The Gift of the Magi Written by O.Henry

Characters The story tells us about a young marred couple James and Della Dillingham. Dillingham had two treasures: one was Jim's gold watch, other was Della's hair.

Scene and atmosphere The couple lived in a very unassuming flat. Shabby little couch, a sparsely furnished, worn red carpet, broken mailbox and doorbell – all of this could show the degree of poverty. Circumstances forced Jim and Della to make the sacrifices they did.

Summary Della needed to buy a Jim’s Christmas present, even with her small amount of money. She decided to sell her hair for $20 and buy platinum fob chain. When Jim arrived home, he didn't seem to react well: he stared at Della and couldn't seem to process that her hair was gone

Summary Jim gave Della her present beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims, but it became useless as Della’s hair was short. Then Della showed his platinum chain, to which Jim said he sold his watch to get the money to buy her combs

Summary In the end of the story their gifts were compared with the gifts that the Magi gave to the Baby Jesus «Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.»

Conclusion Despite the fact that both of presents were useless and they couldn’t afford such pointless expense, Jim and Della got something they didn’t expect: a more intangible gift in the reminder of how much they love each other and are willing to sacrifice to make each other happy. It's something they share together.