English, asked by IAMGenius123, 8 months ago

Explain the poem ' Gift of magi ' on the basis of : 1 ) Character sketch of Jim and Della providing an insight into their ‘Selfless attitude’ with relevant evidence from the text 2)• The Economic background of the couple with supporting evidence from the text 3)• The message the writer conveys through the story - ‘The Gift of the Magi’

Answers

Answered by aarohisingh62

Explanation:

Della and Jim from O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi are a newlywed couple, and Christmas time is approaching. Presents can always be a difficult and stressful thing to figure out. But these newlyweds knew exactly what they wanted to get for each other, they just didn't have the money to buy it. So they each sacrifice the thing that is most precious to them in order to buy something for their spouse. Della sacrifices her beautiful hair only to learn that Jim had bought her combs for her hair. Jim sacrifices his precious watch only to learn that Della has bought him a chain for his watch. This is a story about a selfless couple who knew the true meaning of Christmas.

The title of this story comes from the three magi who brought the Baby Jesus great gifts, Della and Jim also gave each other great gifts of selflessness and love.

Three Magi

Della

The Gift of the Magi is told from Della's perspective. We can picture her as a beautiful, fashionable woman. She is described as slender, but other than that the only description we have of her is her hair, which would 'fall about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters'. It is the kinds of hair that could even make the Queen of Sheba's jewels seem worthless.

We watch her, a housewife, and her emotions throughout Christmas Eve. She loves her husband very much and thinks the world of him. She doesn't blame him for their small income, even though it has dropped from $30 per week to $20 per week. Instead she feels that he deserves the very best in order to be 'just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim'.

When she falls into a crying fit, it isn't in sadness for their poor circumstances. It isn't for self-pity. It is because she only has $1.87 to buy her husband a present, and she can't find anything nearly nice enough with that small amount of money. When she realizes she can sell her hair to get more money, she only allows 'a tear or two' to splash 'on the worn red carpet'.

After happily finding a present for Jim, Della doesn't fret over her hair for herself. She only worries what Jim will think. Through this entire story, she is selfless, without a care for herself. She is a good wife, always finding the best bargains, who loves her husband very much. Perhaps she may be seen as a little silly 'spinning about' and emotional, but we quickly grow to love her as we see the love that she selflessly feels for her husband.

Jim

We don't know as much about Jim, since we only see him briefly in The Gift of the Magi. But from Della's perspective, we learn that he is a wonderful man. They had visions of grandeur when he was earning $30 per week, but have started to doubt that grandeur now that Jim's income has dropped. When Della finds a watch chain for Jim's watch, she describes it as possessing 'quietness and value.' She decides this is fitting since Jim also possesses 'quietness and value.' So we can picture him, a quiet man but one who is worth much due to his fine qualities.

To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.

Create your account

Are you a student or a teacher?

The Gift of the Magi Characters Related Study Materials