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Bionic Jean's Reviews > The Gift of the Magi
The Gift of the Magi
by
by
Who does not love presents? Especially those with an element of surprise. The wondering, the planning, the heart in the mouth moment when the present is actually given �
But in your mind’s eye, are you the recipient, or the giver?
As we go through life, this seems to change. Tiny children love their own birthdays, and also feel almost unbearably excited waiting for Santa Claus to come. As they grow older, the idea of giving someone they love a present grows in appeal. By the time they are fully adult, giving a present to a loved one makes them just as happy—if not more happy—than receiving one for themselves. It is this curious, yet affecting phenomenon of behaviour which makes this story so poignant. O. Henry knew human nature so well.
The Gift of the Magi is perhaps his most famous, and well-loved short story—and there were many! “O. Henry� was the pen name of the American short story writer William Sydney Porter. This story first appeared in “The New York Sunday World� in December of 1905, and was later published in O. Henry’s collection “The Four Million� the following April.
His stories were not only very popular during his lifetime, but over a hundred years later, O. Henry is still considered to be one of the great American short story authors.
What is the perfect present? A silly question perhaps, as it depends who it is for. And if it is for a very special person, how can you make it just right? Should you invest a lot of your time in it? Make something especially for them? Spend as much money as you possibly can, to get them the perfect gift?
In O. Henry’s affecting short story, this is the problem faced by the young Mrs. Della Dillingham. She is married to Jim, but the couple have very little money, and live in a downmarket apartment, with a “shabby couch� and other poor furnishings. The rent is very cheap�8 dollars a week—and it doesn’t even have a working doorbell. Jim’s salary used to be higher, 30 dollars a week, but now it has been cut to 20 dollars. They have had to make economies, and cut their cloth to suit their budget. It must seem as if there is nothing beautiful in their life, at a first glance.
But wait. They do not seem to see things like that at all. What they do have is a great love for each other. Even though their surroundings may seem bleak: “a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray background,� they have a warm home life which brightens their lives. Jim always arrives home “to be greatly hugged�.
It is Christmas Eve, and despite all her penny-pinching, Della has only 1 dollar and 87 cents left, to buy Jim a Christmas present, after paying all the bills. She is distraught, and goes all over town, on the cold December day, looking in shop windows to find something she can afford.
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.�
And it cuts to the quick, this watching the pennies, and the suspicions others might have of their meanness. We see their pride; their attempts to better themselves through hard work—yet times are hard. Perhaps James “Dillingham� Young is being pretentious in his three names, and should affect more modesty. Maybe he should accept his place now that he earns less. But the narrator quickly show us that such outward appearances are trivial; as nothing compared with what matters. The couple’s hearts are in the right place:
“But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called “Jim� and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
“Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.�
It seemed a hopeless task. And yet eventually:
“She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was (view spoiler) simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation—as all good things should do.(view spoiler) As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim’s. It was like him. Quietness and value—the description applied to both.�
Della knows this is the perfect present. Furthermore it is one which would be appropriate for any company; a source of pride, and one would last her husband a good long time, rather than the shabby one he used now:
(view spoiler)
This, then, is Jim’s greatest treasure, a beautiful object, and the most valuable item he has, a (view spoiler). Della too has just one precious asset (view spoiler)These two treasures may not seem much to us, the narrator says, but to the young couple they compare with King Solomon’s treasures and the Queen of Sheba’s jewels. Value is subjective; to Della and Jim, their prized possessions mean every bit as much as these mythical jewels could.
We see too, the beautiful simplicity, of these two symbols. (view spoiler)
The shopkeeper Madame Sofronie is brusque and professional, giving a fair price for the market, without emotion:
“‘Twenty dollars,� said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.�
All Della can think of is the perfect present. Yet something in her suspects this may be something she—or Jim—regrets.
“‘Give it to me quick,� said Della.�
Della receives her 20 dollars, which would be just enough money (view spoiler) and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task.�
Della could not see what she had done with any sense of sacrifice. All that concerned her was the consequences. She cannot settle; lurching between excitement and panic. What will happen.
When Jim comes home from work, he behaves oddly. Things seem to be going all wrong. Why is he so quiet? He stares at Della, and she bursts out:
“‘Jim, darling,� she cried, ‘don’t look at me that way. (view spoiler) Say ‘Merry Christmas!� Jim, and let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice—what a beautiful, nice gift I’ve got for you.’�
And now, before she can give her unwrapped present to him, we learn why Jim is behaving so oddly. (view spoiler) Della was ecstatic with joy. But then, the realisation came:
(view spoiler)
O. Henry made it clear by his title that this was to be a special story about the feast of Christmas, and the tradition of giving gifts at that time:
“The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.�
“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest � Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.�
The story’s narrator concludes that Jim and Della are truly wise. Their gifts may not have been so luxurious, but they were gifts of love and self-sacrifice. They could not afford to waste any money, especially on things they cannot use. In a way this story is financially foolish. But what each receives is of far more worth; beautiful and intangible. And even when all seemed to be lost the couple saw the future, and it was bright, because they were together. They are reminded how much they love each other and are willing to sacrifice to make each other happy. Although each had made a supreme sacrifice, neither seemed to think of it that way, or expect the other to have done so:
ÌýÌý
(view spoiler)
Of all those who give gifts, these two are the wisest.
