"Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)
"The Gift of the Magi" text
Study Guide
HENRY, O. (1862-1910)
American short-story writer, was born at Greensboro, N.C., Sept. 11 1862. His real name was William Sydney Porter, and he came from an old southern family. Until 15 years of age he attended a school directed by his maternal aunt in Greensboro and then entered his uncle's drugstore as a clerk. From early years he was a constant reader, and he secured a wide knowledge of the English classics. He has recorded that his favourite books were Lane's translation of The Arabian Nights and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and that he was a devoted admirer of Tennyson. The close confinement as drug-clerk impaired his health, and in 1882 he was sent to a friend's ranch in Texas, where he remained two years. In 1884 he went to Austin, Tex., where he lived ten years, first as a book-keeper in a real estate office, then as an employee in the General Land Office and from 1891 as teller in the First National Bank of Austin. In 1894 he purchased Brann's Iconoclast, a weekly, which after a short time he renamed The Rolling Stone. This paper he converted into a ten-page weekly, he alone furnishing most of the matter and the illustrations. Even as a young boy he had been locally famous for his cartoons. After a year the paper “rolled away,” to use his own words, and in 1895 he became a reporter on the Houston Daily Post. In 1896 he was charged with having embezzled money while teller in the Austin bank some years before. He fled to Honduras, and thereafter visited several South American countries. In 1897 he returned to Austin and the following year was convicted and sentenced to serve four years in the Ohio penitentiary. Later his innocence seemed to have been established, and it was generally agreed that had he originally stood trial he would have been acquitted. He entered prison April 25 1898 and was released July 24 1901. It was probably while in prison that he first adopted the pen name of O. Henry. Many of his stories, written there, were mailed to New Orleans and thence redirected to the publishers. In 1902 he settled in New York, and sent forth a constant stream of stories, which became extraordinarily popular. They are characterized by a gorgeousness of imagination, recalling The Arabian Nights so familiar to him; but the constant striving for effect and the excessive use of slang led many to see in them a degeneration into “literary vaudeville.” He is perhaps at his best when describing the endlessly varied types presented by the mass of humanity in New York City. He died in New York June 5 1910.
Study Guide
HENRY, O. (1862-1910)
American short-story writer, was born at Greensboro, N.C., Sept. 11 1862. His real name was William Sydney Porter, and he came from an old southern family. Until 15 years of age he attended a school directed by his maternal aunt in Greensboro and then entered his uncle's drugstore as a clerk. From early years he was a constant reader, and he secured a wide knowledge of the English classics. He has recorded that his favourite books were Lane's translation of The Arabian Nights and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and that he was a devoted admirer of Tennyson. The close confinement as drug-clerk impaired his health, and in 1882 he was sent to a friend's ranch in Texas, where he remained two years. In 1884 he went to Austin, Tex., where he lived ten years, first as a book-keeper in a real estate office, then as an employee in the General Land Office and from 1891 as teller in the First National Bank of Austin. In 1894 he purchased Brann's Iconoclast, a weekly, which after a short time he renamed The Rolling Stone. This paper he converted into a ten-page weekly, he alone furnishing most of the matter and the illustrations. Even as a young boy he had been locally famous for his cartoons. After a year the paper “rolled away,” to use his own words, and in 1895 he became a reporter on the Houston Daily Post. In 1896 he was charged with having embezzled money while teller in the Austin bank some years before. He fled to Honduras, and thereafter visited several South American countries. In 1897 he returned to Austin and the following year was convicted and sentenced to serve four years in the Ohio penitentiary. Later his innocence seemed to have been established, and it was generally agreed that had he originally stood trial he would have been acquitted. He entered prison April 25 1898 and was released July 24 1901. It was probably while in prison that he first adopted the pen name of O. Henry. Many of his stories, written there, were mailed to New Orleans and thence redirected to the publishers. In 1902 he settled in New York, and sent forth a constant stream of stories, which became extraordinarily popular. They are characterized by a gorgeousness of imagination, recalling The Arabian Nights so familiar to him; but the constant striving for effect and the excessive use of slang led many to see in them a degeneration into “literary vaudeville.” He is perhaps at his best when describing the endlessly varied types presented by the mass of humanity in New York City. He died in New York June 5 1910.
