's story “The Gift of the Magi”
Let us briefly consider the content of the short story “The Gifts of the Magi,” authored by the famous writer O. Henry. This is a touching work about love.
The action takes place on the eve of Christmas, one day before the holiday. Della, Jim's loving and faithful wife, could not find a place for herself due to the very small amount of money she had. And she really wanted to give her husband a gift worthy of him, and she needed more money than that one dollar and eighty cents. She lay down on the couch and began to think, crying bitterly.
They lived together in a tiny apartment, poorly and unnoticed, but they truly loved each other and lived in mutual harmony. In total, they only had two valuable items - a gold pocket watch, which Jim owned because it was an heirloom of his family and had previously belonged to his father. And Della’s most precious hair was her hair, which grew below her knees and flowed down like a waterfall.
After crying, Della looked in the mirror and said goodbye to her luxurious hair, after which she went to an establishment that was engaged in buying hair and making products from it.
The establishment valued the girl’s hair at only twenty dollars, and the girl sold her only treasure. Already with the money raised from selling her hair, the shorn girl went to look for a gift for her husband. She spent two whole hours searching and chose a platinum pocket watch chain as a gift for Jim. This chain looked modest, but dignified, just like Jim.
Arriving home, the girl began to style her hair for a new hairstyle. She was very afraid that her husband would not like her in her new form.
At approximately seven in the evening, Jim returned home and saw his beloved. And he was dumbfounded, looking steadily at her. And Della tried to understand why her husband was looking at her like that, and she was very frightened, thinking that it was because of her appearance. She began to convince her husband that his hair would soon grow back, and asked forgiveness for such a sudden and unexpected change.
And Jim hugged her and said that nothing could take away his love for her. And he explained the reason why he had such a reaction when he saw his wife - he pulled out a gift from his coat that he had bought for Della. The girl unwrapped the package and screamed with delight - and immediately began to cry, because Jim bought her a set of excellent hair combs, which she had been looking at for a long time in the store.
Dela remembered her gift to her husband and handed Jim the chain. But Jim did not take out his watch, but fell on the couch and smiled, putting his hands under his head. The gift he bought had to wait too, because in order to buy the combs he sold his watch.
The tradition of giving each other things was invented by the Magi, who were very wise people, and therefore their gifts could be exchanged, even if they suddenly became unnecessary.
. However, the gifts of true wisdom are gifts for which one must sacrifice, as Jim and Della sacrificed to please each other. Interesting? Save it on your wall!
Analysis of the work
The author of this work wanted to show that true love exists even in poverty. The argument for this is the sacrifice of young people. They sold the most valuable thing they had in order to give each other a gift.
When people love each other, they first of all think not about themselves, but about the person dear to their hearts.
This novella has been translated from English into many other languages and is available for reading online; in some editions it is even supplemented with stunning illustrations that fill the imagination with colors.
The novella is perfect for reading on Christmas night and will certainly make you think about what true love is. Do they also love you rejectedly and unselfishly, are you capable of such feelings yourself?
The meaning of the story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
O. Henry is the most famous of the pseudonyms of the American writer William Sidney Porter, a recognized master of short stories with unexpected endings. William Porter from 1880 became interested in literature, but truly devoted himself to it only in 1898 after going to prison for embezzlement of bank money.
Before the trial, the future writer flees to Honduras, but soon returns to his wife, who is suffering from tuberculosis, and remains with her until the last. After the death of his wife, the future writer is put behind bars. During his three years in prison, Porter writes stories that will later interest fashion magazines. Contracts with them will allow Porter to start a new life.
The story “The Gift of the Magi” was written in 1905, when O. Henry became a recognized master of the short story. This story, according to critics, becomes a Rubicon for the writer, as it brings him enormous fame not only in America, but also abroad. There is a story that the author created the final copy of “Gifts...” in just three hours, when the editor came for the finished text.
The novella is a textbook Christmas story with biblical allusions, a holiday atmosphere and the motive of giving. The source of inspiration for the writer was the New Testament story about the wise men who brought gifts to the cradle of the Christ child. They laid the foundation for the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas. In addition, O. Henry was impressed by the luxurious brown hair of his friend’s wife, which was also reflected in the novel.
The Gifts is based on the touching story of Della and James Dillingham Young, who selflessly part with their greatest gifts to give each other Christmas gifts. In the exposition of the novella, the author emphasizes the poor decoration of the $8 apartment, in which there is only a dressing table with mirrors in which only thin people can see themselves, a chest of drawers and an old couch. The narrow mirrors of the dressing table, the broken bell and the mailbox, into which not a single letter can fit, elegantly rhyme with the thinness of the young people themselves and their wallet. The room, according to the narrator, radiated “silent poverty.”
The desire of young people to express their love hit the wall of lack of money. O. Henry subtly raises the topic of “poverty” and social vulnerability of young people: Jim, a modest and worthy young man, has his salary cut for some unknown reason, and the couple has to survive on pennies. Due to lack of money, Della decides to sell her main treasure - a waterfall of brown hair. Having received $20 for them, the girl buys a platinum chain for Jim’s watch, the second treasure of the Dillingham Young family. Della’s words that it was possible to find out the length of her hair, but no one can measure her love for her husband, go straight to the heart.
When Jim returned from work and saw Della, with her hair reminiscent of a “boy who ran away from class,” he was a little taken aback. In her hearts, the girl even thought that her husband would stop loving her, but everything turned out to be simpler: Jim bought for Della a set of tortoiseshell combs, which she had long dreamed of. To afford such an expensive gift, he sold his precious item - a watch, which he inherited from his grandfather.
Each of the heroes parted with their treasure to give a valuable gift to the other. And although they had to put their gifts aside, they gained something much more: a feeling of love that is capable of sacrifice for the sake of another. O. Henry puts this sacrifice above the gifts of the Magi, who brought valuables, but did not give up the last for the sake of love. The author calls the wisest those who naively, with the sincerity of a child, sacrificed what was most dear to them in order to make another happy. Such people are the real magicians.
