FINAL EXAM

ANALYSIS SHORT STORY

“ THE GIFT OF THE MAGI” BY O HENRY

By :

Catur Nur Arifah 20020084086

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE 2020C

UNIVERSITAS NEGERI SURABAYA

1|Page
 TAHUN AKADEMIK 2020-2021

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I THE GIFT OF THE MAGI............................................................................................

A. Summary........................................................................................................................................
CHAPTER II THE ANALYSIS OF THE STORY..............................................................................
A. Intrinsic Element.........................................................................................................................
1. Theme.......................................................................................................................................
2. Plot...........................................................................................................................................
3. Conflict.....................................................................................................................................
4. Characters...............................................................................................................................
5. Setting......................................................................................................................................
6. Moral Value.............................................................................................................................
B. Extrinsic Element........................................................................................................................
1. Economics................................................................................................................................
2. Social........................................................................................................................................
3. Cultural....................................................................................................................................
CHAPTER III REFERENCES..............................................................................................................

2|Page
 CHAPTER I
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

A. Summary
Delia and Jim Young, the main characters in ' "The Gift of the Magi," are a young married
couple with very little money. Jim has suffered a thirty-percent pay cut, and the two must
scrimp for everything. On the day before Christmas, Delia counts the money she has
painstakingly saved for months. She is dismayed to find she has less than two dollars, hardly
enough to buy anything at all. After a good long cry, Delia determines to find a way to buy
Jim the present he deserves. As she looks into a mirror, an idea comes to her.

Jim and Delia have two possessions of which they are both proud. One is Jim's gold watch,
which has been handed down from his grandfather. The other is Delia's hair, lustrous, shining,
and falling past her knees. Before she can lose her nerve, Delia races out of the apartment to a
wigmaker, Mme. Sofronie, to whom she sells her hair for twenty dollars. With the money in
her hand, Delia goes to the stores, trying to find something worthy of Jim. At last she finds it:
a platinum watch chain.

Once home, Delia attempts to fix her shorn hair. She heats a frying pan for dinner and waits
nervously by the front door for Jim. When he comes in and sees Delia's hair, he says nothing.
His face shows no anger, surprise, disapproval, or horror none of the sentiments Delia was
expecting. Instead, he only stares.

Delia goes to him, explaining that she sold her hair to buy his gift. Jim has a difficult time
understanding, but suddenly he snaps out of his daze. He draws from his pocket Delia's
Christmas present. She opens it and finds a set of combs for her hair, which she had been
admiring in a store window for a long time. She now understands why Jim was so stunned.
Delia gives Jim his present, but he does not pull out his watch to fit to the chain, for he has
sold his watch to buy Delia's combs.

The narrator explains that the wise men, or magi, brought gifts to the baby Jesus and so
invented the giving of Christinas gifts. Because these men were wise, they no doubt gave wise

3|Page
gifts. Delia and Jim, the narrator asserts, have unwisely sacrificed their most precious
possessions. Yet, because they gave from the heart, they are wise: "They are the magi."

4|Page
 CHAPTER II
THE ANALYSIS OF THE STORY

A. Intrinsic Element
1. Theme
Love, generosity and poverty are the themes of "the gift of the wise." This poor, caring
young husband and wife sell their only gift to each other as a precious Christmas present.
Delia Young sells beautiful hair and buys a platinum bracelet for Jim. Jim sells heirloom
watches and buys a tortoise comb for Delia. These gifts are futile; on the one hand, Delia
couldn't wear it without hair. Comb, and Jim, without a watch comb, he can't use a watch
chain.

The themes of love and generosity are studied along with stories of what this means for
the rich or the poor. O. Henry describes in detail how poor Della and Jim are. The furniture
is not suitable for use. The apartment doorbell did not work, and it was not even possible to
put a letter in their letter slot. They don't have a proper mirror. When Delia came out, she
was wearing a "dark brown coat" and a "navy hat," and Jim needed new gloves and a new
coat. Their rent was $ 8 per week, while Jim's was only $ 20 per week.

2. Plot
Exposition: in this story, the story begins with a della who only has a little money, while
she wants to give a gift to her husband.

proof of the story: One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it
was in pennies. 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. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and
eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

Rising Action: the problem starts here, where Della sells her beautiful hair to Madam
Sofronie. after he got the money, he rushed to look for items to buy as gifts. and he has
found the item.

5|Page
proof of the story: Where she stopped the sign read: "Mne. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All
Kinds." One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white,
chilly, hardly looked the "Sofronie."

"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.

"I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."

Down rippled the brown cascade.

"Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practiced hand.

"Give it to me quick," said Della.

Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was
ransacking the stores for Jim's present.

She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other
like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob
chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and
not by meretricious ornamentation - as all good things should do. It was even worthy of
The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness
and value - the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it,
and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch, Jim might be
properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes
looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.

Climax: Climax occurs when Jim finds out that della's hair is short, and he gives an
expressionless reaction. Della felt very guilty, but Jim explained why he was surprised.
Evidence from the story: The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin
and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two - and to be burdened with a family!
He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.

Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were
fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it
terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the

6|Page
sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that
peculiar expression on his face.

Della wriggled off the table and went for him.

