Use Of Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

Words: 654

Pages: 3

Open Document

In the short story, The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry, the author tells the story of how a married couple spends all of their money to buy each other gifts. There are named Della and Jim. When they receive the gifts, they can no longer be used. The couple had given up their most prized possessions to afford a gift that was supposed to be used for the other’s prized possession. In The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry, the theme of love and sacrifice is developed through irony, symbolism, and characterization.
O. Henry uses irony in this story. Irony pretty much sums up what this story is about. For example, Della’s most prized possession was her hair. She wanted to buy Jim a gift for Christmas but could not afford it. In order to afford his present, she sold her hair. The present that she bought for him was a watch …show more content…
Henry uses characterization in this story to help give the audience an idea of how the couple treats each other. For example, we know that Della loves Jim very much because all that she has been doing is crying. She is crying because she cannot give him a birthday present. We also know that Jim is very loving towards Della because he does not even care that she has cut off all of her hair. He is just worried that she will not like his gift because of her haircut. He says that a haircut will not make him love her less. Another example that adds to the character of the two characters is their home. Even though they live in a more beaten up home, they only care about their love for each other. They are both very loving towards one another. O. Henry tells the story of a very loving couple who is so selfless that they give away their prized possessions to show their love. O. Henry uses many different literary devices to help explain his story. These elements help to make the reader more involved in the story and explain who the people in the story are. The author uses irony, symbolism and characterization to explain the couple’s sacrifice for one

Happiness In The Gift Of The Magi

powerful meaning. Money has been said to be the root to all evil, yet some argue it is a necessity. However, this quote is truly brought to life in The Gift of a Magi, due to its underlying statement that love is all that is needed to feel fulfilled in life. In The Gift of the Magi, a couple must go through the conflict of finding one another a gift for Christmas. This inner conflict derives from the couple’s limited amount of money each one of them has due to hard times. However, both partners possess…

Words 1107 - Pages 5

The Magi

common motifs in “The Gift of the Magi.” However, they are all interconnected in the story to produce one overall theme, but how is this theme developed in the story? O. Henry’s short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” centers around Della and James Dillingham Young who struggle to buy one another Christmas gifts. In O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” he develops the theme that putting others before oneself is the ultimate sacrifice to prove love and gain happiness by using setting, irony, and characterization…

Words 1048 - Pages 5

Examples Of Allusion In The Gift Of The Magi

the story “The Gift of the Magi,” the author O. Henry writes about a married couple who demonstrated the real meanings of sacrifice and unconditional love. Mr. James and Mrs. Della Dillingham Young appreciated each other despite the ironies and obstacles in their lives. They also had a very passionate love for each other, and they would do almost anything to make one another happy. O. Henry indicates these significant traits of their marriage through the use of imagery, cosmic irony and literary allusion…

Words 776 - Pages 4

What Is The Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

William Sydney Porter who goes by his pen name O. Henry. He wrote the short story The Gift of the Magi. The short story is about a loving old couple that has no money to spare for Christmas gifts. They both sell the most prized and valuable possessions in their lives for money to buy each other Christmas gifts. The title has some history behind it, symbolism of love throughout and ending with irony. The magi is heard of as the "three kings" (as in the famous Christmas carol, "We Three Kings of…

Words 1036 - Pages 5

Button And Button Irony

other feel about a certain thing. The two short stories “Gift Of The Magi” and “Button, Button” both feature common misunderstandings between people and how they relate with one another. In the short stories “Button, Button”, and “Gift of the magi” O. Henry and Richard Matheson use irony and a common misunderstanding to show how human relationships are not always what they seem. In the story “Button, Button” Richard Matheson the author uses disagreements and differences in the personalities of the…

Words 1054 - Pages 5

Dramatic Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

Buying presents for loved ones is always difficult, but buying presents with a small amount of money is even more difficult. The author of “The Gift of the Magi” uses irony along with a theme of selflessness to tell the story of Jim and Della. When someone is in love they would do anything and everything just to make their loved one happy, even if that means they have to make sacrifices. The characters in this story did not realize at the time that the greatest present they received was each other’s…

Words 853 - Pages 4

Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

The author of “The Gift of the Magi”, O. Henry, uses indirect characterization and situational irony to establish the theme of the story, true love is selfless. To begin, Henry indirectly characterizes Della as a very giving woman, holding true to the theme of selfless love, she is deeply in love with Jim despite their perilous financial situation. Sitting and sobbing in her shabby flat Della counts her money on Christmas Eve, a meager sum. Given her pathetic conditions, she feels as if “life is…

Words 440 - Pages 2

Research Paper

Instructor: N. Spalloni English 1301:21769 4 March 2013 The Irony of life The author of “Gift of the Magi” is O. Henry. This story is about a married couple who is very poor and they can’t afford anything extraordinary and they only have the necessities. They both thought of giving each other something nice for Christmas and what they did was sell the most valuable things that they have for each other. “The Gift of the Magi” is giving an example of two people who would do something nice for…

Words 741 - Pages 3

Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

In the story, “The Gift of the Magi”, Della and Jim care very deeply for one another. The holidays are just around the corner, and they both want to do something great for each other. The only problem is they are very poor. Both Della and Jim end up sacrificing the things they value the most so they can buy a gift for the other. I noticed that irony is a big attribute to the moral of the story. Della was known for having the most beautiful hair. Della also had an understanding that hair is easily…

Words 273 - Pages 2

Literary Analysis Essay

Compassion Essay The author, O. Henry, wrote The Gift of the Magi, which is a story about how a married couple goes out of their own way to show compassion and love for one another by their gifts. They sacrifice their most precious possessions in order to have enough money for each other’s gifts. The author, Ascher, wrote On Compassion, which is an article that gives her opinion and feeling toward compassion and how it is used in the modern day. She uses examples of what she has seen and gives her…

Words 1500 - Pages 6