Think about the last time that you opened a present that had been given to you by someone you love. Did you take a moment to think about what they might have gone through just to give you that one perfect gift? The giver may have sacrificed something very dear to their heart to give you that small token. In Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry, a young couple who is in desperate financial struggle sells their most prized possessions to purchase gifts for each other. O. Henry teaches the valuable lesson that sometimes in order to give a well thought out gift we may be required to sacrifice our time, possessions, or self aspirations.
First and foremost, to be devoted to the giving, one must willingly sacrifice their time. This can be seen in our story when Della took a considerable amount of time to search high and low for the ideal present for Jim. “Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s present.” (Henry pg. 526) Della hadn’t paid attention to the face of a clock as she hunted for the gift. Instead, she was willing to take however long was needed, giving up precious time that cannot be taken back. Even so, in the world today many people voluntarily give up their time to go on rescue missions in the rubble of a natural disaster, to work at a hospital gift shop, to feed homeless people at a shelter, and even to read to children at schools. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, 64.5 million Americans volunteered nearly 7.9 billion hours in the year 2013. The estimated value of this volunteer service is nearly $175 billion, based on the Independent Sector's estimate of the average value of a volunteer hour. People volunteer knowing tha...
... middle of paper ...
...howed me as he nurtured me. It is much to sacrifice your time and possessions for the sake of giving. In short, when you sacrifice your goals you are not only giving a gift, but giving up your future. You are giving up your future for the ones you love. That ladies and gentlemen is the deepest way to show your love.
In brief, the lesson by O. Henry teaches us that sacrifice is sometimes needed in pursuance of the perfect gift. We, as the givers, may be called upon to give up our possessions, time, and self aspirations in these moments. “How can we expect our children to know and experience the joy of giving unless we teach them that the greater pleasure in life lies in the art of giving rather than receiving.” says James Cash Penney. Next time you rip off that delicate wrapping paper, think about the giver and what you can sacrifice to give a thank you gift to them.
In the essay “Returning The Gift” Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about finding your gift and using it to show gratitude toward the earth. Kimmerer implies that we should each find our natural gift in the world and then use it to make the world a better place. Our society has become such a consumption-driven economy that instead of having gratitude we seek to consume more and more rather than being content. Everyday we are given gifts of the earth but fail to give back equal measure for what we take. In order for the Earth to stay imbalanced and to stay positive, and natural gifts to occur we must show our appreciation towards Earth. By showing our appreciation toward Earth we are ensuring a better tomorrow.
People often give up everything that have for others, not because they have a lot to give, but because they know what it feels like to have nothing.
Even forms of human beings preforming selfless acts derives from ones desire to help others, which in a way makes that person feel importance. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Mother Teresa, devoted her life to helping those in great need. To many these acts may appear as selfless and gallant acts that are not performed by anyone with any type of ego. Yet when taking a psychological look at why she performed such acts they may appear a somewhat more for herself. Every time anyone does anything, even when for someone else, they are doing it for some type of feeling that they experience. With the holiday season approaching, there will be a specific emphasis on giving unlike any other time of the year. We give yes to show gratitude for someone we love, but also to experience the joy in seeing someone enjoy something they them self-caused. Even while being selfless humans have the unique ability to still be doing something that involves caring for them self. This outlook toward the human condition completely debunks Wolf’s claim that “when caring about yourself you are living as if you are the center of the universe.” When choosing to do anything positive or negative, for others or for yourself, you are still taking your self-interest into consideration, making it
Another reason for someone to give what someone deserves but at the end of the day is what
The Adoration of the Magi is a famous oil painting by Sandro Botticelli in 1475. It depicts a very popular and well-known scene from the bible; the birth of Jesus Christ and the Three Kings who have traveled a long distance to see him. This type of picture is very popular and their are multiple types of this painting by many painters, but Botticelli’s painting has many aspects within the art that make it different from the others. The biggest difference that stands out is that Botticelli paints a portrait of himself standing in the background but in front of the painting, looking back directly to the beholder of the art. Another notable difference about his painting is that Botticelli depicts the three kings as Cosimo, Piero, and Giovanni Medici
People perpetrate seemingly selfless acts almost daily. You see it all over the news; the man who saved that woman from a burning building, the mother who sacrificed herself to protect her children from the bomb blast. But how benevolent are these actions? Are these so-called “heroes” really sacrificing themselves to help others? Until recently, it was the common belief that altruism, or selfless and unconditional kindness, was limited primarily to the human race. However, within the last century, the works of several scientists, most prominently George Price, have provided substantial evidence concluding that altruism is nothing more than a survival technique, one that can be calculated with a simple equation.
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.
The story “The Gift of the Magi” tells the story in only a good light. There is a darkness the story does speak upon, Jim and Della were the complete opposite of wise they were imprudent. The characters are poor but still want to get each other gifts for christmas with money they got from selling what they held closest to their heart. Jim regrets buying Della combs because hasn’t got any hair to comb. “But if you’ll open that, you may know what I felt when I came in.” Love can be bad if there are miscommunications and poor decisions. If a relationship has a poor future is there really a relationship in the first place. Jim wants to let the gifts be forgotten as they had poor communication and neither could use there gifts. “let’s put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while” (Henry para.40) Being in a relationship can cause you to make bad decisions. A relationship should be built upon two pillars respect and knowledge. If a relationship has only respect then it will slowly crumble and fall leaving only the ruins of a somewhat bright
“Gift of the Magi” is a short story about a man and a woman who care deeply for each other. Around Christmas, each person wanted to get the other an extravagant present for their prized possession. The
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.
My author william sydney porter had a astonishing life changing experience while he was in prison. William Sydney Porter, later known as O. Henry wrote in a dry, but yet very humorous style as suggested in “The Gift of the Magi.” He generally used coincidences and many surprise endings. As a child he had a rough time working multiple jobs. He had a life changing experience that lead his work to be well known in american literature. His legacy all began from a crime he committed as a bank teller.
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...
...esult, the more directly one sees their personal efforts impact someone else, the more happiness one can gain from the experience of giving. Sometimes generosity requires pushing past a feeling of reluctance because people all instinctively want to keep good things for themselves, but once one is over this feeling, they will feel satisfaction in knowing that they have made a difference in someone else’s life. However, if one lives without generosity but is not selfish, they can still have pleasure from other virtues.
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
Sherman, Amy L. “Expectant Giving.” The Christian Century 116.6 (1999): 206. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.