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Skylight Room, A Service Of Love, And The Gift Of The Magi

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Krystal Bolanos April 14, 2015 English 201-1114 Midterm on The Skylight Room, A Service of Love, and The Gift of the Magi Question 1 Miss Leeson is a young woman who works as a freelance typist. Her income is not enough for her to find a decent place to live, so she has no choice but to rent "The Skylight Room.” “Its four bare walls seemed to close in upon you like the sides of a coffin.” The room has a small cot, a washstand and a dresser, which is all that Miss Leeson can afford. Various interesting men and women also occupy the rooming house. There is the snobbish Mrs. Parker, who is Miss Leeson’s landlady. The largest and most expensive rooms bring her satisfaction while she considers the skylight room (the smallest room and least expensive …show more content…

Both couples are young, poor and face certain problems, and are surprised by an unexpected, ironic turn at the end. In “A Service of Love” Joe and Delia love each other very much. Because of this, they are each willing to do things that they do not really want to do. Each of them is really into their individual types of art. They both want to get ahead in those areas. “Joe was to become capable very soon of turning out pictures that old gentlemen with thin side-whiskers and thick pocketbooks would …show more content…

It is clear what they want. But they love each other more than that. When they realize they are not making enough money to maintain themselves they both start doing jobs they fear the other may consider beneath them. They do this in order to earn enough money and to make sure that their spouse can follow the occupation they have chosen and their dreams. Neither one realizes the other has quit the occupation they have chosen for a tedious job. Both sacrifice their artistic ambitions to please the person they love. Similarly in “The Gift of the Magi” Jim and Della Dillingham are a young and poor couple. Between them they have two possessions that they consider their treasures: Jim's gold pocket watch, and Della's lustrous, long hair. It's Christmas Eve, and Della is running out of time to buy Jim a Christmas present. After paying the bills, all that she has left is $1.87 to buy Jim’s Christmas present. She wants to buy Jim a chain for his pocket watch, but they're all out of her price range. Della pulls down her beautiful hair and stands in front of the mirror, admiring it and thinking. She thinks of an idea and rushes out and cuts off her hair to sell.

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