Short Fiction · Chapter
The Gift of the Magi explained
Della Young, with only $1.87 to buy a Christmas present for her husband Jim, sells her beautiful long hair to a wigmaker for $20.
What happens
Della Young, with only $1.87 to buy a Christmas present for her husband Jim, sells her beautiful long hair to a wigmaker for $20. She uses the money to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim's prized gold watch. When Jim returns home, he is stunned to find Della's hair gone because he has sold his watch to buy her a set of expensive combs. Despite their mutual sacrifices rendering both gifts useless, the story concludes that they are the wisest of gift-givers, like the Magi.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Romance
The story centers on the selfless love between Della and Jim, who each sacrifice their most prized possession for the other.
Social Class and Wealth
The Youngs' financial struggles are highlighted by Della's $1.87 savings, the $8 flat, and Jim's reduced salary, emphasizing the constraints of poverty.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Della's haircut and Jim's sale of the watch create a surface-level loss, but the reality is a deeper demonstration of love and wisdom.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator directly addresses the reader, describing Della's plight and the couple's sacrifices with a mix of humor and pathos.
- Jim
Jim is Della's husband, who works for $20 a week and sells his gold watch to buy Della a set of combs for her hair.
- Annie Williams
Della is the protagonist who sells her hair to buy Jim a Christmas present; she is deeply in love and self-sacrificing.
Key passages
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.”
Della has only $1.87, mostly in pennies, saved for a Christmas gift.
Establishes the couple's poverty and Della's desperation.
“She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far.”
Despite months of saving, Della's meager budget limits her to just $1.87.
Highlights the financial strain on the Young household.
“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.”
The narrator calls Della and Jim foolish children for sacrificing their treasures, but then declares them the wisest of gift-givers.
The story's ironic conclusion, comparing the couple to the Magi.