The Gift of Magi

Genre: Short Story

Author: O Henry

Published: The Four Million

Analysis:

The Gift of Magi is a short story by O Henry first published in 9905. The story tells of
a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas
gifts for each other with very little money. Della then admits to Jim that she sold her hair to buy
him his present.

Lexical Categories

The gift of Magi is reader friendly, it uses simple vocabularies that the readers can
easily understand. The attack is formal and descriptive, too many nouns used to describe clearly
the things that the author is trying to imply. The total numbers of are 133 this includes proper
and common nouns, abstract and concrete nouns, see how nouns dominated the story .that’s
why the reader has the advantage to visualize clearly in their minds what is really happening
around the story----- the place, situations and others. Also the story is full of adjectives to
completely give a clear thought of their visualization base on what they are reading. There are 7
adjectives which brought more colors to the story. What makes the story more interesting is
that if it is full of actions and exciting moments. Like in this story it has 6 physical and mental
verbs which sum up to 73. Together of these verbs is a modifier that tells time, degree, number,
cause, opposition, affirmation or denial or in short adverb. This story is rich in adverb to see to
it that the situation, the setting and the time that the characters are in will have the same
thought to the one reading the story. Below are the fixed data of the words and numbers of the
nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Nouns
Proper Nouns Common Nouns Abstract Noun Concrete Noun
Christmas Dollar Imputation Pennies
Mr. James Cents Parsimony Vegetable
DillinganYoung Man Reflection Cheeks
Della Butcher Description Couch
Christmas Day Day Vestibule Letter-box
Coney Island Life Breeze Letter
Christmas Eve Mistress prosperity Finger
Sheba Home Conception Button
King Solomon Flat Intoxication Ring
Week Prudence Card
Beggar Reason Rag
Word Sentiments Cat
Squad Idiocy Frnce
Period Security Pier-glass
Possessor Privilege Eyes
Income Pride Face
Good Envy Head
Her cry cascade Mirror
Backyard Coffee
Tomorrow Frying-pan
present Chops
months Overcoat
expense Gloves
window Quail
room Package
strips Shampoo
his looks String
art Paper
twenty seconds Tears
majesty/s jewel Tortoise-shell
strap Tresses
place Palm
task Money
friends Hair
curls Watch
boy Beard
girl Waters knee
store Garment
prayers Jacket
fellow Hat
family Skirts
settler Door
darling Street
labour Sign
employment Wings
lord sly
broadway
manger
 chronicle
length
possessions
fathers
grandfathers
queen
gifts
janitor
treasures
basement
minute
stars
madame
design
ornamentation
company

Verb
Physical Mental
Counted Instigate
Flop down Subsiding
Made up Appertaining
Take Were thinking
Coax Were shining
Bearing Depreciate
Had been flung Was racksacking
Was being paid Knew
Was shrunk Anxious
Looked Terrified
Came Illuminated
Reached Have adored
Called
Hugged
Finished
Attended
Stood
Looked-out
Had been slung
Go
Had spent
Being owned
Being slender
Had mastered
Whirled
Had lost
Pulled down
Piled-out
Passed
Faltered
Cluttered
Stopped
Found
Had been made
Had turned
Saw
Used
Was covered
Heard
Whispered
Opened
Stepped
Closed
Were fixed
Had been prepared
Stared
Wriggled off
Were numbered
Unwrap
Had worshipped
Was able
Grows
Leaped up
Hunted
Tumbled down
Smiled
Howl
Sobs sniffles

Adjective Adverb
One fullgenerosity Gradually
Twogoldlove Certainly
Silent beautifultremendous Seriously
Sixty brown dear Greatly
Threered new Dully
Nextold immovable Far
Clearly brilliant scent Near
Shabbysparkle anger Fairly
Littlelarge surprise Suddenly
Moralwhite disapproval Brilliantly
Predominatingquick horror Rapidly
Firstrosy peculiar Mighty
Secondplatinum fact Nervously
Furnished flatsimple hardest Quickly
Exactlychaste sudden Once
Mendicancytiny serous Chilly
Electric close-lying sweetness Hardly
Mortaltruant discreet Surely
Former chorus inconsequential Properly
Blurred hot mental Quietness
Modestpretty meretricious Carefully
Unassumingthin value Critically
Verypoor nimble At 7 o’clock
Powder hope ecstatic Everyday
Grey joy quick Simply
Greater feminine hysterical Fixedly
Nice immediate powers Awfully
Fine pure expensive Laboriously
Rare dim wise Fast
Sterling wonderfully Curiously
Worthy Eagerly
Honor Possibly
Thin lamely
Agile
Longitudinal
accurate

Setting

Dollars there, dollars here and dollars everywhere. This is the hint that tells us where thus
the story happened. It is New York City babe. It is the crowded city in which the Jim and Della
rent for eight dollars per month a second story flat. O Henry skillfully evokes the shabbiness the
life that the two have their place, way of living and status in life. The narrator explains the poor
circumstances in which the loving couple do live. They used to have an ordinary thing so both
seek for an elegant one as a present to each other. Since, they are IN New York which it is full of
nice and expensive stuff. Surrounding so dismal make Jim and Della yearn for any possession of
substantial beauty and worth as a gift. However, what each sacrifices to please the other makes
the other’s gift useless.

