The Gift of the Magi

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“Gift of the Magi”
The main theme in the selected text is ‘love.’ The theme is the subject discussed in a book or any form of writing. It’s the idea that appears more than once in a work of art. An author’s piece of work may contain the central theme and other supporting themes. The ‘theme ‘ is the leading ideas and portrays the underlying message in a novel.
In the Henry’s “Gift of the Magi,” the theme of love is seen to recur. Love is the feeling of affection towards another person. The main characters in “Gift of the Magi” are seen to fall in love. Jim and Della are in love, and the two are struggling to get gifts for each other on Christmas day. In her daily errands, Della keeps saving to buy a gift for James young. “Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents….” (Kennedy and Dana 272). However, she’s disappointed that the only money she has saved all along amounts to one dollar and eighty cents. The feeling of disappointing a beloved one is engrossed in her mind that she falls into bed and cries. “Della finished her cry and attended her cheeks…” to show the emotions that engulfed her (Kennedy and Dana 272). Love is expressed in the possessive pronouns used by the author. The author uses the pronoun ‘her Jim’ meaning that Della treasures James and regards him as her possession. Love is about cherishing one another and being protective. Della is ready to protect James and treat her as a precious possession and thus regards him as hers (Kennedy and Dana 272).

Love is also seen when Della sold her hair to get money for Jim’s gift. After crying, she sought for options of getting money and ran to the streets where she came across the sign ‘Hair Articles of All Kinds’. For twenty dollars the brown waterfall was cut down. Using this money, Della goes shopping for a gift for James. Love is about sacrifice for our loved ones. While Della is proud of her hair, she sacrifices it for money to purchase a gift for James. She buys a gold watch chain that is plain and simple like James young (Kennedy and Dana 273).
After issuing his gift to Della, Jim confirms that nothing like a haircut will make him love her any less. The expression is a reflection of true love, that is never ending and will always survive in the face of adversity. The love of James for Della is not based on possessions, and thus without the hair, he still loves her (Kennedy and Dana 274)
The theme of gift giving is portrayed in the text. It’s the eve of Christmas, and as Christianity proposes, sharing is a significant element of this ceremony. Just as Christ gave his life to save us as sinners, we are supposed to share with those around us. The title emphasizes on gifting one another like the magic who were wise men and traveled long distances to bring gifts to Jesus. Della cuts her hair and sells it to purchase a gold watch for Jim. Subsequently, James sells his watch to purchase fine combs for Della. The author compares the main characters to the wise men. The story is about the characters selling their valuable possessions to purchase gifts for one another. While love is all over the text, the author brings about the culture of present giving and compares those who give and receive to the magi (Kennedy and Dana 274).
The author supports the fact that love and giving out are the causes of deep marks in the souls of loved ones. Della tries to cover what was remaining after the haircut. The haircut left sad marks as it had taken away what was treasured by his lover. It’s never easy to hide marks of such nature. She prayed to God for Jim to look at her as a pretty woman, the way he did before. Love is about being at best for one another. The character is thus questioning her ability to impress and be lovable to Jim. She wants to be loved and wants to be pretty for him; this is the fundamental tenets of a relationship (Kennedy and Dana 274).
The theme of gratification is also conspicuous in the text. James is said to be proud of two things: his gold watch and Della’s long hair. James inherited the gold watch from his father who also inherited it from James grandfather. Since the watch is associated with his lineage, he holds it dearly and feels proud of it. He felt that no king had any watch of the same value. Similarly, Della was proud of her hair as she deemed it to be more beautiful than the jewels and gifts of a queen. Della’s hair was long and fell below her knees. The hair fell like a stream of brown water which covered her like a dress. The two characters derive satisfaction from their belongings and thus are filled with gratification. Even when Della inquires to look at Jim’s watch, the latter informs her, “I sold the watch to get money to buy you combs.” (Kennedy and Dana 275). The statement illustrates how much they were in love and could go to any extent to make each other happy.
The minor theme of judgment is also eminent in the text. After cutting her hair, the author portrays Della as a schoolboy. In forty minutes, Della’s head is compared to a schoolboy. Society depicts a woman as a character with long hair. Hair is considered an epitome of beauty and that why James treasures the hair of his woman. Women who don’t grow long hair are at the receiving end as they are considered ugly and equated to the male gender (Kennedy and Dana 273). Della is filled with thoughts that on a second look, her lover will brand her a slut. She fears that James will look onto her as a woman who dances and sings for money. Society judges women harshly for their acts. If women make mistakes they are portrayed as whores; this has led to the rise of feminism in the contemporary world to fight against the subjugation of women. Della also fears that on second look, Jim may kill her or brand her an immoral woman. This issue shows that women in the era in which the author wrote the text were prone to violence by their men to appoint of being killed. Despite being judged harshly by society, the latter would also get beaten for their mistakes.
In conclusion, the author through a story that revolves around gifting our loved ones just like the wise men highlights how love conquers all. While there are minor themes, love is seen to drive the characters to give them all to get their loved ones gifts for Christmas. The climax of the story is satirical as the author refers to the main characters when wise men portray stupidity by buying gifts that won’t benefit the other partner at that moment. The gold chain watch will be of no benefit to James, and the comb would be of no use to Della until a later time.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. An introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Fifth Edition, Pearson, 2016.