by O Henry
1. The story takes place on a single day, Christmas Eve and illustrates the love that a young couple have for one another.
2. Della counted the money she had saved. It totalled to one dollar and eighty-seven cents. There were pennies worth sixty cents, very less to buy a gift.
3. James Dillingham Young known as Jim used to earn $30a week before now he earns $20 a week. Whenever Jim returns home, he is greeted with great affection by Della. .
3. James Dillingham Young known as Jim used to earn $30a week before now he earns $20 a week. Whenever Jim returns home, he is greeted with great affection by Della.
5.There were two prized possessions in the Young household in which both of them took pride. One was Jim’s gold watch, handed down to him by his father, which was passed down to him by his father. The other was Della’s hair.
6. She seeks to sell her hair. MadameSofronie looks at her hair and buys it for $ 20.After selling her hair, Della takes the money and goes shopping.
7.Finally, she finds the perfect gift, a platinum fob chain, simple and chaste in design. She liked it the moment she set eyes on it all knew that it must be Jim's.
8.When Della reached home, she used her curling irons on her newly cut hair. Soon she had tiny close-lying curls that made her resemble a truant schoolboy.
9.Jim stopped inside the door with his eyes fixed on Della . This terrified Della. She cried out that she had got her hair cut and sold so that she could raise money to buy a Christmas present for him.
10. Jim gifted her a set of beautiful combs, made from pure tortoiseshell, with jewelled rims.This made della cry.
11.Instead of giving her the watch, Jim sat on the couch and told her that they should keep their Christmas presents away for a while. They were too nice to be used at the time. He had sold the watch to pay for her combs.