What is the main idea of the story of The Gift of the Magi?
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He main themes in "The Gift of the Magi" are generosity, love, and wealth. Relate a symbol to a central idea or theme of the story. The twins both believe the sacrifice is the greatest gift of all, leaving Angelica in bitter Christmas spirits until she returns the original gifts. For the gifts presented to Jesus, see Gifts of the Magi.
Generosity
The mood ranges from happy to sad and everything in between. In The Gift of the Magi, what does the chain represent? The watch chain, like the combs, is a sign of the wife’s devotion to her husband. Her hair has the same emotional value for her as his watch had for him.
The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well known; the ending is generally considered an example of comic irony. The story was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.
Love
It is fitting, then, that both Jim and Della decide to sacrifice their prized belongings not in order to change their material circumstances but rather to buy a sentimentally motivated gift for their partner. Though the combs and the watch chain are given monetary value, it is the sentiment behind each gift that makes them truly meaningful. Della and Jim may remain materially impoverished, but their exchange of functionally useless Christmas gifts only serves to emphasize the wealth of love that exists between them. Henry contrasts the warmth that exists between Della and Jim with their bleak surroundings. The most prominent theme in “The Gift of the Magi” is love. Jim and Della are willing to part with their most prized possessions to make each other happy, demonstrating that a wealth of love makes up for material poverty.
ENotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Their relationship shows that they will make sacrifices to make the other happy . The central idea being that people will make sacrifices for the one's they love. The “examples of tone in the gift of the magi” is a short story written by O.
Bert and Ernie’s Gift of the Magi
As a reminder, you may only use Course Hero content for your own personal use and may not copy, distribute, or otherwise exploit it for any other purpose. The 2009 Christmas episode of Robot Chicken features a parody of "The Gift of the Magi", where Jim refuses to sell his watch for expensive brushes and buys Della lingerie instead, much to her displeasure. In the 1999 Disney Christmas Video Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse do an adaptation of The Gift of the Magi. Mickey trades his harmonica to buy Minnie a chain for her watch and Minnie trades her watch to get Mickey a case for his harmonica.
The main idea of “The Gift of the Magi” is that the value of a gift is in the giver, rather than the gift itself. Madame Sofronie’s cold evaluation of the dollar value of Della’s hair directly contrasts with its value to Della and Jim. To Madame Sofronie, it’s worth no more than the money she can get for it. Della demonstrates her love for Jim by sacrificing her own most prized possession—and external beauty—without a second thought.
How does understanding their relationship underscore the story’s central idea what is the central idea?
In terms of practical wisdom, therefore, Della and Jim are foolish. However, there is a higher wisdom, which consists of loving another person more than oneself. These young people are wise enough to know that possessing a fine-looking watch or having long, lustrous hair are trivial matters. These material things were never as precious as their love for one another. Such people, in the words of Oscar Wilde, know “the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Della and Jim are wise because they understand what truly matters. The narrator calls Della and Jim "the most wise" for each giving up their most valuable items for each other even though giving up their most precious possession ruined one another's gift.
Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims–just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone. They decide to have dinner, and the narrator sums up the story with a little paragraph on the magi.
This is because Della and Jim know that, when it comes to the act of gift-giving, it's the thought that counts. Most people are aware of the expression “It's the thought that counts,” meaning that it's not what you give that matters but the thought behind it. And this longstanding truism undoubtedly constitutes one of the main themes of “The Gift of the Magi” by O.Henry.
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Students who utilize any model paper from eCheat.com or its affiliates are REQUIRED to cite all of the sources properly when writing their own paper. In the recent past, the literature has been emphasizing including gifted children in the regular classroom rather than placing the... The story, the couple acts on impulse as each strives to please their spouse. Esther Lombardi, M.A., is a journalist who has covered books and literature for over twenty years. Tone words are specialized terms that assist an author describe their feelings about a topic. Positive, negative, or neutral connotations are common in words.
For a young couple living in such economically strained circumstances, it is unlikely that their possessions truly rival those of biblical royalty. However, the items are considered valuable for more than just their material worth. Della’s hair represents her beauty and femininity, and for it to have reached such a length, she must have been growing it out for years. Jim’s watch is an heirloom that was passed down from his father.
Discover who wrote "The Gift of the Magi", a summary of the story, and its major themes. Explore an analysis of the story's meaning, and information about its author. If I am totally honest, I might reveal that I just want to read and enjoy short stories for what they are without dissecting all of the details…Sometimes, I just want to sit and reflect. They don’t necessarily have to examine EVERY part of the story or meet EVERY standard in a week.
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