In the “Gift of the Magi,” dramatic irony occurs when Della opens the gift from Jim, a set of tortoise shell combs, and briefly forgets that her hair isn't long enough to wear them. Dramatic irony may also occur if a reader guesses in advance that Jim sold his watch to buy the coveted combs.
The title of O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi" reflects its central metaphor, which compares a young couple's selfless love to the generosity of the Biblical wise men -- magi -- who gave baby Jesus gifts.
Poverty and conflict are widely understood to be closely interconnected; with poverty making countries more prone to civil war, and armed conflict weakening governance and economic performance, thus increasing the risk of conflict relapse (Goodhand 2001).
The climax is when they both get the gifts that they bought for one another. The falling action is when they both put away their gifts, celebrate Christmas together, and eat. The rising action is when Della has $1.87 to buy Jim a Christmas present.
Throughout “The Gift of the Magi” the narrator uses words like they, he, and her, which are key words in deciding that a story is written in third person. We can further narrow down the point of view to being third person limited. This is because the narrator follows Della throughout the story and not Jim.
The type of conflict Della face in O. Henry's “The Gift of the Magi” was character versus society.
“The Gift of the Magi” takes place in a furnished flat in New York City, the day before Christmas. The time of this story is important because it explains why Della and Jim need a present for each other.
External conflict is a type of conflict that places characters at odds with forces outside themselves. These external forces stand in the way of a character's motivations and create tension as the character tries to reach their goals. There are three primary types of external conflict: Character vs.
Jim felt disappointment, confusion, love, and pride at the same time. The reason behind this state was he had bought jeweled pair of tortoiseshell combs for Della; he had sold his precious pocket watch for it and quite ironically Della had sold her beautiful hair to buy a gold chain for Jim's pocket watch.
In order to purchase Della's gift (the beautiful, jeweled pair of tortoiseshell combs for her hair), Jim sells his most prized possession: the gold watch that once belonged to his father and grandfather.
Jim's gold watch Symbol Analysis. Jim's watch holds sentimental value for him as well, having been passed down from generation to generation. In this way, the watch represents Jim's ties to the family he grew up in—the family he leaves in order to make a new family with Della.
He realized that the combs he bought her are useless. Jim's reaction to Della's gift reveals that he isJim gives Della a hair comb that she cannot use because she cut off her hair to buy a watch chain for Jim, but he can't use it because he sold his watch to buy Della the hair comb.
Ans: Della felt sad on losing her hair because it was the most beautiful part of her person (body). It was long, brown, thick and silky that everyone liked. But more than anyone, Jim liked it most. Della feared that without it he may not like her so much.
Della's hair symbolizes her youth and beauty, and as she and her beloved husband are very poor, it also symbolizes her most valuable possession. Her hair therefore becomes symbolic of the huge sacrifice that Della proves herself willing to make for Jim.
How did Jim hide his disappointment when he saw Della's hair? He hid his surprise and only held a "peculiar expression on his face."
Della wants to make this Christmas a very special one for Jim, but her savings is a paltry sum of one dollar and eighty-seven cents before the day of Christmas. This is what upsets her at the beginning of the story. The day before Christmas she counts her savings three times.
Answer and Explanation:In "The Gift of the Magi," Della flops down on the couch and howls because she has only "one dollar and eighty-seven cents" to
Jim and Della are called magi in "The Gift of the Magi" because they each show wisdom. Magi is the plural of magus, meaning a wise man. And it was the three magi, or wise men, who brought gifts to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
The first lines of the story tell us that Della has been saving up money to buy her husband, Jim, a Christmas present. In her desperation, she counts the money three times ("thrice") to make absolutely sure that there is no mistaking the final total. In the end, Della sells her beautiful long hair for twenty dollars.
Solution. Della sells her hair to Madame Sofronie for twenty dollars, which was just enough money to buy a platinum fob chain form which costs twenty-one dollars. Della made a mistake by selling her hair because Jim had brought a comb for her. Which becomes useless since she already cut off her hair.
Jim's most prized possession is the watch he got from his father which came from his grandfather. Della is young and the mistress of the small flat.
Answer. Answer: Explanation: Della wanted to buy aa Christmas present for Jim , but she didn't had money for this ,that's why she was crying .
7. What do Della's and Jim's sacrifice tells you about their relationship? They love each other so much they are willing to give up something precious to them to make each other happy. 8.
"She loves her husband enough to give him a very costly gift" is the answer.
Della and Jim are wise, because they each sacrificed something they loved for a gift for someone they loved more than the sacrifice itself. They were foolish because they did not even ask each other what they wanted and they waited to the last minute to get a gift.
Why does Della misunderstand Jim's reaction? Della believes that Jim's reaction means that he does not like her hair cut, he does not think she is beautiful anymore, and he will no longer love her. In reality, he was just surprised because it made his present for her worthless.
Henry says of Jim and Della's that “ of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest… The narratorcalled them the magi because their gifts are gifts of love, and those who give out of love and self-sacrifice are truly wise because they know the value of self-giving love.
Since Jim's watch was on an old leather strap, he looked at his watch secretly because he was embarrassed by the poor-looking strap. What did Della do with her hair when she got home? She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages.
In a story, the central conflict is defined as the main opposition, obstacle or complication that characters need to navigate in order for the story to reach a conclusion. The central conflict is similar to the central idea: It is a dramatic kernel that contains the seed for the rest of your story.
When Jim walks through the door, he possesses an unreadable expression that utterly terrifies his tremulous wife. He simply stared as her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. Della quickly explains that she cut and sold her hair because she wanted so badly to buy him something nice for Christmas.
The resolution to "The Gift of the Magi" occurs when Jim tells his wife they should "put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They're too nice to use now." He says this because he, like his wife, sold his most prized possession—he his watch, she her hair.
