The Gift of the Magi is a short story by O. Henry (the pen name of William Porter), published in the New York Sunday World in December 1905. Its main theme is love and giving. The Gift of the Magi focuses on the theme of love for a wonderful couple made up of Della and Jim Young. As a young couple, they are still great lovers. Della is a young wife and despite the economic difficulty in which they do not have enough money to satisfy their needs, Della still loves Jim and is ready to sacrifice herself by saving to buy him a good Christmas present (Henry). This is a great show of appreciation for his fiancée, especially in a special holiday season. William Sidney Porter was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on September 11, 1862. He was a short story writer who often used the common and mundane as a backdrop for romance; for example, the lives of ordinary people in New York City (Britannica par. 1). He was best known for his surprise endings, and The Gift of the Magi is an excellent example of his final twists. The Gift of the Magi is about a young married couple, James and Della Dillingham Young. The story begins with a figure: one dollar and eighty-seven cents, of which sixty cents are pennies. Those cents were the product of Della's haggling, cajoling, and pleading with the merchants they dealt with regularly. A penny here for overripe tomatoes, perhaps, or two cents for meat that had been sitting on the shelf too long. It was Christmas Eve and Della was worried about what gift to give her husband. After months of scrimping and saving, she only had one dollar and eighty-seven cents to spend on a gift, and that clearly wasn't enough. Della stood still for a moment as she realized that... middle of paper... ....the gift of love trumps any material gift one might wish to possess (Eggert). This is why he compares them to the wise men who brought their gifts to Jesus to be considered as having also brought gifts to the newborn. The whole affair is full of love, sacrifice and generosity from both partners. Wealth is important in any happy society. However, it is a relationship that develops through trust and perseverance. It is a difficult time for the Young family facing harsh economic difficulties, but the rock of their love is tested, but they remain strongly committed to making each other happy. Just as the Magi, in their wisdom, chose the best gifts to give to the King of Kings, Della and James chose to give the best of themselves. What they sacrificed to be able to give themselves something beautiful has become more precious than the gifts themselves.