The Gift of the Magi

In my creative drama class I had the idea to take the story "The Gift of the Magi" and read it aloud to my class.  We had an amazing discussion about this timeless story by O. Henry, and then we read it together as a reader's theater.  There are many words that are in that story that are not really 6th grade words, but we talked about those as well as other important subjects.  Most of these students are not familiar with the bible, so I explained the title to them..who was the "magi"?  They were the wise men who brought gifts to the infant Jesus.

What is the meaning of this story, I asked them.  Why are they, the two main characters in the story the "wisest of all"?  Many ideas came up from this discussion, and it was magical.  They are the wisest of all because they know that love is the greatest gift of all, so it doesn't matter that she cannot use the combs for her hair or he cannot use the watch chain for his pocket watch.  They are wise, because they know this and they practice this all the time. There are tiny subtle examples of their love throughout the story.  For example, how she greets him at the end of the day.  How they treat each other, no matter what.  How he says to her there is nothing that could make me love you less, no matter how short your hair was, or how you changed your looks.  It is one of my favorite stories of all time, and certainly one of the best stories ever written.

The most interesting comment that day was from a sixth grade boy who said, "It isn't really fair, how it works out.  Her hair will grow back, and eventually she will be able to wear the combs.  But he will never get his pocket watch back, so he won't be able to ever use the chain."  I explained to him that that is what makes them so wise.  They know that giving the gift is the greatest satisfaction anyone can have, and it has nothing to do with what is even or fair or equal.  Does it matter to him that he can't use the pocket watch but eventually she can use the combs when her hair grows back?  No, because, of course, he loves her so much that to him, the greatest gift is that she loves him so much that she would make such a sacrifice for him, and he loves her so much that he would sacrifice his only expensive possession for a gift for her.   When you love someone that much, you will make any sacrifice for that person, and you never need to have things be even or equal on both sides.  Love is infinite, and that is what this story tells us.  Let us remember this during this time where commercialism and stress seep into our everyday lives and confuse the most important message of the season.   LOVE!