Plot Peculiarities

'Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, development of events, climax, anticlimax, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.'

'One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all.'

The introduction of the story shows us immediately the problem: Della has only $1.87 to buy a present for her husband, and it's already Christmas Eve. When Della lets down her hair, we also learn the other most important fact of the story: as they are very poor, her hair, Jim's gold watch and their love to each other are the only treasures the couple has.

The brave decision.

There is an interesting point in the "Gift of the Magi"- a first conflict escapes from the first problem and is followed by a next one. By selling her hair, Della gets the money to buy Jim a wonderful present, so the first problem dissapears with a help of a decisive action. Finally she finds the desirable present - a gold chain for his watch! But now there's a new problem: will Jim be pleased by Della's action and appreciate her gift, or will he be angry with her for cutting the hair off that he loved so much?

Oh, that awkward moment...

When Jim arrives, he doesn't seem to react good: he stares at Della and can't realize what had happened to her hair. But it doesn't look like he's angry, or upset, or shocked. Della can't quite understand what kind of mood he's having, nor can we. This creates suspense - we want to know what it is he's actually feeling and how he'll react to Della's gift. When Jim gets out of his shock, he tells Della to open the present he bought her…

Combs for her hair!

When Della opens Jim's present to find the combs, we understand why Jim was so surprised. It also becomes clear now that he's not angry with Della, and he claims that he'll love her no matter how long is her hair. And if we think about where Jim got the money to buy those combs, we may guess what happens next.

Chain for his watch!

We still don't know what Jim will say when receive Della's gift, and we may also be interested, where he got the money to buy those expensive combs. So, Della presents Jim the watch chain, and…

Irony?

Presented with his gift, Jim calmly tells with a smile that he sold his watch to buy Della her combs. He, as well as Della, also sacrified his only treasurable possession for the sake of their love. So her present is "useless" for him too. After this exchanging of valuable presents not much left to do for them but eat those pork chops.

Wise magi.

In the end of the story, the narrator tells us that it doesn't really matter that Jim and Della's gifts turned out to be unneccessary. They are the wisest and the most loving givers of presents of all – so we can call them the magi, in fact. In conclusion, we feel satisfied and happy for the lovers.