The Gift of the Magi is perhaps O. Henry’s crowning glory. The story is a Christian one, but it has parallels in other faiths. Like all the best stories, its message is a universal one; timeless and speaking to all cultures.
Many of his stories are warm and sentimental, like this one, and show an optimistic sense of humour. And nearly all of them, like this one does, have a twist at the end. They have a style which lends itself to reading aloud, and appeal to all ages. In fact shortly after the first time I had read The Gift of the Magi for myself, I decided to read it to a large group of 10 and 11 year olds. I wondered � but they sat rapt, spellbound. Towards the end they barely breathed, and their reaction at the climax mirrored my own. A pang in the heart. Ooooh! O. Henry is a master storyteller, and this feels very real.
“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.�
“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating�.
Is this a sad story? Of course it is. It is bitter-sweet, almost unbearably so. The couple seem to have lost everything they hold dear. But this is not so, of course and the story ends on a supremely optimistic note.
(view spoiler)
“Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della � Eight dollars a week or a million a year—what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer.�
Yes, it is supremely ironic and sad. And so clear that even older children can recognise the pain and sacrifice. But as we grow older we realise what really matters in life, and what has supreme value over all material things. Perhaps the intention of the story is to highlight the difference between wisdom and foolishness. Jim and Della certainly behave impulsively, and do not seem to have much sense, or to weigh up the consequences of their actions.
But ultimately this is a story of love.
But in your mind’s eye, are you the recipient, or the giver?
As we go through life, this seems to change. Tiny children love their own birthdays, and also feel almost unbearably excited waiting for Santa Claus to come. As they grow older, the idea of giving someone they love a present grows in appeal. By the time they are fully adult, giving a present to a loved one makes them just as happy—if not more happy—than receiving one for themselves. It is this curious, yet affecting phenomenon of behaviour which makes this story so poignant. O. Henry knew human nature so well.
The Gift of the Magi is perhaps his most famous, and well-loved short story—and there were many! “O. Henry� was the pen name of the American short story writer William Sydney Porter. This story first appeared in “The New York Sunday World� in December of 1905, and was later published in O. Henry’s collection “The Four Million� the following April.
His stories were not only very popular during his lifetime, but over a hundred years later, O. Henry is still considered to be one of the great American short story authors.
What is the perfect present? A silly question perhaps, as it depends who it is for. And if it is for a very special person, how can you make it just right? Should you invest a lot of your time in it? Make something especially for them? Spend as much money as you possibly can, to get them the perfect gift?
In O. Henry’s affecting short story, this is the problem faced by the young Mrs. Della Dillingham. She is married to Jim, but the couple have very little money, and live in a downmarket apartment, with a “shabby couch� and other poor furnishings. The rent is very cheap�8 dollars a week—and it doesn’t even have a working doorbell. Jim’s salary used to be higher, 30 dollars a week, but now it has been cut to 20 dollars. They have had to make economies, and cut their cloth to suit their budget. It must seem as if there is nothing beautiful in their life, at a first glance.
But wait. They do not seem to see things like that at all. What they do have is a great love for each other. Even though their surroundings may seem bleak: “a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray background,� they have a warm home life which brightens their lives. Jim always arrives home “to be greatly hugged�.
It is Christmas Eve, and despite all her penny-pinching, Della has only 1 dollar and 87 cents left, to buy Jim a Christmas present, after paying all the bills. She is distraught, and goes all over town, on the cold December day, looking in shop windows to find something she can afford.
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.�
And it cuts to the quick, this watching the pennies, and the suspicions others might have of their meanness. We see their pride; their attempts to better themselves through hard work—yet times are hard. Perhaps James “Dillingham� Young is being pretentious in his three names, and should affect more modesty. Maybe he should accept his place now that he earns less. But the narrator quickly show us that such outward appearances are trivial; as nothing compared with what matters. The couple’s hearts are in the right place:
“But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called “Jim� and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
“Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.�
It seemed a hopeless task. And yet eventually:
“She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was (view spoiler) simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation—as all good things should do.(view spoiler) As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim’s. It was like him. Quietness and value—the description applied to both.�
Della knows this is the perfect present. Furthermore it is one which would be appropriate for any company; a source of pride, and one would last her husband a good long time, rather than the shabby one he used now:
(view spoiler)
This, then, is Jim’s greatest treasure, a beautiful object, and the most valuable item he has, a (view spoiler). Della too has just one precious asset (view spoiler)These two treasures may not seem much to us, the narrator says, but to the young couple they compare with King Solomon’s treasures and the Queen of Sheba’s jewels. Value is subjective; to Della and Jim, their prized possessions mean every bit as much as these mythical jewels could.
