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Gift of the magi meaning
Gift of the magi meaning
Gift of the magi meaning
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In class so far we have read many stories, but the two that should be compared are the very ironic stories of “the Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and “The Gift of the Magi,” by O.Henry. The stories are very similar in the fact that they have two couples who are giving “gifts” but each couple has different motives. In “The Necklace” you have Madame Loisel and her husband. She is a poor woman who believes she should be rich and wants more than her husband can provide for her. Then in “The gift of the Magi” you have Jim and Della who work very hard for what they have and appreciate their things. Della Sells her hair to buy her husband a chain for his pocket watch, but unfortunately Jim sold his pocket watch to get Della a comb for her hair. While Both Stories seems to be set in or near the same time period, maybe 19th century, the stories couldn’t be different. “The gift of Magi” seems to be written in a more loving fashion. The way O. Henry writes the story is straightforward. He adds enough detail into his …show more content…
One time my dad gave my mom these beautiful diamond and ruby earrings. She had them for the longest time and one day she woke up with one missing. We search all over her room and we couldn't find the missing earring. A couple weeks later my dad took the lone earring to the jewelry store where he bought it and had it turned into a necklace. That same day my mom called me so happy, she had found the missing earring in her closet. Its ironic how the same day my dad went and got the earing turned into a necklace, is the same day my mom found the missing part. It relates to “the Necklace”, she lost a gift that my dad spent a lot of money on, like Madame Loisel thought her friend spent a lot on the necklace she lost. It relates to “The Gift of the Magi”, my dad tried to do something nice by turning the lone earring into a necklace, yet now it leaves my mom with one earring and a matching
The “Gift of the Magi”, by O. Henry, is a short story that unfolds in an unanticipated and remarkable way that gently tugs the reader in which makes them want to continue reading. The story is about two characters named Della and Jim. For Christmas, Della cuts her hair to sell for money to buy Jim a chain for his watch while Jim sells his watch to buy Della some fancy combs. They both couldn’t use each other's gifts properly by reason of them sacrificing what they loved likewise finding delight in giving - what is foolish in the head, may be wise for the heart.
An example of this can be found in the quote, “She would dream of delicious dishes served on wonderful china, of gallant compliments whispered and listened to with a sphinxlike smile as one eats the rosy flesh of a trout or nibble at the wings of a grouse” (352). This quote occurs when Mme. Loisel is eating a dinner of stew with her husband. Her husband on one hand, is perfectly content with the stew and he quite enjoys it, Mme. Loisel on the other hand is not satisfied with the stew and dreams for bigger and better things. If it wasn’t already obvious enough, the stew symbolized the overall situation that Mme. Loisel and her husband were in. Her husband was very happy about the situation was, and he didn’t have any complaints about it. On the contrary, Mme. Loisel wasn’t content with their situation, she wanted more out of life than what she already had. However, the examples do not stop there. Believe it or not, the necklace itself is a symbol of Mme. Loisel’s slight loss of reality. The necklace that Mme. Loisel fell so madly in love with, may have been beautiful, but it was completely and utterly worthless, all a sham. The necklace represented the power of perception, along with the slight difference between fantasy and reality. Even though it was a fake, when she wore the necklace, she felt more wealthy, which in turn, made the people around her believe that she was wealthier too. The fact that the necklace is the result of the complete undoing of Mme. Loisel’s life as she knew it, leads me to infer that the story’s overall message is that nothing good ever comes from the denial of the reality of the
Living in a world where anything can be judged by anyone, misunderstood, and alter your own point of view about what is certainly a mundane topic, this compare and contrast essay between the two stories of The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs and Dinnertime by Helen Epstein, could be effortlessly, one of these flaws, and this is a commodity we must consider analyzing. The Monkey’s Paw is a story of a family that happens to get a mystical object, in this case, the title of the story, which capacitates them with three wishes, what they didn't know where the tricky ways this object granted those wishes. Dinnertime is a story about a family that has to deal with the past of the holocaust where the parents itself had been tagged by their past in concentration camps, which is narrated by the daughter of this family, and explains their troubles that were dragged with this terrible past. The elements that are going to be prioritized in this stories are the: Motif, Setting, and plot of each
