The Gift Of The Magi Research Paper

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Recommended: The gift of the magi by o henry analysis and themes

Any story in the genre of mystery consists of unpredictable and uncertain events. A mystery will continuously have its readers on their toes and always asking questions. Mysteries are not always homicidal. They can have any theme such as; love, hate, fear, loss of innocence, or even solitude. Four short stories that are considered mysteries are; “Gift of the Magi,” “A Singer’s Romance,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “Magic”. One of many short stories that would be classified as a mystery is O.Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”. As stated before a mystery will always keep readers questioning what will happen next. Considering this, it becomes evident that “The Gift of the Magi” is a mystery. In O.Henry’s short story, there was a married couple who had no money to buy gifts for the holiday. Because the wife, Della, really wanted to buy her husband, Jim, a band for his watch she had all of her beautiful, precious hair cut off so she could get enough money to buy it. The mystery kicks in when Jim sees her hair and he became “as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird. His eyes looked strangely at Della, and there was an expression in them she could not read …” and Della says ‘“My hair …show more content…

“A Singer’s Romance is about a singer who falls in love. Lovely right? Actually, not. Within this short story the mystery or uncertainty becomes very clear. The main character Selma falls in love with a man she does not know, named Signorio. The mystery begins when “This Signorio’s reserve puzzled her more than his persistence. This was the third time she had given him an opportunity to speak, to make himself known, and the third time her timid advance had been met by silence and down-cast eyes”(Cather 44). This quote that Cather uses portrays this story as a mystery because it is extremely uncertain as to if he feels the same way about her and is just as shy and she is or does he not like her that

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