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Critical appreciation of "the gift of magic
Critical analysis of the gift of the magi
Essay on the theme of love in the short story the gift of the magi
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Antoine Johnson
Professor Canon
English Comp I
12 APR 2013
True Love in “The Gift of the Magi”
Throughout life, true love and sacrifice go hand in hand. It can be a mother distorting her body to bring a new life into the world, or a dad giving his last five dollars to his child so she can eat lunch at school. Love does not exist without sacrifice. In “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, the theme of love and sacrifice can be seen in both Della and Jim’s unselfish actions. With her it is the ambition to purchase the perfect gift by any means necessary; with him it is giving away a family heirloom. Their reaction to each other’s action shows what love is capable of.
Initially published in The New York Sunday World on December 10th, 1905 titled “Gifts of the Magi”, the story starts out will Della wanting to buy a gift for her husband Jim for Christmas but she only has $1.87. Once reality hits her about the current situation that she is in, she starts crying. Only when the narrator tells the history of the couple’s trials and tribulations does one truly understand that even though they are rich in love, they were actually poor. Not letting that stop her she sets out on a mission to find the perfect gift for her husband sacrificing her most valuable possession; her hair. Jim is on the very same mission also, sacrificing his watch to prove how much he loves her. The author of this short story, O. Henry (William Sydney Porter), was known for clever endings, great characterization, facetiousness, and ingenious choice if words.
One example of unconditional love and sacrifice is with Della. In Della’s situation, her sacrifice was for the love of her husband and the love she had for her hair. Della took pride in her hair; “Had the ...
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...nt; “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs”. Not all sacrifices are about pain and heartache; sometimes they can be about acceptance and forgiveness.
The unconditional love that Jim and Della have for each other is proof that no matter what sacrifices stand in the way, the love they have for each other will make the sacrifice worth it. Jim sacrificed his watch for some combs to give to Della while she sacrificed her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch. Love will make one perform the ultimate sacrifice to prove their compassion and loyalty; they had their most valuable possessions taken from them for the benefit to bring joy to each other. Even though the sacrifice was bitter sweet, the comprehension of the adoration they have towards each other makes the purpose behind O. Henry’s short story ”The Gift of the Magi” that much more understandable.
When people are placed under stressful, difficult, burdensome situations, they often yearn for a sense of purpose in life. In order to gain this sense of security in themselves and to relieve any stress they may obtain, the depths of their willingness to venture depends on the asperity and longevity of their situation. In Sherman Alexie 's "What You Pawn I Will Redeem," a homeless Spokane Indian, Jackson Jackson, travels to an abundance of places in attempt to collect money to purchase his deceased grandmother 's regalia, which he claims has been stolen from her a number of years ago. Readers of this short story may find themselves questioning Jackson 's purpose to embark on this journey to earn money in an effort to earn back the regalia
The Lais of Marie de France is a compilation of short stories that delineate situations where love is just. Love is presented as a complex emotion and is portrayed as positive, while at other times, it is portrayed as negative. The author varies on whether or not love is favorable as is expressed by the outcomes of the characters in the story, such as lovers dying or being banished from the city. To demonstrate, the author weaves stories that exhibit binaries of love. Two distinct types of love are described: selfish and selfless. Love is selfish when a person leaves their current partner for another due to covetous reasons. Contrarily, selfless love occurs when a lover leaves to be in a superior relationship. The stark contrast between the types of love can be analyzed to derive a universal truth about love.
The love of the protagonist and his wife in William Shakespeare’s trgedy Othello can not stand up against the repeated assaults of the sinister Iago. Let us in this essay search for and comment on the examples of love found in the play.
This passage marks the first of several types of love, and gives us an intuitive
Love is often misconstrued as an overwhelming force that characters have very little control over, but only because it is often mistaken for the sum of infatuation and greed. Love and greed tread a blurred line, with grey areas such as lust. In simplest terms, love is selfless and greed is selfish. From the agglomeration of mythological tales, people deduce that love overpowers characters, even that it drives them mad. However, they would be wrong as they would not have analyzed the instances in depth to discern whether or not the said instance revolves around true love. Alone, true love help characters to act with sound reasoning and logic, as shown by the tales of Zeus with his lovers Io and Europa in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology.
Sacrifice is a common motif in the work, and it allows the reader to visualize what is most meaningful to each of the characters. Hosseini’s use of Mariam’s sacrifice, along with those of the other characters, gives the reader a taste of what the characters value and how it shapes the meaning of the novel as a
“Don’t waste your love on someone who doesn’t value it.” In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare exposes the life of two young lovers in the Renaissance period fighting for something they cannot live without; each other. Although fate takes its toll, the everlasting feud between two families, conditional love by parents, and the irresponsibility’s of father and mother like figure are the main causes in the death of Romeo and Juliet. The idea of love is something that is valued in this play from many different aspects of characters, lines, and scenes. Shakespeare leaves the minds of readers soaring over not why it happened, but who was at fault.
