The Gift of the MagiThe Gift of the Magi

• Author

• Origin of Title

• O. Henry

• Wise men, or magi, brought gifts to the baby Jesus and so invented the giving of Christmas gifts

• O.Henry Writing Style

• Overview of Story

• Humorous tone, realistic Humorous tone, realistic detail, and a surprise detail, and a surprise endingending

• Delia and Jim Young are a young married couple with very little money

• They are both trying to save money so they can buy Christmas gifts for one another

• What will they sacrifice in order to buy their spouse a fantastic gift?

• Characters– Jim Young

• Jim, is a thin, serious young man, twenty-two years old. He works hard, not returning home until seven o'clock, and is reliable:

• Delia Young • Has long beautiful hair and has saved $1.87 to buy her husband a gift

• Themes and Conflicts • Value of Love

• Faulty Value of Money

• Faulty Value of Material Items

• Wisdom and Growth

• Sacrifice and Generosity

• Unselfishness

Style• Setting

• Mood

• Irony

• New York. The setting helps emphasize the couple being poor. They have a "shabby little couch," and a “dismal view”

• Dark and unsettling. The mood is used to emphasize how poor and desperate this couple has become

• When the couple loses everything that is important to them, they realize it really doesn’t matter