The Selfless Sacrifice
It is a known fact of life that true love is hard to find in this day and age; one could say it is more plausible to find a needle in a haystack. True, sincere love, when found, is a real test to humanity. O.Henry, the author of the short story “The Gift of The Magi”, has written a masterpiece about a young couple who give everything they have for each other in order to show the great magnitude of their love. Della and James Young live in a poor suburb of New York where the young couple resides in a shabby apartment. They do not have much to give; however, it is Christmas Eve, so both are searching for a gift for the other. Both Della and James sacrifice their most valued gifts in order to please the other. O.Henry
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uses various literary elements such as the symbolism of each character´s most prized possession to develop a theme that true love knows no bounds. Throughout “The Gift of the Magi”, he illuminates the importance of each character's most valued object or characteristic to teach the reader that the greatest gift and representation of admiration one can give is the gift of selflessness. (T) In the story, O.Henry often emphasizes how important and beautiful Della's hair is. (E)The text states that, “Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window someday to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts” (Henry 9). (A)Through the use of this quote, O.Henry is expressing how much Della's is worth and is comparing it to the riches that of a great queen. This comparison and symbolism of the importance of Della's hair relates directly to how quickly she sacrifices it for Jim's gift. Later in the story it says, (Extra E) “‘Twenty dollars, said Madame, lifting the mass with a practiced hand. ‘Give it to me quick,’ said Della” (Henry 10). Della, knowing her hair is precious and worth a sum of money that would amount to enough to buy a gift for Jim, sells her hair in a heartbeat showing how greatly she is dedicated to Jim and how she wants to please him. (M) Her priceless hair is worth nothing in her eyes, and she would rather sell her precious asset in order to prove her love for Jim. (T) Similarly, James sacrifices his elaborate pocket watch in order to purchase the combs Della admires through the shop window. (E)O.Henry states that Jim’s pocket watch is one of the most valuable things this household owns, but later says, “‘I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs’” (Henry 13). (A) Even though Jim is thankful for his gift from Della, it has no use because he sells it to buy Della’s combs. Jim gives up his most prized possession in order to buy something to please his wife that he loves dearly. This symbolism of Jim’s watch digs deeper in that it is more of a token of their love, rather than being a representation of their household’s wealth. Jim sells the item that means the most to him in order to please the woman that means the most to him. This selflessness and acceptance that love is more valuable than material objects shows how deep their love is and how it knows no boundaries. (M) Clearly, Jim will sell all he has in order to make the woman he loves happy. (R)Through the use of Della’s hair and James’ pocket watch, O.Henry shows how true love knows no bounds and selflessness is the greatest gift one can give.
(E) In “The Gift of The Magi”, Both James and Della´s sacrifices are their greatest gifts to each other. The most valuable treasures this young couple has are selflessness and dedication for each other. This symbolism of their most prized possessions is principal when saying that their relationship works due to of their magnanimous ways because in today’s society, people are insincere and avaricious. (C) Often hiding behind and insincere relationship, people mask their faults which shows their greed. They do not want to give up things they love in order to strengthen their relationship which is why relationships often fail. (A) O.Henry wanted to show how a true relationship should work, and that in order to demonstrate the magnitude of true love, both sides of the relationship should be willing to make sacrifices. (P) Think back to the needle in a haystack; it is true that sincere love is not an easy task, but it is not inconceivable. This one in a million chance to find the one you love can effortlessly be solved if young people listen to the wise teachings of O.Henry and learn that selflessness is the most important part of any relationship. By taking heed of this reasonable advice, the odds of finding that one needle among the infinite sea of hay will be in the favor of true
love.
In the end, readers are unsure whether to laugh or cry at the union of Carol and Howard, two people most undoubtedly not in love. Detailed character developments of the confused young adults combined with the brisk, businesslike tone used to describe this disastrous marriage effectively highlight the gap between marrying for love and marrying for ?reason.? As a piece written in the 1950s, when women still belonged to their husbands? households and marriages remained arranged for class and money?s sake, Gallant?s short story excerpt successfully utilizes fictional characters to point out a bigger picture: no human being ought to repress his or her own desires for love in exchange for just an adequate home and a tolerable spouse. May everyone find their own wild passions instead of merely settling for the security and banality of that ?Other Paris.?
“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.
As our textbook has suggested that literary works what we are examining in this week module were written in the era where genuine love was something unrelated to marriage. According to Gallagher, “Arranged marriages were often concluded not for reasons of the heart but for economic, political, or other utilitarian ends” (6.3). Thus, men and women were often trapped in loveless marriages.
