Love and WIsdom in 'The Gift of the Magi'

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THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, O. HENRY The Gift of the Magi, short story by O’Henry, published in the New York Sunday World in 1905 and then collected in The Four Million (1906), introduces us to a young couple by the names of Della and Jim Dillingham. They are suffering the throes of poverty as evidenced by the story’s description of their circumstances and surroundings. With Christmas speedily approaching and their financial state ever increasingly bleak, they are in a dilemma on how to buy Christmas gifts for one another. Della has secreted away some money by embarrassingly haggling every merchant she deals with, however the sum is not nearly enough for the gift she has in mind. O’Henry does not give us the details surrounding Jim’s conundrum, but we can conclude he also lacks in monetary means to purchase the gift he wants to give Della. As the story progresses, we see Della and Jim resort to selling their most prized possessions, “Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair.” (O’Hare 1906, para. 9), in order to obtain enough money to buy the prospective gifts (hair combs for Della and a watch chain for Jim). Given the many other financial problems facing them, worrying about buying Christmas gifts seems to be one of least importance. However, Della and Jim’s love is greater than any wisdom they may possess. The money spent to purchase gifts could have been more wisely used considering their financial position and struggle as referred to by the author, “It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.” (O’Hare 1906, para. 3). In comparison, the wise men’s gifts to Jesus were neither frivolous nor nonsensical in that they are not
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