What sign indicated that Della was very poor?
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Answer:
Discuss the indications that the couple are poor in "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.
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WILLIAM DELANEY eNotes educator | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
O. Henry was a skillful writer. He does not dwell on Jim and Della's poverty in any one place in his story because that would interfere with the dramatic development. But it can be observed that he scatters little examples of their poverty throughout the story, beginning with Della counting her pennies. Here are some other indications of poverty:
the shabby little couch
It [the flat] did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring.
the worn red carpet
her old brown jacket
her old brown hat
the old leather strap (on Jim's watch)
He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves
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Answer:
O. Henry’s humor and imagination conquer any journalistic tendencies he may have transferred to fiction. His penchant for dramatic irony, a trademark in many of his short stories, gives his style its distinctive flavor. Gentle and ingenious, his writing is pervaded by that eminently salable quality known as “human interest.” This quality is best exemplified in his quest for sincerity: his desire to write about real people in real situations.
Della and Jim are not the products of an overly sentimental imagination. The author strives to create circumstances as well as physical surroundings that ring true to life. Both the protagonists accept life as they find it without giving in to the negative emotions of hopelessness or despair. Della’s only moment of doubt still revolves around her husband’s well-being, when she seeks divine intervention so that she may remain pretty in Jim’s eyes. Jim covers his fear of Della’s disappointment with an almost affected nonchalance when he requests that they merely put their Christmas gifts away and keep them for an unspecified future. Only then does he reveal that he has sacrificed his treasure to secure Della’s desire. His certainty that they will both use these items in the future provides the unspoken thought that life is bound to improve for them.
The protagonists do not react to each other out of saintliness, duty, or love of self-imposed sacrifice: They simply embody the twin spirits of love and Christmas. For the less-than-devout O. Henry, these essences are one and the same. The author suggests that sentiment does not have to be sacrificed to the cause of realism.