This story was first published in The New York Sunday World (1905). There it appeared as "Gifts of the Magi." It was then included in the collection The Four Million (1906). This work is in the Public Domain and can be read for free online. I recommend you do that. SPOILERS AHEAD.
I first encountered this parable involving deaf ears in an episode of The Honeymooners most likely during a late 1980s NY Mets rain delay and perhaps that's why I can't wrap my head around 1905 in a manner less resembling 1950. In fact, since its inception, the yarn has been spun and spun again from Sesame Street to Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is universal. This is due to its delicate simplicity; its sympathetic attainability. You all know the story, although you heard it t/here first even if you hadn't realized it.
I also feel that the soundtrack to what I'll soon relate via brief summary would best be served by Alanis Morissette performing Ironic. I had quite a crush on her. Perhaps better still would be to borrow from John Mellencamp with "A little ditty about Jim & Della." Regardless, it's Christmas Eve and these 'two American kids' are turn-of-the-century flat-busted broke. A thing to remember though is that communication is important in a relationship, and it's free.
Regardless, Della sells her lengthy luscious locks to buy a chain for Jim's heirloom pocket-watch. Unbeknownst to her, and vice-versa, Jim sells the pocket-watch in order to afford a fancy comb with which to gift his young bride. Could this actually be the first sitcom in history? Dunno, maybe. The stakes, superficially, might seem low enough to laugh with--although Wikipedia suggests that Della's starting at $1.87 is the current-enough equivalent of 62 bucks.
Well, they still ain't porterhouse stakes, punintentionally speaking. And she does get the modern equivalent of 600 smackers for her hair. I mean, that's a helluva nice consolation dinner for two and a good bit left-over to boot. And why not sell the chain? It all seems sort of reversible, including the well-known fact that hair grows back, and maybe even Jim gets a raise and in a few years buys a better watch, but if you think this, you're completely missing the point and blind to certain dangers.
Welcome to tragedy. Or at least life on the constant precipice thereof. Welcome to O. Henry's genius (beyond the plot-twist/surprise ending) of offering up snippets of life so real that they might as well be your own story. Or one you've always known. There are no small mistakes, and even if this won't spell doom for the young couple--it just might point to the road paved and leading to it. And only a 'shabby little couch' to rest your feet on. Remember also, Jim's shrinking wages. The two are headed the wrong way, see.
Let's look at their assets prior to this. "One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair." In other words, the pair was not responsible for bringing either to the table. One was an act of inheritance, the other an act of God. And they were, ultimately, squandered. Not a good situation to say the least.
In fact, until the bitter end, Jim doesn't want to share reality with his Mrs. He wants to hide it, once all the cards are on the table. "Let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while." He's hiding their shame here and covering it with false reality--amplified and oddly made of great importance--he tells her to put the chops on. It's dinner-time. I don't see learning happening, and man cannot live on pork alone. That's why the Magi came bearing gifts of beauty; with no mention of going broke to pay for them.
That's all covered in the end by O Henry, in this "chronicle of two foolish children who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house." However, he sees the charm in it all. The love? And perhaps upon further and final review, allow me to suggest Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough. Glen Burtnik and Patty Smyth wrote that one. Travis Tritt did a cover of it, and talk about plot-twists... I recommend giving it a listen.
I can't help seeing these two kids, old and broken, years later in the same tenement. Cook them yourself, you bastard. In my mind's eye, it can only play out that way and oh so bitterly-so. But it isn't just their story. It's hundreds, thousands, Four Million more... and it's enough to break your heart. Because you might be them, or you definitely know them through their relatable common dialog and old worn jackets and hats and not a silver spoon in sight for them to trade in on magic beans or otherwise. "Sniffles predominating."
This is not some sweet tale about 'it's the thought that counts.' Instead, it's a cautionary tale about living beyond one's means. In closing, please allow me to ham-fistedly hit the nail on the head. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18, KJV). A watch fob to impress others. A comb to do quite the same. If we are to look at the Good Book in regards to this story; we'd do best to look there.
PLOT: A
CHARACTERS: A-
SETTINGS: B+
DIALOG: A
FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C70-79
This is not some sweet tale about 'it's the thought that counts.' Instead, it's a cautionary tale about living beyond one's means. In closing, please allow me to ham-fistedly hit the nail on the head. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18, KJV). A watch fob to impress others. A comb to do quite the same. If we are to look at the Good Book in regards to this story; we'd do best to look there.
PLOT: A
CHARACTERS: A-
SETTINGS: B+
DIALOG: A
FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C70-79
::: very :::