| The Gift Of The Magi |
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| 1906 short stories | |
| american short stories | |
| christmas fiction | |
"The Gift of the Magi" is a . PLOT SUMMARY Jim and Della Dillingham Young are a couple who are very much in love with each other, but can barely afford their one-room apartment opposite the elevated train due to their very bad economic condition. For Christmas , Della decides to buy Jim a chain for his prized pocket watch given to him by his father. To raise the funds, she has her prized long hair cut off and sold to make a wig. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of combs for her lovely, knee-length hair. The moral of the story is that physical possessions, however valuable they may be, are of little value in the grand scheme of things. The true unselfish love that the characters, Jim and Della, share is greater than their possessions. O. Henry ends the story by clarifying the Metaphor between the characters in the story, Della and James (or Jim), and the Biblical Magi . "The Gift of the Magi" features O. Henry 's characteristic Twist Ending ( O. Henry Twist ) and use of flowery Diction . POPULAR CULTURE AND ADAPTATIONS ''The Gift of the Magi'' is widely referenced in popular culture ranging from the final segment of the motion picture '' O. Henry's Full House '', which featured an adaptation of the story, to numerous references in popular television shows such as '' The Simpsons ''1 and '' Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''2. Even in music, the story has been adapted by the musical group, Squirrel Nut Zippers in a song by the same name. An Opera was written by David Conte in one act using the story as is. In the Futurama episode "X-Mas Story" is a gift-giving scene wherein Amy sells her hair to get combs for Hermes, who sold his hair to get combs for Dr. Zoidberg, which makes no sense since Dr. Zoidberg has no hair - until it is revealed that he is now wearing both Amy's and Hermes' hair. The 2004 Hindi film Raincoat starring Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai and directed by Rituparno Ghosh is an adaptation of this story. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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