The Gift of the Magi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Gift of the Magi - Essay Example In the story, O. Henry uses a detailed, humorous, and well-meaning tone. The writer uses a detailed tone for the story by showing the Della’s, the main character, emotion, action, and her environment in detail. The author describes in-depth how Della worries about what to buy for her husband Jim’s at Christmas. The story describes Della’s emotion when he writes: â€Å"There was clearly nothing to do but to flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So, Della did it. This instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating† (O. Henry 164). Della’s actions and emotions are explained in detail from the following passage. â€Å"After Della cut her hair, she got her curling irons, lit the gas, and went to work, repairing the ravages made by generosity. This is always a tremendous task, dear friends, a mammoth taskâ€Å"(O. Henry 166). A humorous tone is shown when the author explains about the main characters. This is evidenced in the story when Della says to herself, â€Å"If Jim does not kill me,† he will take a second look at me and say that I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But, what could I do? Oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty seven cents?† (O. Henry 166). ... Henry 166). The two main characters in â€Å"The Gift of the MAGI† are Della Young and James Dillingham Young. Della Young is a positive and honest person because she sells her long beautiful long hair in order to buy a gift for her husband at Christmas. This is shown in the following passage: â€Å"pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheek burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied† (O. Henry 164). In the story, it is shown that Della is an honest person. James Dillingham Young is Della’s husband. He looks thin and very serious. He appears tired because of the burden of taking care of his family. As such, he needs a new overcoat and gloves (O. Henry 166). Also, he sells his gold watch, which was his grandfather’s, in order to buy a Christmas gift for his wife. â€Å"The Gift of the MAGI† addresses the true love between two people, e ven though they are very poor. The story states that â€Å"Della and Jim live at home. He is paid eight dollars per week. As such, they are poor. However, they love and cherish each other very much† (O. Henry 164). Also, the writer conveys a theme within the characters through evidence. Della and Jim think about what gift to buy for each other for Christmas. Della’s response is to â€Å"cut her hair, which ripples and shines like a cascade of brown water because she wants to buy a gift for Jim† (O. Henry 165). Also, â€Å"Jim wants sell his watch because he wants to give Della a luxury comb. Della especially liked the ones in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs are like pure tortoise shells with jeweled rims. The shade can be worn in beautiful varnished hair† (O. Henry

Enthnography Paper on The Quarry and the Lot Essay

Enthnography Paper on The Quarry and the Lot - Essay Example It also tries to find answers to how Joseph Klein, once a bright, smart boy, became so unfortunate in life and eventually passed away at a very young age. This essay attempts to critically assess the subcultures in the Mark Wallace’s book and explicate on how it is difficult for someone from a different subculture to easily blend in. the fundamental question in this book is why Joseph was so different from the other four friends he had grown up with in a similar environment. How do we compare him to other dangerous, violent and ruthless boys from other subcultures and environments? How do we define grief when people were not able to cope with the deceased whist he was alive? Discussion How does a kid as bright and smart as Joseph Klein turn and become a violent, angry, destructive and a ruthless teenager who disregards authority? This is the question that troubles all the four friends in their interactions as they grew up and in their adulthood. This question does not only tro uble the friends, but their parents too and the entire neighborhood. This is evident during Joseph funeral at the Quarry. There is a very big irony at this instance. Why are all these people attending Joseph’s funeral and yet they never regarded him as a friend but an enemy? This beats logic. Are they pretending to be in grief due to the sudden and mysterious death of Joseph? Or are they are truly in grief? Everyone present at this funeral literary had no clue as to what they were doing there (Wallace 11). Joseph grew up from a very humble family whose previous generations produced academicians. Amelia, Luke and Nick, are all trying to ponder how Joseph turned out to be such a monster. What subculture was he prescribing too? When he became an adult, he pushed everyone away from his life, ruthlessly bullied all his friends. It is although very confusing when Wallace aims to establish the impact and role of Joseph Klein in the other friends lives. All these people grew up in th e same environment and were all defined by the same subculture. Luke turned out to be a teacher and a poet writer and Luke a furniture store owner. It is always assumed that society and its culture and doctrines shape people’s character and future behavior. It can be argued that past subcultures can influence behavior and character. What is happening is really changed by what we believe in and sometimes, things that look normal are actually frightening. This phenomenon might explain what happened to Klein Joseph. When people have lost touch and connection with the deceased, can they experience grief in its true form? The families and childhood friends of Joseph are sharing in grief of his departure. This seemingly looks quite surprising since most of the people at this funeral were never friends with the deceased and possibly do not know why they are there. This funeral is not a formal ceremony and thus no mourner(s) has attempted to pick the slack. They did not know how to e xpress how they felt. These people supposedly hated and disliked Joseph for what he did to them as a neighbor. Mark Wallace manages to depict the nature of American suburbs. They tend to encourage some sense of belonging to a certain community. The ironical solidarity that his friends and parents who did not like him at all are trying to show is an example of how the suburbs are (Wallace 41). Did Joseph Klein in any way