“But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile” (Henry 206). Tones can make a short story intriguing, emotional, and gripping. In "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry and "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the underlying themes of both short stories are about the love the main characters have for certain members of their family, both stories are somber and thoughtful, and the main characters are serious and family-oriented. Overall, this can lead to key tones in each book. Towards the beginning in "The Gift of the Magi," the short story is dreary and sad. Since Della can't afford anything for her husband for Christmas, "she stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard" (Henry
In fact, “The Necklace” and “The Lottery” was the two stories, which almost related with each other story in the street, society, and in the family. After reading the stories “The Lottery” and “The Necklace”, I learn many things to change my society. Both stories “The Necklace” and “The Lottery” started from street and ends in the street, both are about society and family
“The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor are two short stories that take place in two different eras of time. “The Necklace” takes place in Paris, France around the late 1800’s and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” takes place in Georgia, USA sometime in the mid 1900’s, mainly in the car, traveling to Florida on vacation. At first glimpse these too stories appear
Situational irony occurs throughout most of The Necklace; it appears when Madame Forestier lends Madame Loisel a diamond necklace since “[she’s] upset because [she] haven’t a single piece of jewelry or a gemstone or anything to wear with [her] dress.[She’ll] look like a pauper. [She] almost think[s] it would be better if [she] didn’t go” and lets her borrow it for a ball one night so Madame Loisel can fit in; however, she ends up losing the necklace(174).Madame Loisel was not informed of the fact that the diamond necklace was actually fake. In a panic, Madame Loisel and her husband work hard and pay the loans off for many years trying to replace the necklace only to find out it wasn’t real; they gave up their decent lifestyle and had to save up for ten years. The situational irony is the fact that Madame Loisel thought that if she borrowed the diamond necklace it would help her become closer to the life she wanted, but the necklace ended up putting her and her husband into poverty and without the life that she longed for, instead. The ten years of poverty that Madame Loisel and
A reader looking for a story where there is drama, but still humor will be satisfied with Raymond Carver’s Cathedral and Guy de Maupassant’s The Jewelry. Both have some form of wit developed through a plot structure that appeals to the most common of people. Carver presents a man who is so narrow-minded that he is unable to grasp the idea of knowing a person who is blind. Maupassant creates a story of a man who is blind to the fact of the true actions of his wife and the lies she construed during their marriage. In these two stories the protagonists go through self-discovery, but each experience it in different ways. As such, the plot structures that form the infrastructure of these two tales allow the reader to see that although the two protagonists reached the same conclusions but through different events.
As a child, I was always mesmerized with beautiful things. My dad had a watch which I liked to loosely drape around my wrist and my grandmother had an exquisite fur coat which I loved to get lost in when she came to visit. One thing, however, captured my attention and managed to retain it for all these years. I first noticed it when I was younger, clasped around my mother’s neck. As time went on, my fascination did not fade. This piece, that had so enthralled me, was a locket. While trends changed, this locket never seemed to go out of style. I knew there was something significant about this locket and I wanted to know the mystery behind it. My mom used to tell me how my grandmother gave it to her for her eighteenth birthday as a special gift in honor of becoming an adult woman. In a recent interview I asked my grandmother about the locket and how it came to be in her possession. She revealed to me that the locket was given to her on her eighteenth birthday just like my mother and that was how she decided to make it tradition that on her eighteenth birthday the oldest daughter would receive the locket. She opened the locket and a small, sentimental smile crept onto her lips as she pointed to two people, who I had been told several times were my great-grandparents, and told me about how amazingly intuitive this gift was on their part. It had not only beauty but also a photograph of them so that no matter how far away she was from them, they would still be in her heart. My grandmother decided that it was important for me to know what she knew about the history of the necklace, how her mother had bought it in an antique store where the clerk had told her it was made in the late 18th century by a little known Russian jewe...
