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"The Gift of the Magi"
The Gift of the Magi’ is a simple story about a young married couple’s quest to find each other the perfect Christmas gift.
In securing these ‘perfect gifts’, however, each partner is forced to give up something highly valuable and precious to them, resulting in a rather unfortunate twist.
Favourite Line: 'But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.'
This line is made all the more wonderful by the contradiction of the line immediately preceding it, which suggests that the couple was extremely 'unwise' for giving up their greatest treasures.
The delightful contradiction forces the reader to consider how the couple could be considered both 'unwise' and yet also the 'wisest of all'.
In doing so, O. Henry invites the reader to recognise that, although the valuable sacrifices the couple make for each other ultimately reduce their gifts to irrelevance, their sacrifices were made out of love, and are therefore the most valuable gifts of all.
In securing these ‘perfect gifts’, however, each partner is forced to give up something highly valuable and precious to them, resulting in a rather unfortunate twist.
Favourite Line: 'But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.'
This line is made all the more wonderful by the contradiction of the line immediately preceding it, which suggests that the couple was extremely 'unwise' for giving up their greatest treasures.
The delightful contradiction forces the reader to consider how the couple could be considered both 'unwise' and yet also the 'wisest of all'.
In doing so, O. Henry invites the reader to recognise that, although the valuable sacrifices the couple make for each other ultimately reduce their gifts to irrelevance, their sacrifices were made out of love, and are therefore the most valuable gifts of all.
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