Love conquers all.  In the short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, Della and Jim live in abject poverty.  Their lives are filled with bleak days in which their small sums of money come merely from making crude deals.  Della and Jim show much love for one another, but as Christmas arrives and they cannot afford presents, the two will not give up and decide to take action.  Often, people will sacrifice anything to make the people they truly love happy.

O. Henry uses characterization to show the human truth and how determined Della and Jim are to buy each other meaningful gifts.  Della only has $1.87, and she soon realizes that selling her most prized possession — her hair — is her only option.  She immediately heads for a hair supply store, that buys and sells “‘hair goods of all kinds.’ One flight up Della [runs], and [collects] herself, panting”.  Della has been struggling to get money to buy a present for her beloved Jim, so as soon as she is presented with an opportunity to make money, she does not hesitate to take it, although it will mean selling all of her hair.  In making Della make this decision, O. Henry shows the reader through Della’s actions that she is a determined and persistent person.  Furthermore, after she finally gets a hold of the money she needs, Della proceeds to “[ransack] the stores for Jim’s present.  She [finds a suitable gift] at last.  It surely [has] been made for Jim and no one else.  There [is] no other like it in any of the stores, and she [has] turned all of them inside out”.  Della is portrayed to be extremely compassionate and loving, and it is not enough to simply get him any present; the present must be absolutely perfect, and she is willing to put in the time and effort to find the perfect present.  By characterizing Della as a loving, determined and persistent person, O. Henry shows the reader that people will do anything for their loved ones.

The main conflict throughout the story helps build the human truth of love coming before anything else.  During the course of the story, Della and Jim struggle with getting enough money to provide for themselves.  One day as Della looks over at the amount of money they have, she sees that all they have are “pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocery man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied”.  In other words, the only money the couple has is not money that they made, but rather, money that they gained by just barely making deals with others.  Additionally, as Christmas approaches, Della and Jim must buy presents for one another, and their financial problem only worsens.  In Della’s case, “she [has] been saving every penny she [can] for months with this result … only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim.  Her Him.  Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him.  Something fine and rare and sterling — something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim”.  Della has such minimal money that she suffers even on a daily basis, and yet the fact that she still is driven to overcome this issue and buy a present for Jim shows how when one loves someone, their happiness matters most.  In showing that Della has a major financial conflict but is still trying to get a present for Jim, the author displays the human truth of love being the strongest factor in life.

When people love someone, they most often will go out of their way to show their affection.  Della and Jim struggle daily to afford everything they need.  Life itself is tough for them, and with Christmas time arrives, conditions get even worse.  However, because of their unconditional love toward one another, Jim and Della find ways to get presents for each other regardless of how much they struggle with money.  Life always poses struggles, but when there is love present, any obstacle can be overcome.