Solder And The Mother Analysis

Many women in the early 1900 were seen to be housewives that cooked, cleaned, and tried keep their husbands and family happy. In the case of Della in the “gift of the magi” by O.Henry and The Mother in “solder’s home” by Hemingway, these women are seen to be kind and loving, however their kindness can be seen as manipulation in many ways. Both women are discrete with their emotions, smart about their communication with others, and careful on how they are perceived by others. Throughout both stories Della and The Mother are very kind and loving women, but what are they trying to get out of being this kind? In the “gift of the magi” Della a young women that lives poorly and tries to everything she can for her husband. The author presents Della to be a very caring woman, but yet still very sad about everything she does. Dellas “life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with

The author shows Della as being a sad woman that tries to put on a smile, but it is not real, at this point one can see that Della is not who she really is. Women put make up on to hide something, or to look different then who they really are. Della crying all the time wants to hide that from the world, so after she finishes crying “ she attend[s] to her cheeks with the powder rag” (O.Henry 19). If Della was truly a caring woman she would not have to hide anything, but she does try to hide her crying face by covering it up, in turn shows that Della isn’t who one may think. In “soldier’s home”, Hemingway shows The Mothers manipulation through emotion, when she starts to cry to Krebs. If a woman in the 1900 is suppose to keep her family happy, why would one want to cry in front of her children. The Mother looked at her son with shiny eyes and began to cry in