What happens in Chapter 1 of The Gift of the Magi?
It’s Christmas Eve, and Della Young counts her savings — one dollar and eighty-seven cents — the total amount she has managed to gather through months of careful bargaining. Unfortunately, it's not enough to buy Jim a worthy gift. She stands in front of the mirror, lets down her hair, one of the couple's two prized possessions, and makes a decision: she will sell it. She heads to Madame Sofronie's hair shop and parts with her long, beautiful hair for twenty dollars. With that money, she searches the shops until she finds the perfect gift — a platinum fob chain for Jim's cherished gold watch, the other treasured possession in the house. She returns home, curls the remnants of her cropped hair, and waits anxiously for Jim. When he arrives and sees her, his expression is unreadable — neither anger nor surprise, but something more complex. He hands her a package. Inside are the tortoiseshell combs, adorned with jewels, that Della had long admired in a Broadway shop window. She shows him the fob chain. Jim sits down and smiles: he has sold his watch to buy the combs. The narrator concludes by reflecting that these two, who gave the greatest gifts of all, are the wisest — they are the magi.
Analysis
O. Henry builds the story around a striking irony: each lover inadvertently undermines the other's gift. However, the narrative avoids sliding into mere cleverness. The skill lies in the pacing. The opening paragraphs are intentionally slow, almost torturous in their focus on Della's penny-counting, allowing the reader to truly feel the burden of poverty before the plot picks up speed. The mirror scene serves as the emotional heart of the story; O. Henry describes Della's hair in almost mythical terms ("her hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters") before she gives it up, making her sacrifice feel raw rather than sentimental.
The story balances two tones: it's wry, even sardonic in its narrative asides ("Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles"), while also being quietly reverent when discussing the lovers' devotion. This tension in tone keeps the ending from becoming overly sweet. The reference to the magi, introduced early and revisited at the end, transforms the everyday setting into a parable without losing its details: a cold-water flat, a broken letterbox, a worn carpet. O. Henry's theme of value versus worth runs throughout — money is counted obsessively, yet the story argues that gifts rendered worthless by circumstance hold the most value. The final twist of "foolishness" being reinterpreted as wisdom serves as the story's subtle thesis, presented with the lightness of a magician's reveal.
Key quotes from Chapter 1
“She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out.”
Della searches the shops after selling her hair, her urgency reflecting how completely her sense of purpose has shifted from self to gift.
“"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present."”
Jim's understated response upon learning the full irony of their exchange — a line that holds grief, humor, and tenderness in a single breath.
“Of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
The story's closing lines, in which the narrator elevates Della and Jim's mutual sacrifice to the level of sacred archetype.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 1
- parsimony
- Extreme unwillingness to spend money; stinginess taken to an almost painful degree. Here it describes the miserly, cautious way every penny has been saved.
- instigates
- Brings about or sets something in motion, often used of a cause that triggers a chain of events. In this story it refers to what first sets off the action.
- vestibule
- A small entrance hall or lobby just inside the front door of a building, acting as a buffer between outside and the main rooms.
- depreciate
- To lose value or worth over time. Here it is used to describe how something precious might be considered less worthy by comparison.
- coveted
- Greatly desired, especially something belonging to someone else or something one has longed for intensely over a long period.
- meretricious
- Falsely attractive; having a showy, cheap appeal that is superficially pleasing but ultimately without real value or worth.
- ravages
- The severe and destructive effects caused by something, such as time or hardship, that leaves lasting damage or deterioration in its wake.
- nimble
- Quick and light in movement or action; agile and deft, especially with the hands or fingers when performing a delicate task.
- fob
- A small ornamental attachment or chain connected to a pocket watch, used to pull it from the pocket and often decorative in nature.
- cascade
- A large, flowing mass of something falling or hanging loosely downward, here used to describe long hair falling in a rippling, waterfall-like wave.
- chaste
- Simple and unadorned in design; restrained and pure in style without unnecessary decoration or ornamentation.
- scrutiny
- Close, careful, and critical examination or inspection of something, looking at every detail with great attention.
- inconsequential
- Of little or no importance; too trivial or minor to matter or have any meaningful effect on a situation.
- Magi
- The wise men from the East in the biblical Christmas story who brought gifts to the infant Jesus; used here as a symbol of the origin of the tradition of giving gifts.
- imputation
- An accusation or suggestion that someone is guilty of something, or the attribution of a fault or wrongdoing to a person.