Della and jim

The “Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry is a short story that has an interesting theme.

The main themes in this short story are that people do not need money to express love,

and the true meaningof Christmas. Things such as the characters, setting, and events

contribute to the theme.

The characters Della and Jim have very little money, and yet they express their

love by eachselling their greatest treasures. Della sells her hair and Jim sells his watch. If

they were both wealthy people, the story would have most likely have changed for the

worse. Since these peoplemake very little money, their gifts come more from the heart

and show how much they care about each other.

Having the story set in a big city impacted the theme of the story. Life is morestressful in the city, especially for those who are less fortunate. The difference of the

setting being in the city rather than a small town, is that the cities often have many people

who cannotafford expensive presents. The city has people just like Della and Jim who

can only afford to have presents from the heart.

The events have a large role in the theme of people expressing theirlove without

money. Della sells her hair to buy a watch chain for Jim. Jim sells his watch to buy an

set of combs for Della. In the end they each end up not being able to use the

giftsbut realize how much affection they each have. O. Henry describes the scene where

Della is preparing to go sell her hair very vividly. “So now Della's beautiful hair fell

about her rippling andshining like a cascade of brown waters...Once she faltered for a

minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.” This just

shows how much they have to sacrifice toexpress love without money.

This story’s morals and themes show how ignorant people today are compared to

then. Modern people use more money than love on presents during the holidays....