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Stylistic Analysis of the short stories - The Gift of the Magi O’Henry  
The Gift of the Magi O’Henry - ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is famous for it’s poignancy and ironic, bittersweet ending.Written by O’Henry it is a little drama of mutual self–sacrifice between husband and wife. Unselfish love shared, regardless of the attendant difficulties or distractions , is the idea implied.The poignant twists and heartwarming conclusion of this story helps explain the lasting appeal of this story which breathed life into characters,creating moments that touch readers with their sensitivity and humanity.
Plot Summary - Della and Jim Young, the main characters in ‘The Gift of the Magi’ are a young married couple with very little money living in a rented room in New York. They are quite poor. Christmas is only a day   away and,for   a Christmas present,Della wants to buy Jim a gold watch chain for his gold watch. They do not have much to be proud of her beautiful long hair.She   explains to Jim how she sold her hair to buy him a nice Christman present. She had seen them in a shop before, but they were so expensive. The story concludes with an omniscient narrator praising the sacrifice and love of the young couple.
Themes - This story has one main theme and several minor theme.Eight themes can be found in The Gift of the Magi. They are sacrifice,love,giving,beauty,identity,family, poverty , and wisdom. The Title of the story ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is quite significant.It is related to the theme and because of the unusualness it is foregrounded.
Vocabulary - Some words in the story which are very meaningful are : cut back(phrasal verb),watch chain (noun), too bad(adjective),wigs(noun), and shocked(adjective)   i.e., be very surprised and strange (strange).Strange means unusual.In this case it refers to the way Jim looks at Della in an un expected manner.Other significant words are: sacrificed(verb), and valuable (adjective).
Characterization and dialogues -     The lines spoken by... [continues]

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