O'Henry's "The Gift of the Magi"
The Power of Setting in Literature
May 24, 2008 Richard DeWayne Morris
The Gift of the Magi and the Importance of Setting in Literature
When an author begins to paint a literary portrait, he has access to many tools for illustrating his narrative and conveying the story’s message to the reader. If an author is writing a novel, then of course there are great opportunities to stage the dramatic elements in complementary environments, but this is not the case for the author of a short story.
The literary use of settings in short stories is a critical element, because the author must make the greatest impact in the shortest time. In O. Henry’s most famous short story, The Gift of the Magi, he utilizes the setting to great emotional efficiency. The setting elements of the story such as the reflection of poverty in couple’s flat, the symbolic sacrifice of devotion illustrated in the shop setting, and the heightened dramatic expectation of the gift giving Christmas season, add to the story’s emotional potency.
Poverty in The Gift of the Magi
When The Gift of the Magi begins the story’s protagonist ,Della Dillingham Young, is surrounded by the poverty of her flat. In fact the story’s first words, “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…” illustrates the poverty of the coupleAdd to this state of poverty the nauseating anticipation of a giftless Christmas Eve and the reader can immediately empathize with Della’s plight.
Even if the reader has never known poverty they have known the stress of trying to find a gift for a love one and can appreciate the situation. When Della lets down her luxuriously long locks their richness it in direct contrast with the poor environment.
Della's Sacrifice
The irony of the story is that Della’s exquisite hair will be sacrificed for her love. O. Henry makes excellent use of the shop as an allegory for the unsympathetic world Della dwells in and as a setting for Della’s sacrifice of love. When Della enters the shop, "Mme. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds", she believes that selling her hair will give her the needed funds, to buy her husband his Christmas gift. As the deal is struck with Madame’s obvious detachment at odds with the emotion the reader knows must be ripping through Della, the reader already has the first clue that the real “gift” is in Della’s sacrifice, not what ever material possession the money may attain.
Indeed Della spends the next two hours in search of a token to express the love that she has already shown with her sacrifice and only becomes concerned with herself after she finds the prize. Still Della seems more concerned with her appearance to her husband, Jim, than to anyone else even praying, "Please God, make him think I am still pretty."
Christmas Eve
Della’s desire to please the man that she loves is elevated by the coming Christmas Eve gift exchange. The emotions invoked by Christmas can intensify the need to show loved ones they are important and O. Henry uses the season effectively as both a time and setting.
When the reader finds out it is Christmas Eve, the reader has a sense of the time of year both physically and emotionally coupled with the urgency of Della’s situation. Christmas by its very nature is filled with expectancy and stress when further complicated with the antagonist’s poverty the effects can be heartbreaking. It is this reason why O. Henry using Christmas Eve, with all the emotional urgency it brings, as the time of the story is so effective.
What do you think about this article?
More in Reading & Literature
Latest Articles