This story tells the tale of a young married couple, Jim, and Della. The couple are very poor and live in a simple, unfurnished apartment where they have only two possessions of value: Jim’s gold pocket watch and Della’s long hair. The story takes place on Christmas Eve, and Della is out of time to buy Jim a Christmas present, and only has $1.87 left to buy him one. Desperate to find him the perfect gift, she goes out looking and finds a chain for Jim's pocket watch, but it is far too expensive. At home, Della looks at her beautiful hair and thinks, before rushing out and has her hair cut to sell. Della receives $20.00 for selling her hair, just enough to buy the platinum chain she saw in a window. When Jim comes home from work, he stares at Della, trying to figure out what's different about her, until Della tells him that she sold her hair to buy his present. Before she can give it to him, Jim pulls a package out of his overcoat pocket and hands it to her. It is a pair of expensive hair combs that she'd long wanted, but are now useless since all her hair is gone. Hiding her tears, she gives Jim the watch chain to which Jim shrugs and tells Della that he sold his watch to buy her combs. The story ends with a comparison of Jim and Della's gifts to the gifts that the 'Maji' or three wise men gave to Jesus in the manger in the biblical story of Christmas. The narrator comes to the conclusion that Jim and Della are far wiser than the Magi because their gifts are gifts of love, and those who give out of love and self-sacrifice are truly wise because they know the value of self-giving love.
This story is an in depth exploration of the lower class and the constant struggles that the couple has to deal with every day, but particularly the issues they have at a supposedly wonderful time of the year. In 1905 when this story was published, America was experiencing an economic crisis that heavily affected members of the working class - people just like Jim and Della. Christmas was a particularly difficult time for many families, who would struggle to make ends meet as well as even considering spending money on presents for others. What is interesting, is that the couple's two items of value explore the elevation of expense in the time, and the fact that they coveted these items emphasises society’s reliance on expensive things to feel fulfilled. This idea is also explored in the fact that Della feels as though she must buy Jim a gift of value and going to extreme lengths to do this. However, despite being uplifting at it's conclusion, this story shows the typical roles of men and women, the woman at home worrying about her husband and the housework, where the man is out working. This story is predominately written as though from Della's perspective of events happening and therefore shows how tough it would be to be a woman and have to sacrifice her beauty in order to please her husband. These roles are reminiscent of the era, as men had to feed their family and keep the family's reputation upheld, while the woman worried about domestic duties and keeping the house looking spotless. In that time however, the lower class would not have had decadent houses and possessions and instead had 'shabby little couches' which 'did not beggar description.' This depiction of the couple's home is historically realistic to how many couples lived during the crisis. This story
contains a twist at the end, similiar to many stories of the era and contains many allusions to well known historical figures - Queen Sheba and King Solomon. This story is known as a classic American Christmas tale because of it’s emphasis on giving and the spirit of caring for others. However, it is also widely known as a story that foreigners relate to when they arrive in America - relating to the economic issues explored in this text.
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