Suddenly Della realizes that she could sell her hair for enough money to buy Jim a gold chain for his watch. Each of them has a prize possession: Jim’s is a gold watch that belonged to his father and his grandfather, and Della’s is her long, thick, luxuriant hair. The narrator focuses on Della as she tries to figure a way to find enough money to buy her husband a fine gift. Henry surprise ending.ĭella Dillingham Young and her husband, Jim, on the edge of poverty but deeply in love, wish to purchase Christmas gifts that will surprise and please the other. Not tragic, perhaps sentimental or a little didactic, it combines the themes of married love and selfl essness with the techniques of suspense and the O. “The Gift of the Magi,” touching as it does a common human cord, is one of those stories. Henry’s stories as first-rate literature, some of his many hundreds of tales have become classic. Henry’s The Gift of the MagiĪlthough many critics do not view O.

He compares Della and Jim to these wise men, and concludes that of all those who give gifts, these two are the wisest.Analysis of O. The narrator wraps up the story by describing the magi who invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Jim sits back on the couch and smiles, then admits that he sold his watch in order to buy the combs.

Suddenly, Della remembers her present to Jim, and asks to see Jim’s watch so that she could put the new chain on it. She’s ecstatic for a moment before she begins crying, and Jim has to comfort her. Della opens the package to find expensive tortoiseshell combs for her long hair. He explains that no haircut could make him love her any less, but that he was surprised because of the present that he bought for her. Jim snaps out of his shock, hugs Della, and throws a package on the table. Della tells him that she did it in order to buy a proper Christmas present for him. When Jim walks into the door, he freezes, staring at Della’s hair. The chain is described as possessing “quietness and value,” like Jim.ĭella returns home to fix her hair into curls and make dinner. Then she uses the money to buy Jim a simple platinum watch chain. Della’s brown hair and Jim’s gold watch that had been passed down from his grandfather are the couple’s most prized possessions.ĭella runs to a hair shop and sells her hair for twenty dollars. Della suddenly goes to gaze at her reflection in a window, letting her hair fall to its full length below her knee. She had been hoping to save enough to buy her husband Jim a worthy Christmas present. The story begins with Della despairing over the meager amount of money she’s managed to save over the past few months by pinching pennies.

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry