Scribd
Upload
357 views2 pages

The Gift of The Magi

The story is about a poor young couple, Della and Jim, who want to buy each other gifts for Christmas despite having very little money. Della sells her beautiful long hair to a shop for $20 so she can buy Jim a watch chain for his gold watch. However, when Jim arrives home he has sold his gold watch to buy Della a set of combs for her hair, which is now short. They both sacrificed their most valuable possessions to buy each other gifts.

Uploaded by

Peri Cyanide
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
357 views2 pages

The Gift of The Magi

The story is about a poor young couple, Della and Jim, who want to buy each other gifts for Christmas despite having very little money. Della sells her beautiful long hair to a shop for $20 so she can buy Jim a watch chain for his gold watch. However, when Jim arrives home he has sold his gold watch to buy Della a set of combs for her hair, which is now short. They both sacrificed their most valuable possessions to buy each other gifts.

Uploaded by

Peri Cyanide
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

The Gift of the Magi

O’ Henry
The story opens with $1.87. That's all Della Dillingham Young has to buy a present for her
beloved husband, Jim. And the next day is Christmas. Faced with such a situation, Della
promptly bursts into tears on the couch, which gives the narrator the opportunity to tell us a bit
more about the situation of Jim and Della. The short of it is they live in a shabby flat and they're
poor. But they love each other.
Once Della's recovered herself, she goes to a mirror to let down her hair and examine it. Della's
beautiful, brown, knee-length hair is one of the two great treasures of the poor couple. The other
is Jim's gold watch. Her hair examined, Della puts it back up, sheds a tear, and bundles up to
head out into the cold. She leaves the flat and walks to Madame Sofronie's hair goods shop,
where she sells her hair for twenty bucks. Now she has $21.87 cents.
With her new funds, Della is able to find Jim the perfect present: an elegant platinum watch
chain for his watch. It's $21, and she buys it. Excited by her gift, Della returns home and tries to
make her now-short hair presentable (with a curling iron). She's not convinced Jim will approve,
but she did what she had to do to get him a good present. When she finishes with her hair, she
gets to work preparing coffee and dinner.
Jim arrives at 7pm to find Della waiting by the door and stares fixedly at her, not able to
understand that Della's hair is gone. Della can't understand quite what his reaction means.
After a little while, Jim snaps out of it and gives Della her present, explaining that his reaction
will make sense when she opens it. Della opens it and cries out in joy, only to burst into tears
immediately afterward. Jim has given her the set of fancy combs she's wanted for ages, only
now she has no hair for them. Jim nurses Della out of her sobs. Once she's recovered, she
gives Jim his present, holding out the watch chain. Jim smiles, falling back on the couch. He
sold his watch to buy Della's combs, he explains. He recommends they put away their presents
and have dinner. As they do so, the narrator brings the story to a close by pronouncing that
Della and Jim are the wisest of everyone who gives gifts. They are the magi.

1. Who are the couple in the story the gift of Magi?


2. How many characters are there in the story?
3. What special occasion is being celebrated in the story?
4. How much does Della have according to the text?
5. What are Jim and Della's most valued possessions?
6. Describe Della’s hair based on what you have read so far in the story.
7. What was Della’s hair worth to Madame Sofronie?
8. What gift did Della finally find to buy for Jim? How much did it cost?
9. What had Della sold to buy Jim the watch fob chain? What Jim sold to buy Della the combs?
10. How did the story end?

You might also like