Irony In O. Henry's The Gift Of The Magi

Stories usually have hidden meaning put there by the author to entertain the thoughts of those patient enough to dig deeper into the meaning. Meanings in stories are expressed in various ways. An example is O. Henry’s story The Gift of the Magi. O.Henry in his story uses a few themes to describe the story and the characters. He does this to get the reader engaged in the story and want to read more. Authors use literature elements to convey multiple messages in many ways to their audience. Every story is a quest. This means that the main character(s), or questor, are trying to accomplish something. When the character is first introduced, he is first starting the quest, usually not knowing the end game. This is shown when Della is in the window,

Irony has many forms, but in this story situational irony is used to teach a lesson. The lesson being that planning ahead of time is the best way to get something done. Della and Jim both want to do something nice for the other. They come from a poor background where Jim works for a wage of twenty dollars a week, while Della is a stay at home wife. They don’t have much, but what the do have they treasure as if those things are the best things in the world. Jim has his father’s watch which to him is the best quality of accessories a man could have. Della has her hair which both of them loved, and every girl wishes she could have. Along comes christmas and neither of them have a lot of money to spend for the other. To make money, Della cuts her hair to buy Jim a present which is a lovely chain that would look perfectly with his watch. Jim without knowing what Della has done, sells his watch to buy her a set of precious high value combs for her hair. When they exchange gifts they are both left speechless and eventually put the gifts away until they could do something about having sold their stuff. Irony hits the two of them because they both get each other something nice that are accessories of what they have