Plot Diagram

The introduction of “ The Gift of the Magi” is the introduction of Jim and Della. In
addition to their names, the introduction also tells the reader that Jim and Della are married
and really poor. The introduction also includes setting details which the story begins in their
apartment and its really Christmas.

The rising action is when Della trying to figure out the way to buy a nice Christmas
present for Jim. The only thing she can do is to sell her hair in $20. So she sells it and rushes
from store to store trying to find the perfect gift.

The climax of the story is when James arrives home and sees Della and her newly cut hair.

The falling of the story is the gift exchange between Della and Jim. They both realize they
did in order to buy a present for each other. They each had to sell what was most precious to
Style and Fiction

O Henry’s approach in the short story “The Gift of Magi” is dramatic irony, gentle and
clever, his writing is persuade by that eminently salable quality known as “human interest”. This
quality “human interest”, it is the desire to write about real people in real situations. Which the
theme of the story is timely and relevant. Everyone can relate and assess themselves base on
the moral lesson implied in the story.

Della and Jim are not a sentimental imaginative character but the author strives to create
situations as well as the physical surrounding that may true the life both the protagonist accept
life as they find it without giving in to the negative emotions of hopelessness or despair.

The protagonist do not react to each other out of saintliness, duty or love of self-imposed
sacrifice. They simply embody the fair spirits of love and Christmas. For the less-than-devout O
Henry, these essences are one and the same. The author suggests that sentiment does not have
to be sacrificed to the cause of realism.
Themes

The most prominent theme in “The Gift of the Magi is love. Jim and Della are willing to
part with their most priced possessive to make each other happy demonstrating that a wealth
of love additional these are generosity, selflessness and poverty.

Generosity: Della’s hair and Jim’s watch are the precious possessions that they have but
they are willing to sell those possessions in order to make other happy. Although they are poor,
they are both rich in their generosity for the other.

Selflessness: Both are selfless giving from the heart, like that of the magic or wise men in
the Christmas story (bible).

Poverty: while financially poo, Della and Jim prove to be emotionally rich. The love they
have for each other overshadows their poverty.
 “Dreams”
Langston Hughes (1906-1967)

The poem “dreams” is quiet short, comprising of two stanzas only. The poem makes the
reader understand the importance of dreams in one’s life. Dreams are something that the poet
probably synonymizes with hope.

Our life is nothing and meaningless without dreams. It is the dreams driving us and
keeping us fighting even the world is pulling us down. It is the dreams which have made the
humans progress. Hence one should hold onto the dreams.

Natural Form of the poem

Hold fast to dreams because if dreams die life is like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams because when dreams go life is like a barren field frozen with snow.

Lexical Category

The poem “Dreams” is a two stanza poem with eight lines in rich in nouns. Nouns are used
in the poem to give the readers the visualization of the important of the dreams to one’s life.
Also, the adjectives (fast, broken-winged, barren...,etc.) gave strong feeling and complete and
concrete thought if we don’t keep dreaming. It has verbs, to make every statement true to life
experience. Below is the fixed data that shows how many nouns, adjectives, verbs and etc.

Nouns

Proper Noun Common Noun Abstract Noun Concrete Noun

Life Dreams show

Field
Verb

Physical Mental
Die
Hold
Fly
Go

Adjective

Fast
Broken-winged
Barren
Frozen

Metaphor

The poet uses the bird as a metaphor. In Literature, bird symbolizes hope, ecstasy, and
liberty. Broken-winged bird thus means hopeless, joyless, and slavery. Repetition: the
repetition to once more draw the reader back to the advice of holding fast to dreams. He
repeated that same line twice because he wants to emphasize how important dreams in our
life. Irony: the irony is for “dreams “to “die contrastingly the event would be harsher and more
aggressive potentially with less time to adjust to the change. Rather, it could be giving up one’s
dreams or deciding to let them go, as voluntary choice.

Stanza 1

The poet begins the poem with the words, Hold fast to dreams. Thus in the very first line,
the poet mentions the importance of dreams. He asks the readers and audience to hold their
dreams fast i.e. keep dreaming because if dreams die life is a broken-wing bird that cannot fly.
Thus according to the poet, without dreams, a person becomes purposeless and hopeless.
Hence, it is important to keep dreaming.
Stanza 2

The poet repeats the phrase, Hold fast to dreams that shows how significant the dreams are for
the poet. In this stanza the poets use another metaphor. He compares life without dream with
a barren field frozen with snow. In literature, barren field and snow represent lifelessness
because a barren field has no crops and hence is unproductive.

Like barren field which is frozen with snow a man without dreams is hindered from productive
and motivational thoughts. It is in the dreams and the hope which aspire the man to invent new
things, discover innovative ideas and also help him to become a better being. It is in the dreams
which make the man struggle.

Thus in both stanzas, the pet is trying to convey that every man should keep dreaming. Dreams
are central to a number of other poems of Langston Hughes like A Dream Deferred. As the poet
is African-American, the poem can also be considered as a motivational verse for the Blacks
whom Hughes urges to keep dreaming of equality which they are yet to achieve.