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Figurative Language In The Gift Of The Magi

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In his story “The Gift of the Magi”, O. Henry demonstrates his contemplative style of writing by making use of repetition, point of view, and figurative language in the use of allusions. These three devices are used to emphasize the theme that sacrificing things for other people can be seen as an act of selflessness and love. Early on, O. Henry expresses his use of repetition by making the amount of money Della has, “One dollar and eighty-seven cents.” (107) his first sentence. In the paragraphs that follow, this amount of money is repeated several times. The repeating of how much money Della has clues the reader in on how worried and anxious Della is about not having enough money to buy a Christmas present for Jim. Even after Della cut
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To show this she wants to buy Jim a gold chain. This shows she wants to provide for Jim because she gets him a present. Another piece of evidence is even though they are poor, Della sets money aside for a present. In the story it says she sets aside $1.87. When she realized that is not enough money she finds a way to get more money.

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