Resumo de The Gift Of The Magi - William Sydney Porter aka O. Henry

Perhaps one of the greatest short stories to ever to have been written in English, "The Gift of the Magi" by William Sydney Porter, known to the world as ?O. Henry:,? is a magnificent tale of compassion, love and sacrifice. In this very short story, the master of the short story genre, O. Henry, uses words with great care, and paints a private world of love?s endurance among the worst of circumstances.

The short story genre is not very popular currently, though during most of the twentieth century it was where almost all writers in most genres found their start. O. Henry stuck to the genre and is the recognized Master of it.

The focus of this story is upon a husband and wife, who live in New York at the turn of the century and with Christmas coming find that they have no free money to buy each other a present. The story is about private sacrifice that each makes in order to find the most pleasing thing for their spouse. Indeed, without revealing much of the detail, each picks that ONE present which they know the other really wants, sacrifices for it, and yet in the end learn that the present is not what they truly gave.

In the story itself, perhaps the most endearing and timeless message is that of giving in love and what one truly offers the other. In the short and distinct style that O. Henry uses in this great art of the short story, he manages to bring his message in an artful and beautiful manner to the public.

O. Henry?s gift is the sparse use of words and yet he tells his story in a ?familiar? manner. His words are measured for the painting of the picture, where one can ?feel? the time and characters created upon the page. I have known many people who were brought to tears by the surprise ending of ?The Gift of the Magi? which spreads itself out on no more than 15 printed pages. There have been hundreds if not thousands of writers who have tried to imitate O. Henry?s gift of story-telling and all have failed.

There is no doubt that ?The Gift of the Magi? portrays a true gift of the Magi, those wise men from the East who came to adore Jesus being born in Bethlehem. They became symbols of those who brought gifts with pure love.

The story is worth your time to read and will change something inside of you, no matter how cynical or sarcastic life has made you. It is one of those literary creations which truly brings the art of writing and the reality of life to the fore. And may you as well be granted such a gift in the roads that life takes you on.

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