The Gift of the Magi is a short story written by O. Henry in 1906. It tells the story of a young married couple named Jim and Della, who are struggling financially but deeply in love. Despite their lack of resources, they decide to buy each other Christmas gifts. The story's title refers to the gift-giving tradition of the magi, or wise men, who brought gifts to the baby Jesus in the Christian tradition.
At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Della and Jim, who live in a small, furnished apartment. They are described as being poor but happy, and they are deeply in love. Della is particularly concerned about buying Jim a Christmas gift, as she wants to show him how much she cares for him. However, she only has $1.87 to spend, which is not enough to buy anything substantial.
Despite her limited resources, Della decides to sell her long, beautiful hair to a wig maker in order to raise the money to buy Jim a chain for his prized possession, a gold watch. She knows how much the watch means to Jim, as it was a gift from his father and represents his family's history. Della is willing to make this sacrifice because she loves Jim and wants to show him how much he means to her.
Meanwhile, Jim is also struggling to find the perfect gift for Della. He ultimately decides to sell his watch in order to buy Della a set of combs for her long, beautiful hair. However, when he arrives home on Christmas Day, he discovers that Della has already sold her hair to buy him the chain for his watch.
The irony of the situation is that both Della and Jim have sacrificed their most prized possessions in order to buy each other gifts, but their gifts are now useless because they have lost the very things that the gifts were meant to enhance. Despite this, they are both happy with the gifts they have received because they understand that the love and thought behind the gifts is what truly matters.
Overall, the characters of Della and Jim in The Gift of the Magi are loving and selfless, willing to sacrifice their most prized possessions in order to show their love for each other. Their actions demonstrate the true meaning of Christmas and the value of love and selflessness over material possessions.