The Gift Of Magi, And The Cask Of Amontillado

Since the beginning of the year, we have read, analyzed, and interpreted different genres of literature. We read some plays, like The Twelve Angry Men, novellas like The Old Man and the Sea and Of Mice and Men, and poems like Road Not Taken. The main literary text that we went in details are short stories, for example, Scarlet Ibis and Dog Star. Some made us wonder and uncover a profound message by the author. Many stories had concepts hidden within the writing, and same concepts are used by many different authors. In literatures like, Thank You Ma’am, The Necklace, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Gift of Magi, and The Cask of Amontillado, authors all expressed the theme that real love is based on forgiveness and selflessness.
The first story that

The main characters in this story is Jim and Della, a couple that is facing financial problem. They both want to get each other a thoughtful gift to exchange on Christmas, however, their tight budget of $1.87 did not allow them to get the gifts they want. Della and Jim both decided to sell their most valuable possession, her long hair, and his gold watch. Ironically, Della brought Jim a platinum pocket watch fob chain, and Jim brought Della a set of combs. Although Jim and Della are now left with gifts that neither one can use, they realize how far they are willing to go to show their love for each other, and how priceless their love really is. In the last line, O’ Henry stated that “And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle 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” (O’ Henry), he clearly used this story to express his concept of selflessness is the most pure form of love, no material can beat real

All the main characters in the five short stories use forgiveness and selflessness in exchange for love that is worth more than just money. The character that portray the concept the best is Madame Loisel and her husband, in the story, The Necklace, her husband not only forgive her mistake but also selflessly took over the responsibility to help repay the huge debt. Madame Loisel later learned that no material can buy real love, and she did not strive to fit in with the upper class anymore. Her love for her husband was developed based on forgiveness and selflessness that her husband had sacrificed for her. This proved that forgiveness and selflessness is necessarily in real