Character List
Della
One Devoted Woman Della is the loving, warm, selfless, and occasionally hysterical heroine of the story. Della's financially poor. She spends all of her days in a cramped flat, as "mistress of the home." In other words, she's a homemaker. Della basically lives for one thing (or rather, person): Jim, her husband. She's spent a lot of the time leading up to Christmas just thinking of what to get him:
She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him.
As you might gather from that, Della throws just about every bit of energy she has into being good to Jim. She's been saving for months just to round up money for a Christmas present. She has even endured the humiliation of pinching pennies at stores.
He may not be bringing in much money, but Jim is the cat's pajamas for Della. He deserves the absolute best, which is why she's so set on getting him the perfect present: "Something fine and rare and sterling – something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim."
Della is willing to go to any length to achieve this goal, and ends up selling her one prized possession – her hair – to do it. Although she sheds a tear or two over the hair, really it doesn't seem to affect her that much. She doesn't even think it's much of a choice. She has to get Jim a present: "I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again – you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it."
In fact, the thing that seems to bother Della most about losing her hair is that Jim likes it so much. She's worried he won't find her pretty anymore (though she doesn't really have anything to worry about). She barely seems to think of herself at all. That's devotion.
Jim
Jim's job is not so great. He's the only breadwinner for the Dillingham Young family (that is, him and Della), and it seems he works long hours, but his salary is low. And it recently went from bad to worse: whereas he used to make $30 a week he's now down to just $20. He and Della are struggling just to pay the expenses of their small flat. So if Jim happens to seem a little tired, serious, overworked, and perhaps a tad underweight, there's a good reason for it.
He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
The one thing that keeps Jim going is his love for Della. She's his Della. We don't get half as much exposure to his feelings as we do for Della's, but all evidence points to him being just as devoted to her as she is to him. Just like Della, Jim gives up his most precious possession to find a perfect gift for the person he loves. And it's not just because of her looks, even though she worries about them:
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less."
Why does Jim love Della so much? Probably in part because she loves him so much.
You may have noticed that Della is also a little jumpy. Jim's definitely the more levelheaded one in the relationship. While she reacts to his present with shrieks and wails, he just reacts to hers by rolling onto the couch and smiling.
One Devoted Woman Della is the loving, warm, selfless, and occasionally hysterical heroine of the story. Della's financially poor. She spends all of her days in a cramped flat, as "mistress of the home." In other words, she's a homemaker. Della basically lives for one thing (or rather, person): Jim, her husband. She's spent a lot of the time leading up to Christmas just thinking of what to get him:
She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him.
As you might gather from that, Della throws just about every bit of energy she has into being good to Jim. She's been saving for months just to round up money for a Christmas present. She has even endured the humiliation of pinching pennies at stores.
He may not be bringing in much money, but Jim is the cat's pajamas for Della. He deserves the absolute best, which is why she's so set on getting him the perfect present: "Something fine and rare and sterling – something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim."
Della is willing to go to any length to achieve this goal, and ends up selling her one prized possession – her hair – to do it. Although she sheds a tear or two over the hair, really it doesn't seem to affect her that much. She doesn't even think it's much of a choice. She has to get Jim a present: "I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again – you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it."
In fact, the thing that seems to bother Della most about losing her hair is that Jim likes it so much. She's worried he won't find her pretty anymore (though she doesn't really have anything to worry about). She barely seems to think of herself at all. That's devotion.
Jim
Jim's job is not so great. He's the only breadwinner for the Dillingham Young family (that is, him and Della), and it seems he works long hours, but his salary is low. And it recently went from bad to worse: whereas he used to make $30 a week he's now down to just $20. He and Della are struggling just to pay the expenses of their small flat. So if Jim happens to seem a little tired, serious, overworked, and perhaps a tad underweight, there's a good reason for it.
He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
The one thing that keeps Jim going is his love for Della. She's his Della. We don't get half as much exposure to his feelings as we do for Della's, but all evidence points to him being just as devoted to her as she is to him. Just like Della, Jim gives up his most precious possession to find a perfect gift for the person he loves. And it's not just because of her looks, even though she worries about them:
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less."
Why does Jim love Della so much? Probably in part because she loves him so much.
You may have noticed that Della is also a little jumpy. Jim's definitely the more levelheaded one in the relationship. While she reacts to his present with shrieks and wails, he just reacts to hers by rolling onto the couch and smiling.