Essay Sample on The Gift of Magi: Love in Poverty

Introduction

The Gift of Magi is an illustration of much in little, love in poverty, and a story of self-sacrifice. According to the story, poverty is genuinely never a barrier to true love; neither are riches an assurance of love. Jim and Della, the couple mentioned in the short story, is equated to the three wise men who went to visit Jesus, as taught in Christianity. Although they had little, their gifts for each other were gifts of love, chosen wisely. Henry. O, the author utilizes various literary forms to keep the reader interested, with a sudden plot twist to create the element of surprise. The short story, The Gift of Magi is a great lesson story that teaches themes of sacrifice, love, and humility with important literary elements foreshadowing them.

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Different people define love in different ways. While others find it a mutual attraction and a feeling that brings happiness, others define love as the urge to see the other person happier. According to Law (4), in the short story The Gift of Magi, Henry tells of love as a sacrifice and placing the interest of others above oneself. Jim and Della lived a simple life, surviving with just enough to buy basic needs. In the story, Della, after fulfilling her buying her regular supplies, was left with 1.87 dollars. The figure illustrates a couple that survives a day at a time, with barely enough (Law 6). The author also describes the condition of their living room. The description creates an image of a simple home but filled with happiness. Henry utilizes imagery to bring the reader into the lives of Jim and Della by describing the setting. The setting of the story is also in a single room, which the author analyses in detail and creates the image of deprivation in Jim's and Della's lives (Shabkhez 303). A vivid description sets the reader into the mood of the story, such that they already have expectations of how the story should end. For instance, in this story, the audience would have wished Jim or Della happy out of the other's sacrifice, but the author wanted to emphasize the sacrifice of love.

However, despite their poverty, the author twists the plot to mention that each had a valuable asset. Jim had a watch, while Della had long, beautiful hair. These items were the highest valued items they had. To others, they might be of small value, but to the couple, those were the items that they attached more value to. Della had been desiring a special comb for her hair, but could not afford it, which she shared with her husband. Jim also had an ancient watch, but could not afford its straps. For the love they had for one another, they both decided to sell the items they attached more value to make their partner happy (Rea 4). It would have been a happy ending with Jim sacrificing his inherited watch to buy Della a gift she desired for long. It would also be the ideal ending to have Jim smiling after Della cuts her hair to buy him a chain for his watch, but the author uses irony and surprise to end the story differently.

The element of surprise is utilized in the prioritization of needs out of love. Although it ends weirdly, the couple gets to understand how much they love each other. Amidst their poverty, little is much because it is given with love. Shabkhez (302) compares Maupassant's The Necklace and Henry's The Gift of Magi to show that love does not thrive due to the abundance of material possession. The story The Necklace is the opposite of Henry's story, with the woman always demanding more despite the abundance of riches. She is still complaining and willing to arm others to gather more wealth. Jim's and Della's love isn't attached to wealth and thrives despite their poverty as it's based on self-sacrifice and humility.

The author also relates his text to other contexts to create a story that readers can connect with. The setting of the story is in America but has a touch of French ( Law 4). Henry develops utilizes character development to create images that the audience can picture. From the start of the story, the author describes a young couple in love, but with little. Jim is developed as a humble character, with just enough for his family (Rea 5). Della is also described as a woman who, after feeding her family, has little left. By doing this, the author builds anticipation from his readers, such that they desire success for the characters, which keeps them interested in the story. In this story, however, the author utilizes irony to destroy the expectations of his reader from the way characters were developed. The couple was poor but very rich in love and sacrifice. Although their gifts did not make sense at the time they were given, they were given out of love.

The authors utilize different literary forms to bring out various themes in their work. In the short story Gift of Magi, the author utilizes irony and the element of surprise, character development, and setting to bring out the theme of love and sacrifice in the short story. Utilizing a simple setting, the author describes the scenes and happenings of the room to teach his audience the meaning of true love and how it thrives even in little. Truly, little is much when given with love.

Works Cited

Law, Frederick Houk. "The Gift of the Magi." Short Story Criticism, edited by Justin Karr, vol. 49, Gale, 2002. Literature Criticism Online. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.

Rea, John A. "The Idea for O. Henry's Gift of the Magi." Short Story Criticism, edited by Justin Karr, vol. 49, Gale, 2002. Literature Criticism Online. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019

Shabkhez, Hibah, et al. "The Dynamic of Money and Marriage in Guy de Maupassant's the Necklace and O'Henry's the Gift of the Magi." Short Story Criticism, edited by Rebecca Parks, vol. 274, Gale, 2019, pp. 302-305. Literature Criticism Online. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.