the gift of magi
Brown 1
Lashonda Brown
E. Bloom
English 102
4 November 2013
The gift that keeps giving
The gift of the Magi by O. Henry opens with $1.87. That's all Della Dillingham has to buy a present for her beloved husband, Jim. And the next day is Christmas. Faced with such a situation, Della promptly bursts into tears on the couch, which gives the narrator the opportunity to tell us a bit more about the situation of Jim and Della. The short of it is they live in a shabby flat and they're poor. But they love each other. Trying to keep their marriage happy they would do anything for each other. Della was even willing to sacrifice cutting her hair off in order to buy her husband the perfect Christmas gift so that he could be happy. Her willingness to sacrifice something important to her illustrates the theme that sacrifices are necessary to keep a healthy marriage. Sacrificing for someone you love doesn’t always mean your life you could sacrifice your appearance, job, attitude, sexual orientation or just about anything. Benjamin Karney, a professor of psychology and co-director of the Relationship insitute of UCLA found that couples willing to make sacrifices within their relationships were more effective in solving their problems. “It’s a robust finding,” Bradbury said. “The second kind of commitment predicted lower divorce rates and slower rates of deterioration in the relationship.”(Bradbury1). If Della never sacrificed her hair then she would feel guilty about not getting her husband anything. In relationships they need let the significant other that you care
Lashonda Brown
E. Bloom
English 102
4 November 2013
The gift that keeps giving
The gift of the Magi by O. Henry opens with $1.87. That's all Della Dillingham has to buy a present for her beloved husband, Jim. And the next day is Christmas. Faced with such a situation, Della promptly bursts into tears on the couch, which gives the narrator the opportunity to tell us a bit more about the situation of Jim and Della. The short of it is they live in a shabby flat and they're poor. But they love each other. Trying to keep their marriage happy they would do anything for each other. Della was even willing to sacrifice cutting her hair off in order to buy her husband the perfect Christmas gift so that he could be happy. Her willingness to sacrifice something important to her illustrates the theme that sacrifices are necessary to keep a healthy marriage. Sacrificing for someone you love doesn’t always mean your life you could sacrifice your appearance, job, attitude, sexual orientation or just about anything. Benjamin Karney, a professor of psychology and co-director of the Relationship insitute of UCLA found that couples willing to make sacrifices within their relationships were more effective in solving their problems. “It’s a robust finding,” Bradbury said. “The second kind of commitment predicted lower divorce rates and slower rates of deterioration in the relationship.”(Bradbury1). If Della never sacrificed her hair then she would feel guilty about not getting her husband anything. In relationships they need let the significant other that you care