The Gift of the Magi Literary Elements Analysis Essay Sample

“The Gift of the Magi”, written by O. Henry, is a short story that uses many literary elements. It takes place in New York City on Christmas Eve in 1901. Jim and Della are a young couple that lives in a flat that has only what they need to survive. They don’t have enough money to buy each other a gift but are desperate to get one for each other. Della sold her hair to get Jim a chain for his pocket watch, and Jim sold his pocket watch, so he could buy Della a tortoiseshell comb. Conflict, allusion, and setting reveal the theme of actions matter more than material items. 

The conflict in the story shows the reader, thoughts count more than material items. After Della cuts off most of her hair, she says, “Please God, make him think I am still pretty” (Henry 3). From this internal conflict, readers see that Della is doubting that she is good enough for Jim and that he will still love her no matter what. Della is having a hard time coming up with money: “Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim” (Henry 1). O. Henry is using this conflict to show how much thought Della is putting into Jim’s gift. They don’t have a lot of money, so she wanted to get Jim a gift that is meaningful and useful.

Through the use of allusion, the author reveals actions matter more than material items. The birth of baby Jesus is referenced, “who brought the gifts to the Babe in the manger” (Henry 5). The Maji is equivalent to the wise men that brought gifts to baby Jesus after he was born in the manger. Jim and Della are referred to as wise men. Della only had $1.87 to get Jim a present: “Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied” (Henry 1). This is referencing in other countries, where you have to go barter merchants to get a better deal and save money. This was the only way Della could come up with extra money. She put a lot of thought into the gift for Jim.

O. Henry uses setting, which shows the reader actions matter more than items. Della and Jim can’t afford expensive things with their $20 a week income: “A furnished flat at $8 a week” (Henry 1). From the setting, readers know that Jim and Della have a low income, with only Jim working and Della staying at home. The items in their house were cheap too: “There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks” (Henry 1). O. Henry is using the setting to show Della and Jim don’t have a lot of money around the holidays to buy gifts for each other.

O. Henry’s use of conflict, allusion, and setting reveals the theme of actions matter more than material items. Conflict is used to show the struggles that Jim and Della are facing. Allusion is used to show how the story connects with the life of the people reading it. The setting is used to show how poor they are. After they put this much thought into both of their gifts, they can’t use any of them. Jim and Della were the wisest in their relationship because of all the sacrifices they made.

Works Cited

Henry, O. “The Gift of the Magi”. Project Gutenberg, 1905, gutenberg.org/files/7256/7256-h/7256-h.htm.