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.
I looked curiously over the counter, wondering what it might be. The man came back with a small box a short time later. He handed it to me and then resumed his work. My slender hands trembled as I opened the tiny box. Inside was a beautiful silver locket. As I opened the tiny heart up, I saw something I didn't expect to see. The beautiful faces of my family, including my brother.
In the story “The Gift of the Giver” he was trying to please the king but the merchant was trying to get something on return. “A rich merchant of the town heard the story of the King’s gift. The merchant began to scheme. He thought,”That poor farmer gave the King a simple apple from a tree. And the King gave him his horse in exchange. What would the King give me if I gave him a horse? He might give me his daughter. Or perhaps some valuable jewels!” All the merchant wanted was a valuable prise when he was only giving a horse with no gratitude. In the story ”A Rich Man’s Son” The boy only wanted one thing and he was not going to change his mind if he really cared he would look in the book before it was too late. He opened it, and as he flipped through the pages a car key dropped from the back of the journal. A dealer tag was attached to the key that read, “Paid in full. Wherever this car takes you, write about it to remember it forever. Love, Dad.” He did not know that he would get so=much a prized possession when he was only looking at the
It is said that “everything that shines isn't gold.” A difficult situation can result a vast illusion that is not what one thought it would be, which leads to disappointment and despair. Just like Guy De Maupassant stories, “The Necklace” and “The Jewel.” In the first story, the protagonist, Mathilde Loisel’s need for materialistic fulfillment causes her hard labor which ends her natural beauty. In the second story, the husband Monsieur Latin ends up living a dreadful life due to the passing of his wife and her admiration for jewels. “The Necklace” and “The Jewel” both share many similarities such as the unconditional love each husband haves toward their wife, the necessity each wife haves towards materialistic greed, the beautiful allurement
In the short story “The Necklace”, the main character, Loisel, is a woman who dreams of greater things in her life. She is married to a poor clerk who tries his best to make her happy no matter what. In an attempt to try to bring happiness to his wife, he manages to get two invitations to a very classy ball, but even in light of this Loisel is still unhappy. Even when she gets a new dress she is still unhappy. This lasts until her husband suggests she borrows some jewelry from a friend, and upon doing so she is finally happy. Once the ball is over, and they reach home, Loisel has the horrible realization that she has lost the necklace, and after ten years of hard labor and suffering, they pay off debts incurred to get a replacement. The central idea of this story is how something small can have a life changing effect on our and others life’s. This idea is presented through internal and external conflicts, third person omniscient point of view, and the round-dynamic character of Loisel. The third person limited omniscient point-of-view is prevalent throughout this short story in the way that the author lets the reader only see into the main character’s thoughts. Loisel is revealed to the reader as being unhappy with her life and wishing for fancier things. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (de Maupassant 887) When her husband tries to fancy things up, “she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls…” (de Maupassant 887) As the story goes on her point of view changes, as she “now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover all of a sudden, with heroism.” (de Maupassant 891) Having the accountability to know that the “dreadful debt must be paid.” (de Maupassant 891 ) This point-of-view is used to help the reader gain more insight to how Loisel’s whole mindset is changed throughout her struggle to pay off their debts. Maupassant only reveals the thoughts and feelings of these this main character leaving all the others as flat characters. Loisel is a round-dynamic character in that Maupassant shows how she thought she was born in the wrong “station”. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station.
Guy de Maupassant is a realist whose claim to fame is the style in which he conveys political and socioeconomic themes in his literary publications. He achieves his writing style by putting small unfortunate life events under a spotlight. His literary performance is described in his biography from Cambridge, the writer says “He exposes with piercing clarity the small tragedies and pathetic incidents of everyday life, taking a clear-sighted though pessimistic view of humanity” (Halsey, par. 1). Guy de Maupassant’s story The Necklace is a great representation of the style he uses. In The Necklace the main character Mathilde Loisel a beautiful but impoverished woman married to a clerk is in conflict with her lack of wealth and desire to acquire