The Gift of The Magi is a short story written by O. Henry in the early 20th century telling the story of a married couple that don't have enough money to buy each other Christmas gifts. I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to read English stories but doesn't know where to start, or anyone who wants an easy, short, story to warm their hearts. Frankly, I would recommend this story to everyone, whether or not they enjoy reading. As a matter of fact, here you go: Read it now before proceeding to the rest of this post: (it's super short, so don't worry; you won't be gone long)
Now that you've read it (I hope you did), wipe away your inevitable tears and lets look at it a little bit more closely. Della and Jim both essentially want the same thing. They want to make each other happy. Unfortunately though, neither of them have much money, and it is almost Christmas.
In my opinion, the child-like innocence of both characters and the unwavering love they have for each other makes this story slightly unrealistic, but the moral of selfless gift-giving remains, as well as the masterful and simple narrative.
And before you pass this off as another story with an unfortunate ending remember that although Jim can't get his watch back; at least Della's hair will grow and she will be able to wear the combs.
Perhaps one could read more into the theme of this story and morals that aren't initially apparent, but the story is beautiful as it is, and forcing metaphors wouldn't do us any good.
Tell me what you thought of this light read. shed some light on things I may have missed. Lets get a discussion going!
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