I would argue that “The Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, can suggest to us that our consumer society is too focused on material things. It suggests that we should be less materialistic and more interested in our human relationships.
In this story, Della and Jim have very little money. They are so poor that they cannot afford to buy one another Christmas presents. However, each wants the other to have something material. Jim...
I would argue that “The Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, can suggest to us that our consumer society is too focused on material things. It suggests that we should be less materialistic and more interested in our human relationships.
In this story, Della and Jim have very little money. They are so poor that they cannot afford to buy one another Christmas presents. However, each wants the other to have something material. Jim wants Della to have the combs for her hair while she wants him to have a fob for his beloved watch. Jim sells his watch to get the combs while Della sells her hair to get the fob. Neither of them, therefore, ends up able to use what the other gives them. Even so, they are very happy because they realize how much they love one another and how much more important their love is than their material possessions.
We can say that this story is telling us that we are too materialistic. We want all sorts of material things. We care more, arguably, about these material goods than we care about the people around us. “The Gift of the Magi” can suggest to us that we in modern society should change our priorities. It can suggest that we should be like Jim and Della after they exchange their presents. We should realize that the relationships we have with other people are much more important than any of the material goods we are so eager to acquire.
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