We see too, the beautiful simplicity, of these two symbols. (view spoiler)
The shopkeeper Madame Sofronie is brusque and professional, giving a fair price for the market, without emotion:
“‘Twenty dollars,� said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.�
All Della can think of is the perfect present. Yet something in her suspects this may be something she—or Jim—regrets.
“‘Give it to me quick,� said Della.�
Della receives her 20 dollars, which would be just enough money (view spoiler) and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task.�
Della could not see what she had done with any sense of sacrifice. All that concerned her was the consequences. She cannot settle; lurching between excitement and panic. What will happen.
When Jim comes home from work, he behaves oddly. Things seem to be going all wrong. Why is he so quiet? He stares at Della, and she bursts out:
“‘Jim, darling,� she cried, ‘don’t look at me that way. (view spoiler) Say ‘Merry Christmas!� Jim, and let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice—what a beautiful, nice gift I’ve got for you.’�
And now, before she can give her unwrapped present to him, we learn why Jim is behaving so oddly. (view spoiler) Della was ecstatic with joy. But then, the realisation came:
(view spoiler)
O. Henry made it clear by his title that this was to be a special story about the feast of Christmas, and the tradition of giving gifts at that time:
“The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.�
“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest � Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.�
The story’s narrator concludes that Jim and Della are truly wise. Their gifts may not have been so luxurious, but they were gifts of love and self-sacrifice. They could not afford to waste any money, especially on things they cannot use. In a way this story is financially foolish. But what each receives is of far more worth; beautiful and intangible. And even when all seemed to be lost the couple saw the future, and it was bright, because they were together. They are reminded how much they love each other and are willing to sacrifice to make each other happy. Although each had made a supreme sacrifice, neither seemed to think of it that way, or expect the other to have done so:
ÌýÌý
(view spoiler)
Of all those who give gifts, these two are the wisest.
The Gift of the Magi is perhaps O. Henry’s crowning glory. The story is a Christian one, but it has parallels in other faiths. Like all the best stories, its message is a universal one; timeless and speaking to all cultures.
Many of his stories are warm and sentimental, like this one, and show an optimistic sense of humour. And nearly all of them, like this one does, have a twist at the end. They have a style which lends itself to reading aloud, and appeal to all ages. In fact shortly after the first time I had read The Gift of the Magi for myself, I decided to read it to a large group of 10 and 11 year olds. I wondered � but they sat rapt, spellbound. Towards the end they barely breathed, and their reaction at the climax mirrored my own. A pang in the heart. Ooooh! O. Henry is a master storyteller, and this feels very real.
“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.�
“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating�.
Is this a sad story? Of course it is. It is bitter-sweet, almost unbearably so. The couple seem to have lost everything they hold dear. But this is not so, of course and the story ends on a supremely optimistic note.
(view spoiler)
“Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della � Eight dollars a week or a million a year—what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer.�
Yes, it is supremely ironic and sad. And so clear that even older children can recognise the pain and sacrifice. But as we grow older we realise what really matters in life, and what has supreme value over all material things. Perhaps the intention of the story is to highlight the difference between wisdom and foolishness. Jim and Della certainly behave impulsively, and do not seem to have much sense, or to weigh up the consequences of their actions.
But ultimately this is a story of love.
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June 26, 2013
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January 1, 2020
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January 2, 2020
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Candi
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 03, 2020 06:04PM
A lovely review, Jean. This is one of my favorite holiday stories :)
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Candi wrote: "A lovely review, Jean. This is one of my favorite holiday stories :)"Thank you so much Candi. Mine too :)
Although I have never read this book Jean, your review is so beautiful. I will read it but not until Christmas coming if that is possible. We can list all the genres possible but love has surely to be part of the story, somewhere and somehow, no matter how tiny a part. A kind act, a thoughtful comment etc. It doesn't have to be a romantic love. There are many kinds of love. The most perfect is apparently Agape love. Thinking of you and Chris, both of you the most unselfish and loving friends I will ever have in my life.
Leila wrote: "Although I have never read this book Jean, your review is so beautiful. I will read it but not until Christmas coming if that is possible. We can list all the genres possible but love has surely to..."It's such a beautiful short story Leila - perhaps my very favourite. I am certain you will love it too :) You know how sometimes people say they read A Christmas Carol every year? Well I think this one has that sort of feel.
I am googling Agape love ... but you have put a lump in my throat, Leila. Thank you x
Gosh, this is a wide-ranging review of a deceptively simple story. But yes, ultimately it's a story about love. Always topical, I hope, especially at this time of year.
Cecily wrote: "Gosh, this is a wide-ranging review of a deceptively simple story. But yes, ultimately it's a story about love. Always topical, I hope, especially at this time of year."Thank you for reading it, Cecily :)