The effects of love and sacrifice on one’s life can be shown through the character of Lucie Manette in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The way Lucie applies warmth to her friends and family and sacrifices for them has a greater impact than anything else could possibly do. In fact, loving gestures have the power to do anything. They can brighten moods and ameliorate one’s day. Overall, Love is a powerful feeling. It can be defined in many ways, but is always an important emotion to have. Without it, humans are empty. It is a necessary part of living; with it, anything is possible.
O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi,” is about a couple who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. The story takes place on Christmas Eve in a furnished apartment at eight dollars a week. I feel that the narrator mocks Jim and Della for being poor. “It did not beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.” (O. Henry 165). Della and Jim’s income shrunk from thirty dollars a week to twenty dollars a week causing them a great deal of financial problems. They both are troubled that Christmas is tomorrow and they cannot afford to buy each other a nice gift. Jim’s gold watch and Della’s hair play an important role in the story.
Henry, who wrote “Gift of the Magi”, showed the crazy love between a man and a woman in a serious relationship. Even though giving up their most prized possession was difficult, they did it out of loe for each other. They wanted to give each other the best life possible, even though that meant taking some of their own happiness
I would sacrifice everything for you...Just Kidding! Ha, fooled you, huh? As if I believe that you are actually going to stay with me for me to actually believe that I am willing to sacrifice for you! Ha, Never! This is my most precious baby, my everything, as if I would just sacrifice him for the likes of you! Never! Now, Leave and please, don’t ever come back. Harsh, so harsh, but I guess you never knew real love huh? If you’re really in love, wouldn’t you sacrifice everything for them? Federico did, for the woman who took everything from him, and made him live on a farm, in poverty. He loved this every beautiful, rich woman and he sacrificed everything for her, even when he was in poverty. But, did she ever take notice? Not till she found out what he fed her, oh, no. It took her forever, to see what he did for her and see how much he loved her. He sacrificed everything for her, his falcon, his money, and his rank in the economy, and not till
Many critics agree, “The Gift of the Magi” is, in all respects, an amazing and one of a kind story. One critic says, “Ironically, Fagin arrives at something utterly crucial to the success of 'The Gift of the Magi': that it has everything—an absorbing (if short) narrative drive and a twist ending that makes it wholly original” (Korb). Even renowned critic, Rena Korb, agrees; O.Henry did an excellent job with this story. Though O. Henry wrote many great stories, one of his most famous, and favorite, stories of all time is “The Gift of the Magi.” “The gift of the Magi” is a classic about a couple who sacrifices their happiness for the other. It is one of Henry’s most popular stories by far; even being remade many times. Such a popular story must have a powerful base with which to explain its message. That message is incorporated quite well into a few major themes; though, many different themes were used in this story. These themes ranged from materialism, generosity and love to more subtle undertones like selflessness and poverty. Of course, the most prominent is materialism; though, Henry goes to great lengths to show such a complex theme to his audience. He uses excellent literary devices like setting, conflict, creative syntax, and even figurative language all to his advantage. O. Henry uses many different, complex, literary elements to portray these different themes in “The Gift of the Magi.”
He was willing to risk everything he had in order to show his love for
What then is love? Over the years, society has pondered this question only to arrive to different answers. Who then deserves to be love? Some people love only those who are easy to love. Others, love people who they know will reciprocate their love. According Eagle Vision Ministry, there are different kinds of love: Storge love (love of a parent to child), Eros love (physical love), Phileo love (friendship love), and Agape love (God’s love). Agape love is a unique love that has nothing to do with emotional attachments. It is the kind of love that only God can place in the heart of an individual. It is the kind of love that permits a person to love their enemies. It is the kind of love that permits a person to do good to those who have harmed a person. It is the kind of love that permits a person to pray for those who are undeserving of his/her prayers. God’s shows Agape love because his love is unconditional; the Hebrew word “hesed” best describes the type of love of God has for people (4). One must understand God in order to reach love. In 1Corinthians 13:13, the bible says, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (NRSV) So what does God’s word has to say concerning the subject of love? In Matthew 22:34-40 the bible says, “When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the laws is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two comm...
The Theme of Love is presented by the widow, as she demonstrates a deeper love for her dead husband. She refuses to following the precession with the loose hair, and the beating of the naked breast in front of the crowd. At the beginning of the story, the widow is presented as being devoted. Her actions are described as being overly devoted to her dead husband by the dissatisfaction with the traditional norms of mourning. Petronius writes, “She followed the dead man even to his resting place, and began to watch and weep night and day over the body” (1, paragraph 2) Petronius suggests the widow’s love by her state of mind being lost in her grief, “Even to his resting place”. Another example of the love the widow demonstrates through the story is the sacrifice of her dead husband body to save her new love. The widow reacts to the soldier’s grief, for a crucified man’s body has been taken and he will have to take its place. She shows that even ...