Core Conflict of the story
The core conflict is poverty. Both Jim and Della have to make great personal sacrifices to buy
each other a Christmas present.
Main themes in the story "The Gift of the Magi"
Two aspects of one theme that run together in this story are sacrifice and love. Jim and Della
already possess the greatest gifts they can ever possess: they have each other's love, a love that is
willing to sacrifice for that love. They are compared to the Magi, who knelt at the manger where
the infant Jesus lay and brought gifts to honor him. But they knew, Magi that their gifts were
small insignificant tokens compared to what this infant child would give to them. They honored
him, just as Della and Jim honor each other by sacrificing their prize possessions to buy the other
a worthy gift for Christmas. It is the sacrifice involved in this process that is at the heart of the
theme--unselfish love, which is rare and should be cherished
Literary techniques
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- Summer '09
- O'DONNELL
- Literature, Conflict, Sacrifice, Della, core conflict, great personal sacrifices
