Della The Magi

With two stories with such similar characters, there are many differences between them. Della from ¨The Gift of the Magi¨ by O. Henry, and Mme. Loisel from ¨The Necklace¨ by Guy de Maupassant. Della was a girl who lived with her husband, Jim, in an $8 apartment in New York.

This story took place in 1908. Mme Loisel and her husband M. Loisel lived in Paris. They were invited to a party one night and M. Loisel received a beautiful, diamond, necklace from a companion for his wife to wear at the party. After the party is over, when Mme Loisel goes to grab the necklace, she notices the necklace is gone. She works the rest of her life to replace the lost necklace. Della and Mme Loisel are alike in many ways but there are their differences. Loisel

She makes a big sacrifice just to make the one person she loves in life happy. Della had the most beautiful hair. “So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her” (Henry 526). That her the the only thing that was precious in the family other than Jim’s gold watch he had received from his ancestors. Della decided to make a drastic decision. She was going to sell her hair so she could afford a present for her beloved Jim on christmas. “‘Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim’” (Henry 525). They were very poor and she wanted to get something very nice for Jim on christmas. She cared so much for him. She sold her beautiful hair for $20 for him. “She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s present” (Henry 526). She desperate to find the gift for him and then she found it. “A platinum fob chain” (Henry 526). She got for him so he could put his watch on it. When Jim arrived home that evening, he saw that Della’s hair was gone. He pondered the reason why she would cut her hair. Then they exchanged gifts. They got each other gifts for things that were not in possession. Combs for Della’s hair and the chain for Jim’s watch which he sold to buy the combs. To get rid of the one thing that is your pride and joy in life just to make someone else happy is truly special. Della is a compassionate

She can be dramatic, but she gets the job done. “She took off her wraps before the mirror so she could see herself in all her glory once more. Then she cried out. The necklace was gone; there was nothing around her neck” (Maupassant 612). All her life she just wanted to have the feeling of being fancy and rich. When Mme Forestier said that Mme Loisel could borrow the gorgeous, diamond necklace, she was enlightened. Everything was going well until she lost the necklace. In order to replace the lost necklace, the Loisels would have to work every day of their lives, move into an attic, and use their life savings. In the end it turns out that the necklace that they originally lost was only worth 5,000 francs, but the one they got to replace it was worth 40,000. From middle class to poverty, Mme Loisel sure has had one kind of life. She was a compassionate and dedicated women to replace the