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1、O.Henry（William Sidney Porter）18621910 Famous as the master of the short story with a surprise ending,O.Henry published nearly 600 about the West and New York City.1.Life Born William Sidney Porter on September 11,1862 in Greensboro,North Carolina.His father,named Algernon Sidney Porter,was a medica
2、l doctor.When William was three,his mother died and he was raised by his grandmother and aunt.He left school at the age of 15 and then he had a number of jobs,including that of a bank clerk.In 1896 he was falsely accused of embezzlement.He absconded from the law enforcement to New Orleans and later
3、fled to Honduras.But when he learned that his wife was dying,he returned to USA and surrendered to police.Although there has been much debate over his actual guilt,he was sentenced to 5 years in jail.In 1898 he was put in prison at Columbus,Ohio.While in prison he began writing short stories in orde
4、r to support his young daughter Margaret.He used a pseudonym Olivier Henry only once and changed his pen-name to O.Henry,not wanting his readers to know he was in jail.Porter is said to have derived the pen-name O.Henry from the name of a girlfriends cat.He published 12 stories while in prison to he
5、lp support his daughter.After doing 3 years of the 5-year sentence,he was released for good behavior.He moved to New York City in 1902 and wrote a story a week for the New York World,and also for other publishers.His first collection of stories was Cabbages and Kings(1904).The next collection,The Fo
6、ur Million(1906),included his well-known stories His success brought the attendant pressure,and he suffered from an alcohol addiction.His second marriage lasted 2 years,and his wife left him in 1909.He died of cirrhosis of the liver,on June 5,1910,in New York,New York.2.Reading The Gift of the MagiT
7、he Gift of the Magi is about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money.As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving,it has been a popular one for adaptation,especially for presentation during the
8、 Christmas season.The plot and its twist ending are well-known,and the story and its lesson are sometimes subverted for the sake of irony or humor.2.1 Plot James Jim Dillingham Young and his wife Della are a young couple who are very much in love with each other,but can barely afford their one-room
9、apartment due to their very bad economic situation.For Christmas,Della decides to buy Jim a fob which costs$21.00 for his prized pocket watch given to him by his fathers father.To raise the funds,she has her long,beautiful hair cut off and sold to make a wig.Meanwhile,Jim decides to sell his watch t
10、o buy Della a beautiful set of combs made out of tortoiseshell and jewels for her lovely,knee-length brown hair.Although each is disappointed to find the gift they chose rendered useless,each is pleased with the gift they received,because it represents their love for one another.2.2 Point of ViewThe
11、 story of Della and Jim is told by a third party narrator who seems to be telling a story directly to the reader.The narrator isnt an omniscient or indifferent narrator,he has his own personality that adds a distinctive tone to the story.The narrator directs his comments to you the listener and some
12、times discreetly directs your attention away from the story so that he can discuss details with you.Sometimes he even comments on his own words such as the time when he says“Forget the hashed metaphor.”(A technique known as authorial intrusion)2.3 Setting Porter did not generally reference the world
13、 at large in his short stories.He never mentioned what was going on politically or economically and he seldom made a direct reference to the exact location of his characters.Most of Porters stories occur in one of five general locations,New York,the American South,the West,Central America,and prison
14、.Yet even within these five categories,he seldom names a specific location.“Gift of the Magi”is one of his New York stories(more than half of his stories were set in New York)yet nowhere does Porter mention New York.Porter sets the stage with close attention to detail so that a reader can infer the
15、lifestyle,mood,and position of his characters just by their activities within their sphere.Yet Porters efficient style doesnt allow him to start with a simple description of place such as many writers indulge in.His descriptions nearly always supply the information necessary to move the story forwar
16、d they are not simply stage setters.For example,Porter writes“She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard.”This short sentence does three things,it gives the reader a brief but revealing look at the exterior view of the Youngs environment,it giv
17、es us a clear feeling for Dellas emotional state,and it bridges the crying jag that Della just finished with her subsequent melancholy ruminations on their situation.As a description of environment,the single sentence provides us with the knowledge that the Youngs live in an area of the city that is
18、 run down,here the paint is gone,and everything is dull and gray.It also lets us know that while it is Christmas Eve there is no snow to freshen their drab existence.As a description of Dellas emotional state,Porter provides us with the single word dully which resonates with the gray existence he pa
19、ints and makes her dull gaze seem even duller.And finally,as a bridge it effectively moves us from a crying jag to the depressed mood from which Della reviews once again the financial situation.2.4 The Possible Themes of The Gift of the Magi”2.4.1 Wealth and Poverty Poverty is the main theme in the
20、story.However,Porter uses far-fetched comparisons of those wealthier than the Youngs to underscore his poignant description of their poverty.Porter was an efficient writer;he wasted little time in long descriptions.He was very precise in what he included in his stories in order to create the setting
21、.Within the first paragraph of the story we know that the Youngs are very poor.Porter launches us into their lives by writing“One dollar and eighty-seven cents.That was all.And sixty cents of it was in pennies.Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the
22、 butcher until ones cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.”The reader quickly understands that$1.87 is not a lot of money when the narrator says That was all.We get a better understanding of their poverty when we witness Dellas embarrassment.She must h
23、aggle for every household purchase to save sixty cents worth of pennies and she is ashamed of the necessity and the poverty it indicates.And,just in case the reader is slow,we are told that such dealings indicate parsimony.Porter contrasts the poverty of the Youngs to the vast wealth and riches of K
24、ing Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.He shares with the readers the two small treasures of the household and contrasts the value of these treasured objects to the vast storehouses of wealth that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba have.Yet despite the obvious poverty and meagerness of these treasures,Porte
25、r will soon show us that what Jim and Della have is of more value than any priceless treasure locked up in a storehouse.2.4.2Generosity Generosity is a major theme in“The Gift of the Magi”.Clearly,any story that focuses on gift-giving as its major plot-line must deal with the concept of generosity.H
26、owever,Porter is interested in something deeper than superficial generosity of giving a gift that comes easily.He is interested in generosity born out of a love so deep it transcends reason or wisdom.Love,such as we see between Jim and Della.Both Jim and Della sell their personal treasure in order t
27、o enhance the treasure of the other.Della sells her hair in order to buy a watch chain for Jims only valuable inheritance.Jim sells his watch in order to enhance Dellas crowning glory.The narrator of the story comments on their actions by saying“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful c
28、hronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.”2.4.3 Love In the paragraph where we are introduced to Jim,th
29、e writer gives us an idea of Dellas exuberant affection for Jim when he says“whenever Mr.James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called Jim and greatly hugged by Mrs.James Dillingham Young,already introduced to you as Della.Which is all very good.”When the narrator writes“
30、Which is all very good.”He hints that there must be more in a marriage.And in some small way Jim sums it up when he sees his gift from Della and says“Theyre too nice to use just at present.I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.”His statement seems a natural commentary on the uselessnes
31、s of the gifts since their intended purpose has been ironically removed.However,Jims remark,is also a comment on the value of the gifts.They are too nice not only because of the money they represent but also because of the sacrificial love they represent.Self-sacrifice in the name of love is the wisest gift.