The Gift Of The Magi Theme Analysis
That even those who have fallen to the lowest depths in the social scale would if they could get back to the higher life rollins 7 8.
The gift of the magi theme analysis. The gift of the magi theme analysis. The theme of the story is that the greatest gift of all is unconditional love. The gift of magi is a short story written by an american short story writer william sydney porter. My purpose is to show that in every human heart there is an innate tendency towards a respectable life.
Of all who give and receive gifts such as they are wisest. It s revealed that jim made his own similar sacrifice in order to buy the combs for della. The story begins for example with a description of bleak surroundings a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray background shabby couch while hinting at a warm home life that brightens the exterior jim arrives home to be greatly hugged. Set the day before christmas the gift of the magi explores notions of wealth and generosity in the context of giving and receiving gifts.
It can be said the gift of the magi has the theme sacrifice sometimes can be pointless i could tell that since della s sacrifice to cut her hair off to buy the chain for jim s watch became pointless because in the end jim told della that he had sold his valuable watch to buy her a set of comb. Theme and moral the gift of the magi is a classic example of irony in literature. O henry came up with this philosophy when writing his many different entertaining stories. The main themes in the gift of the magi are generosity love and wealth.
Gift of the magi constantly contrasts the idea of inner beauty and value with outside appearances. This story recounts the endless love between the couple the way they sacrificed their prized possessions for each other. As the narrator says. The narrator s paragraph on the magi suggests that the true spirit of giving involves sacrifice and generosity and that the intent counts more than the external value of the gift which is why he says della and jim are the wisest gift givers.
Through the sacrifices della and jim make for one another they prove love is more important than material possessions. Irony is a literary technique in which an expectation of what is supposed to occur differs greatly from the actual. Generosity drives both jim and della who despite living in poverty want to give each other meaningful. This story was first published in 1905.