In his Christmas classic, first published in 1905, O. Henry reminds us what’s really important during the holiday season, with his iconic rootsy Americana style.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the materialism of the holidays. There’s always so many people to shop for, with never-ending wish lists from our dear loved ones, whom we would shower with frankincense, myrrh, and gold. The holidays can be stressful for a lot of us, when finances are tight (and when are they not?). It’s easy to measure our shortcomings and failures and lose sight of all of the riches we all possess.
The Gift Of The Magi transports you to simpler times that were still just as complicated as today. First published on December 10, 1905, it’s refreshing to see that some things never change, and certain themes are timess.
Continue reading for a synopsis and review of O. Henry’s The Gift Of The Magi.
O. Henry – Gift Of The Magi: Synopsis & Review
Love and large-hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks. It is never easy to cover these marks, dear friends — never easy.”
$1.87. That’s all that Della, female protagonist and 1/2 of the small ensemble cast of characters, was able to save for her beloved James Dillingham Young, her husband with the much-too-grand name. Everyone calls him Jim.
Della’s in a panic, just a few hours before Christmas. What on Earth is she to buy for her dearly beloved with this pitiable spare change she’s managed to scrape together?
Della and Jim don’t have much money. What they do have, goes quickly. They are not without riches, however. Jim’s the proud owner of a fine gold watch. Della has floor-length hair that would be the envy of any queen.
From this point forward, i’ll be giving away some of the surprises contained in this marvelous short story. If yr in any way familiar with O. Henry, you can likely surmise what’s coming anyway. If you don’t want to spoil the surprise, however, and you’ve not read Gifts Of The Magi, you might want to stop reading here.</em)
In a last-minute fit of desperation, that last-minute Christmas shoppers likely know all too well, Della decides to sell her hair. She receives $20 – a week’s pay – and rushes down the street to find a gift for Jim.
She finds the perfect thing… a gold watch chain. With “quietness and value,” just like Jim.
She dashes home with her perfect gift to get dinner ready in time for Jim’s return. She just hoped he still thought she was pretty.
The crestfallen look on his face when he walks in the front door sets Della’s heart racing, her mind reeling. Was her worst fear coming true? Did she, in fact, look like a schoolboy?
That was not it, at all. That wasn’t it at all.
Here comes the classic O. Henry twist. Wait for it… Wait for it….
Jim had the same notion as Della. He sold his watch, fit for a king, to buy Della combs for her beautiful hair. Both agreed they would have to wait a bit to enjoy their wonderful gifts and set off to enjoy their Christmas dinner. Because, in a final fit of poignancy as only O. Henry can deliver,
“Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise. Everywhere they are the wise ones. They are the magi.”
<em>Gifts Of The Magi</em> is a delightful page turner. It’s only six pages long, but that doesn’t mean O. Henry’s not capable of delivering some lovely turns of phrase and some timeless observations on human existence.
As we move into increasingly complex times, turning back the clock to the early 20th Century offers some welcome perspective. It’s like returning to a box of primary color crayons after using the 256 pack, with 100 shades of beige. O. Henry’s writing seems almost unbearably quaint, in these maddening times, yet the roots of the Modern world are already starting to show.
The comments on “how expenses always add up to more than expected,” and having your pay cut, seem particularly resonant in these turbulent late-capitalist times. How odd to think, as we shuttle towards the event horizon of the future, our present is almost equal parts <em>Little Matchstick Girl</em> as it is <em>Black Mirror</em>.
I wonder what today’s Ghost Of Christmas Present would look like?
O. Henry’s Gifts Of The Magi: Wrapping Up
As a timeless piece of Christmas Americana, Gifts Of The Magi has been referenced numerous times in Pop Culture. A few of them are eerily relevant, connecting the dots from the 1900s to the 80s to today.
On December 10, 1988 – 82 years after O. Henry’s story first appeared – Saturday Night Live ran a skit parodying Gifts Of The Magi, with a young Phil Hartman (R.I.P.) playing a pre-presidential (ha!) Donald and Ivana Trump, exchanging gold-wrapped gifts at Mar-A-Lago.
30 years and 7 days, 2 x-wives, and many Trump parodies later, Donald Trump, Mar-A-Lago, yachts and gold are still in the headlines, and on SNL, but for decidedly different reasons. For even more psychic synchronicity, it seems Donald Trump’s lawyers might as well be Lionel Hutz, the charlatan attorney from The Simpsons voiced by Phil Hartman before his untimely demise.
To bring it full-circle, to let the spiral turn even more inward in a bit of personal resonance, my roommate’s are currently screaming with laughter at The Simpsons as i type. I also unearthed yet another NYC landmark, over the course of this investigation, Pete’s Tavern, formerly known as Healy’s, where O. Henry wrote Gifts Of The Magi in the second booth from the front window.
Urbanism, late-capitalism, uncertainty, precarity, warmth, hilarity, cheer. They’re all there waiting for you. Read Gifts Of The Magi and create yr own holiday magick and memory!
Purchase a copy of Gifts Of The Magi, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger, and start making your own holiday memories. Every purchase helps us spread quality writing and timeless art, so we may make the most of the times we’re living in.
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