THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

Presented by :

.Azza Al-kord & Sahar Lubbad

:Short story course

Dr. Sami Breem.

The outline:

About the authorSummary of the storyCharactersSettingPoint of viewTheme

The author : O.Henry

The author:

His name is William Sydney Porter , and his pen name is O.Henry . He was born in September 11,1862 in Greensboro , North Carolina . He died in June 5,1910 in New York city . He is an American writer . His short stories are known for their wit , wordplay , warm

characterization and clever twist endings.

Summary

•The story starts with $1.87 and that is all Della has for the Christmas to buy a present for her husband .She

goes to a mirror to let down her hair and examine it .It is beautiful , brown , knee-length hair .She puts it back up , sheds a tear , and bundles up to head out

into the cold .Then she decides to sell her hair to bring money , so she walks to Madame Sofronies hair

goods shop .She sells it for twenty bucks .Now she has $21.87 cents .Now Della is able to buy the

perfect present for Jim .She buys watch chain with $21.

Summary

Then she returns home and tries to make her short hair presentable .When she finishes with her hair , she

goes to prepare coffee and dinner .Jim arrives at 7pm to find Della waiting by the door and stares fixedly at her .Della cannot understand quite what his reaction means .After a little while , he gives Della her present .She opens it and cries out in joy .Then she gives Jim his present , holding out the watch chain .He sold his watch to buy combs for Della .They are the wisest of

everyone who gives gifts .They are the Magi.

Characters

Della: she is a major character .She is loving , warm , and selfless woman She is a poor one.

Jim: he is a dynamic and main character .He is the only breadwinner for the Dillingham

family .He works long hours , but his salary is law. Madame Sofronie: she is the owner of a hair shop .She does not have emotions .She

represents the materialistic world .

Setting

Time: Two days and the time of publication : the story has written in the first decade of the

20th century.

Place: Home in New York city in a very unassuming flat.

Point of view

Point of view: Third – person narrator .The narrator used the

pronoun ( she , he )

Theme

Sacrifice: The two main characters are a husband and a wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts

for each other on Christmas Eve.

Love: The gift of the Magi is the story of a poor , young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives in spite of their poverty.

Theme•Wealth: It is a story about what it means for

something to be valuable .Does something is value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are

other things more valuable than money?

Women & femininity: The main character is a woman named Della .Loveable as she is , at times , Della is hysterical , often overreacting , a characteristic that the narrator identifies as

(Feminine).

Thanks

very much