There does not appear to be the real life idea that love is tremendously demanding and that you may have to endure multiple hardships that you may or may not overcome. For a majority of Marie’s lais, the characters seem oblivious to the problems that surround them. In addition, with magic being prevalent, the story loses the factual connection the reader may have with real life. While the magic makes the story interesting, it is hard for a reader to be connected to the stories because they are not relatable in love or ordinary life. Marie is truly a romantic and misses the knowledge that real and true relationships take work. Since magic is not present to assist when difficulties emerge, I believe that in Marie’s lais, she creates more of a fairytale, or a picturesque love. I reason that by highlighting the ideas of love the plots in The Lais of Marie de France, I have shown that while Marie’s lais endure complications in love and overcomes them to live a happily ever after, the whole idea of Marie’s love plots seem unlikely and not relatable to the real life impression of
True love serves as a critical part of human nature; so much so, as to where one may commit immoral actions during the pursuit of such love. Cynthia Benjamin recaptures this classical situation in her short story, The Luckiest Girl, where the antagonist, David Allen strives for complete dominance over his relationship with the protagonist, Anita Wade. He manipulates her through emotional, social, and physical techniques.
...s a lesson to be learned from the poem and the characters at the end: love is between a man and a woman; anything else and be damned by God. As the Pope was not swayed by Damian’s book, neither would most of those who read or heard this tale. Helen’s argument, although compelling and logical, supported by Reason, is in place to persuade and convince the Ganymedes of the medieval world to marry a woman they do not love, or fear God’s wrath.
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.
"What say you? can you love the gentleman? This night you shall behold him at our feast; Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight writ there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content; And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes. This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him, only lacks a cover: The fish lives in the sea; and 'tis much pride For fair without the fair within to hide: That book in many's eyes doth share the glory, That in gold clasps locks in the golden story; So shall you share all that he doth possess, By having him, maki...
When we watch any military motion pictures or documentaries we perceive that youthful troopers are taught that they ought to be prepared to give up their life whenever for their country. What does self-sacrifice actually mean? It’s an ability to willingly give up something good for something better. Envision a soldier fighting in the war where he has to establish a hard decision which includes either to relinquish his life to spare thousand different lives or be narrow minded and let others bite the dust. What do we anticipate from the soldier? Nearly all of the people will concur that he will give his life, and it’s true that he will as it’s his task to defend his nation. It’s not a child’s play to sacrifice happiness and spirit; one requires a large deal of strength and courage to act thus. Mot of the savants believes that one can’t evaluate the strength of someone by merely expecting at their physique, only by the readiness of self-sacrificing themselves for the betterment of others. In the movie Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring directed by Peter Jackson, the main character Frodo Baggins, his companions Marry and Pippin and a wise wizard Gandalf self-sacrificed their comfort, serenity and life in order to successfully complete their quest and to stop Sauron from crushing the Middle Earth. Sometimes individuals face compelling circumstances in their lives where they need to make life altering choices. The film proposes that by the act of self-sacrifice one can achieve internal strength that may have never existed before.
Initially, the story of The Gift of the Magi has great examples of symbolism. The couple’s mishap with their gifts shows that they would sacrifice their prized possessions for each other. This is true love, and wise according to the magi. Readers can identify easily with the subject of love. Spending every last penny just because one were to care about someone so deeply, and wanting them to be happy.
In Shakespeare’s writing of Love's Labour's Lost he shows us some of the struggles that men and women will always deal with, in a man’s timeless struggle for a female’s heart. His characters in this book do not always achieve their ends. A majority of the play tends to focuses on many of its character's flaws instead of their virtues. First, the men of the play try to make sacrifices in order to better their minds and their studies. King Ferdinand of Navarre and three of his lords: Dumain, Longaville, and Berowne, take a vow to abandon the pleasures of the world for three years to pursue knowledge and keep themselves company with the use of only books in order to gain respect as scholars. Ferdinand draws up a contract wh...
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.”
O. Henry uses irony and similes to demonstrate the theme of the story, “The Gift of the Magi.” In the story, the author tries to show us that true love is more valuable than any item or object anyone can receive or own. In the end, Della and Jim gave each other gifts, but they sacrificed their most valued possessions and were not able to use the gifts they received from each other. The author states that the magi were wise men who even invented the art of giving Christmas presents, however, the author said that Della and Jim are the wisest out of all who give
In all of media—and particularly, that which strives to touch its readers emotionally—it is, perhaps, the idea of love that holds power above all else in a narrative. There is a reason, after all, as to why this phenomena reoccurs again and again as a plot device, in turn becoming one of the most well known for audiences throughout history. No matter the context from which it may be derived, many can relate to the basic tale of love most of all, whether it be portrayed as comedic or tragic beyond the base aspects of its foundation. Nevertheless, while some hold steadfast on to the classic belief that love shall triumph against all odds, others have come to criticize it entirely, deconstructing it in ways that offer a much different point of
If by soul you mean that somebody went in contradiction of their views and values then there must have been enough gain to justify such a decision. What that gain is, it is challenging to determine. Perhaps a sacrifice is seen as reasonable in order to gain status, fortune and authority. Which leads to the question about whether artists and other famous people might have originally lost their “soul” in giving it to the public to reach their position leading to part of their being not belonging to them anymore?