The Gift of the Magi

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The Gift of the Magi" is a short story written by O. Henry (a penname for William Sydney Porter), allegedly at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Jim and Della Dillingham Young are a couple who are very much in love with each other, but can barely afford their one-room apartment opposite the elevated train. For Christmas, Della decides to buy Jim a chain for his prized pocket watch given to him by his father. To raise the funds, she has her hair cut off and sold to make a wig. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of combs for her lovely, knee-length hair That was the dream of the house.

The moral of the story is that physical possessions, however valuable they may be, are of little value in the grand scheme of things. The true unselfish love that the characters, Jim and Della, share is greater than their possessions.

O. Henry ends the story by clarifying the metaphor between the characters in the story, Della and James (or Jim), and the Biblical Magi.

"The Gift of the Magi" features O. Henry's characteristic twist ending (O. Henry twist) and use of flowery diction.

[edit] Trivia

  • This story was alluded to in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street with Bert and Ernie. Ernie trades away his Rubber Duckie to Mr. Hooper for a cigar box for Bert's paper clips, while Bert trades his paper clips away to Mr. Hooper for a soap dish for Ernie to sit his Rubber Duckie in. Later that night, Mr. Hooper drops by and gives both things back to them, leaving both wondering how he ended up with them.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000 turned this story on its ear in the episode "Santa Claus", when TV's Frank shaves his head and buys Doctor Forrester a watch fob. Forrester initially assumes that he has sold his hair to pay for the watch fob, but as it turns out, the two events were unrelated.
  • In the Rugrats, Phil and Lil made a reference to the gift of the Magi when both twins made a deal with Angelica to get each other a gift. Phil trades his Reptar doll to get Lil a box of Crayons and Lil trades her coloring book to get Phil a Reptar space helment. In the end Angelica gives them back both their coloring book and Reptar doll.
  • In the "Xmas Story" episode of Futurama, Doctor Zoidberg purchases combs for Amy's hair, which leads Amy to reveal that she sold her hair to buy a set of combs for Hermes Conrad, who in turn sold his hair to buy a set of combs for Zoidberg. Zoidberg thanks Hermes for his gift and takes off his hat, revealing that he had Amy's hair and Hermes's hair grafted to his head.
  • In a cartoon in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, Mickey trades his harmonica for a chain for Minnie's watch, but Minnie trades her watch for a harmonica case.

[edit] External links

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