Theme And Narrative Elements In The Short Story Essay

Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story
anna bell
ENG 125 Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Michael O’Donnell
January 09, 2012

The story I chose was “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry and the theme of this short story was that when you love someone no possession is too great to show them how much you care .This story was told in the third person point of view which set tone of a story being told . The couple gave their only things they valued so greatly up for the other so that they would have a wonderful gift for Christmas. The plot of this story of why Della and Jim sold their possessions was because they did not have much money after they took care of their home expenses and it really was the only way they could get the other something of value. The irony of this story came about when Jim had discovered that Della had cut her hair to get his gift that complimented the watch he sold to get hair combs that she loved.

“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.
“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.” O. Henry (1906)
There also was a time that Della had an epiphany after Jim had came to the realization   that Della had cut her hair and he had just bought her hair combs. 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!”O.Henry (1906)

The literary elements of this story like the point of view made it a way to have an audience to see the story from the outside and get a view from both characters, which made the story interesting. The plot laid a...