What is the theme of the story The Gift of the Magi by O Henry?

Table of Content

• Critical Thinking Questions for The Gift of the Magi
• What are some central ideas or themes of the story The Gift of the Magi?
• The Gift of Magi Analysis Chart.rtf
• What is the central subject of the Magi’s Gift?
• How does Jim feel about Della?
• What are the two main ideas of the article The gift of Magi?
• What is the Gift of the Magi’s point of view?

Another theme is the material value or materialism. When they each give up an item for the other, it happens to be the most important item or object in the world to them. This shows that their relationship is of more value than things which is a strong point O.

Also note that Della’s hair here represents her own external beauty and youth. Both the characters in the story, Della and Jim, inadvertently give each other worthless gifts for Christmas. Della buys Jim a chain for his watch by using the proceeds from selling her hair to an upscale salon. At the same time, Jim, blissfully unaware of what Della has done, buys his wife a set of fancy combs using the money he received from selling his watch. Each wanted to give the other something special for Christmas, but now they've both been lumbered with things they can't actually use. The narrator suggests that Della’s hair is beautiful enough to devalue all of the wealth of the Queen of Sheba and that Jim’s watch is fine enough to be envied by King Solomon.

Critical Thinking Questions for The Gift of the Magi

Both Jim and Della give selflessly, without expectation of reciprocity. Their sole motivation is to make the other person happy. This, combined with the personal meaning imbued in each of the gifts, conveys the story’s moral that true generosity is both selfless and thoughtful. Della sells her hair to a wig maker to buy a chain for Jim's watch for Christmas. Unbeknownst to her, however, Jim sells the watch to buy her a set of prized hair combs. Each gave up their most valued possession to get a gift for the other.

List potential lesson activities, 3-4 ideas in a bulleted list. We can, however, meet our students where they are. You can teach only one standard or several standards.

What are some central ideas or themes of the story The Gift of the Magi?

Jim and Della are considered the Magi because they gave each other the ultimate gift. Della sold her most prized possession–her hair–to buy Jim a platinum chain for his watch. Jim sold his most prized possession–his watch–to buy Della precious combs for her beautiful, long hair. The main theme is sacrifice and how willing one could be to go through sacrifices in the name of love. The Magi were the three wisemen who traveled all the way to present the gifts of love to baby Jesus, according to the Bible. Likewise, this story is inspired by such "wise" gifts that the magi gave Baby Jesus only as it would happen in the reality of sadness of the two main characters, whom also sacrificed and gifted each other wise gifts.

So now, rather than them both having something they value, what they have materially is worthless and all they are left with is their relationship. For her, the main obstacle that poverty poses to her happiness is its limitation of her expression of love. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Get answers from Weegy and a team of really smart live experts. All essays and papers are to be used as a research aid to assist students in the preparation of their own original paper. The documents downloaded from eCheat.com or its affiliates are not to be plagiarized.

The Gift of Magi Analysis Chart.rtf

"The Gift of the Magi" is one of the best-known and most-adapted short stories in modern American literature. Henry, the pen name used by William Sydney Porter, it tells the story of a poor, young married couple, Jim and Della, who want to buy Christmas gifts for each other but don't have enough money. Originally published in The New York Sunday World newspaper, "The Gift of the Magi" also appeared in the 1906 O. In the “Gift of the Magi,” dramatic irony occurs when Della opens the gift from Jim, a set of tortoise shell combs, and briefly forgets that her hair isn’t long enough to wear them. Dramatic irony may also occur if a reader guesses in advance that Jim sold his watch to buy the coveted combs.

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When they discover their actions have canceled out each other's gifts, they reveal what matters most to them. Rather than regretting what they have lost, they recognize they have something of far greater value—their love and concern for each other. Jim tells Della he will continue to like her no matter what she does to her hair. Della confirms her love for her husband is greater than the length of the hairs on her head. The question of whether Jim and Della are wise or foolish in “The Gift of the Magi” depends on one’s perspective.

The beginning moments of the 2002 special It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie feature gags based on the story. For example, while Rizzo the Rat sells his collection of rare cheese to buy Gonzo a dish for his mold collection, Gonzo reveals he sold his mold collection to buy Rizzo a cheese slicer. In 1993, an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 had TV's Frank selling his hair and buying Dr. Forrester a watch fob. However, Dr. Forrester did not sell his watch to buy Frank a comb, merely thanking Frank for the watch fob for his still-owned watch.

In terms of literature, a theme is the message of the story whereas the central idea is the main idea of the story. Just tell me what the text is about, so it covers the main point. It’s revealed that Jim made his own similar sacrifice in order to buy the combs for Della. Although their presents are useless, they’ve demonstrated, through sacrifice, their great love for one another. They have, in effect, given each other the greatest affirmation they could of each other’s love. Della and Jim's spiritual or emotional connection is portrayed as more important to them than any material or physical possession.

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.

Meanwhile , Jim has made a similar sacrifice, selling his prized watch in order to purchase a set of combs for his wife. However, in the end, the gifts themselves are far less important than the spirit in which they were given and the sacrifice that went into them—qualities which prove far more valuable than material possessions. Della also demonstrates that her main concern with their poverty revolves around how it limits her ability to show her love for Jim.

Despite this, she readily gave everything up in order to buy the one item she believed would make her husband happy. In 2018, an episode of Puppy Dog Pals entitled "Bingo and Rolly's Birthday" had each of the two dog characters trading their prized possessions to obtain gifts for each other . How does understanding their relationship underscore the story’s central idea? The central idea being that people will make sacrifices for the one’s they love.