"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold
because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow
out again-- you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say ``
Merry Christmas! ' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-- what a beautiful,
nice gift I've got for you. "

"You've cut off your hair?" Jim asked, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent
fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.

"Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without
my hair, ain't I?"

Jim looked about the room curiously.

"You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy.

"You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you - sold and gone, too. It's
Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were
numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my
love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"

Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us
regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight
dollars a week or a million a year - what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would
give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them.
This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.

Falling Action: problems begin to fall, they know their respective prizes. they know that
each other wants to make a special gift. Evidence from the story: Jim drew a package from
his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.

7|Page
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the
way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if
you 'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first. "

White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy;
and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the
immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.

For there lay The Combs - the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long
in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims - just the
shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and
her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession.
And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments
were gone.

But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes
and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"

And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"

Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open
palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent
spirit.

"Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a
hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it. "

Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his
head and smiled.

Resolution: the problem is over, they realize that the problem of gifts is a useless thing.
Evidence from the story: "Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep
'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy
your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on. "

The magi, as you know, were wise men - wonderfully wise men - who brought gifts to the
Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their

8|Page
 gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of
duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish
children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of
their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give
gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest.
Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi

3. Conflict
Internal conflict exists, as Della and Jim struggle with the decision to sacrifice the things
that mean the most to them personally in order to provide the one they love with a proper
gift that appropriately symbolizes their love.

External conflict exists in the form of Man versus Society as Jim and Della struggle against
a financially centered society in which they lack the ability or means to provide their loved
one witha proper gift that appropriately symbolizes their love.

4. Characters
In the story "THE GIFT OF THE MAGI'' there are three characters: Della, Jim, and
Madame Sofronie. The three characters are protagonists.

Della: A caring person, less self-conscious. as evidenced by her willingness to sell her
beautiful hair to give a special gift to her husband.

Jim: Here Jim's character is not very important, but their character is almost the same. Jim
who loves della and is willing to sell his watch to give a beautiful comb gift to Della.

Madame Sofronie: In this story Madame Sofronie is only an extra, who only appears
when Della wants to sell her hair. Madame Sofronie was only involved in the transaction
with Della.

9|Page
5. Setting
In the short story The Gift of the Magi through O. Henry, it takes region in New York City
all through the Winter of 1905. The atmosphere of New York City all through this time
become nevertheless bustling and packed. There have been no skyscrapers yet, it become a
delivery city. During this time in Winter, there could be mass snowfall.

6. Moral Value
In the story "The Gift of the Magi", Della and Jim both want to buy a special Christmas gift
for their loved ones. they are willing to give up something valuable in order to give
something special. from here we know the message contained in the story. "everyone must
be willing to give up something valuable for the happiness of their loved ones".

B. Extrinsic Element
1. Economics
O Henry, he was quite careless about his book and was kicked out of the bank in 1894
and charged with corruption. His father-in-law offered him bail, but he fled to New Orleans
the day before his trial in 1896, and then to Honduras, where there is no extradition treaty.
He became friends with Al Jennings, a famous train robber there, and later wrote a book
about their friendship. O. Henry sent his wife and daughter back to Texas, where he hid in
a hotel and wrote his first collection of short stories, Cabbages an Kings, which was written
as Published in 1904. He learned that his wife was dying of tuberculosis and could not join
him. Honduras, so he went back to Austin and asked the court for help. His father-in-law
was released on bail again so that he could stay with his wife until his death in 1897. He
was convicted and served five years in Ohio Federal Prison from 1989 to 1902. In prison,
he returned to the pharmacy, found a room in the hospital, and never have to stay in the cell
again.

2. Social
The many twists and turns of his life, including his travels in Latin America and his
time spent in prison, clearly inspired the twists and turns of his story and puns.

10 | P a g e
O. Henry's creative career began in 1902 and wrote 381 short stories in New York City. For
over a year, he has written a story every week for the New York World Weekly. Some of
his best and most obscure works are found in "Cabbage" and "The King", whose names
were inspired by Lewis Carlopuis, Lewis Hayles and Carpenter. These stories are set in
Midwestern American cities, where sub-lots and large lots are intertwined in interesting
ways. His second set of stories "Four Millions" was released in 1906. The story is set in
New York City and the title is based on the city's population. at the time. The series
contains several masterpiece short stories, including "The Gift of the Magi", "The Police"
and "National Anthem". Henry is passionate about New York City and the diversity of
people and places, which stem from its many stories.

3. Cultural
O. Henry's hallmark is his witty, perverted ending, and his warm characterization of
awkward and difficult situations and the creative ways people find them resolving them.
His most famous short story, The Gift of the Magi, epitomizes his style. It's about a young
married couple, short on cash, who want to buy each other Christmas gifts. The problem - a
lack of funds - found a solution that was notoriously captivating and ironic.

11 | P a g e
 CHAPTER III
REFERENCES

https://jottedlines.com/the-gift-of-the-magi-themes/

http://scramaahmaal.blogspot.com/2011/07/mini-analysis-of-extrinsic-and.html

https://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry

https://thegiftofmagi-7.weebly.com/setting-conflict-climax-theme.html

12 | P a g e