麦琪的礼物毕业论文

麦琪的礼物毕业论文

四川外语学院成都学院Chengdu Institute

Sichuan International Studies University

本科毕业论文

题目 (中文) 浅析《麦琪的礼物》中人性的升华

(外文) A Study of the Sublimation of Humanity in The Gift

of the Magi

系别英语师范系专业英语年

级 2009 级学生姓名陈泖蓉指导教师

汪

晶结稿日期 2012年10月28日

四川外语学院成都学院教务处制 2012

年 10 月 28 日填A Study on the Sublimation of Humanity in

The Gift of the Magi

Abstract

O. Henry is one of the most famous short novelists in the United States in the early 20th century, and his works are both interesting and enlightening with profound meaning. The author uses the changeable and unique language to describe the love and sacrifice of the young couple and reflect the social reality of the United States during that hard period of time. In this story, Henry depicts the poor young couple presenting to each other on the occasion of Christmas, in view to revealing the life of the little persons and

inevitability of misery and hardship as well as poverty. Through the whole moved story, we can have a deep understanding of hu man’s pure virtues.

The paper will be divided into five parts. The first part

introduces some important information about the background of the author and the article. The second part will offer a detailed

description of the hero and the heroine. The third part lays emphasis

on the embodiment of humanity sublimation from three aspects: self- sacrifice, selfless dedication and simplicity. The forth part

explores the causes of sublimation of humanity. And the last part is the conclusion. Through the whole analysis, we can learn what the true humanity is and have a profound understanding of humanity depicted in literary works.

Key words: humanity sublimation; self-sacrifice; selfless

dedication; simplicityA Study on the Sublimation of Humanity in

The Gift of the Magi

Outline

Thesis Statement: Through analyzing The Gift of the Magi, we can learn what the true humanity is and have a profound understanding of humanity depicted in literary works.

I. Introduction

II. Depiction of Characters in The Gift of the Magi

A. Considerate and Meek Heroine

B. Thoughtful and Kind Hero

III. The Sublimation of Humanity in The Gift of the Magi

A. Self-sacrifice

B. Selfless Dedication

C. Simplicity

IV. The Causes of Humanity Sublimation

A. Economic Cause

B. Political Cause

C. Individual Cause

V. Conclusion

A Study on the Sublimation of Humanity in

The Gift of the Magi

I. Introduction The Gift of the Magi is a short popular and highly regarded

story

by O. Henry which has moved people such a long period of time all over the world. The story will impress much more people in the

following years and centuries. The author, O. Henry 1862-1910 , left us 600 short stories which were published in 1917 in 14 volumes.

Since O. Henry’s works were published. A great many scholars all over the world have conducted continuous research into those works and found their profound values. Critics have singled out O. Henry

as

one of the greatest American short story writers-describing him as a

“writer’s writer” who also possesses universal appeal.

O. Henry was brought up by an aunt in Greensboro, where, at the

age of fifteen, he went to work in an uncle’s drugstore. He married in 1887 and his wife had a daughter in 1889. Because of the troubles that came one after the other, he left his wife and child. In 1897, after learning of his wife’s serious illness, Henry returned to

Austin regardless of accusation of of robbery. At the same time, his wife passed away. After his release, he headed for New York City,

where he worked as a journalist. The collection of colorful

characters in his writing was enhanced by O. Henry’s habit of

wandering the streets and parks, talking to people of all conditions.

He wrote sixty-five short stories in 1904 alone, and fifty the next year including The Gift of the Magi. The old classic The Gift of the Magi concerns

the unselfish

sacrifice of a young man and his wife, both of who sell their the

most valuable and the only possession for Christmas gift. This

information is revealed, of course, in the characteristic O.

Henry’s

surprising ending. The surprising ending offers people an

opportunity

to contemplate. However, Della and Jim are not saddened by what they seem to have lost. In their selfless giving, they are likened to the most wise man. O. Henry primarily uses the story of the Magi to

compare the acts of the two characters in The Gift of the Magi. He does this through the use of symbols and by comparing the selfless giving of presents of Della and Jim to that of Magi. We know that

the

author wants to reflect something through the whole story.

The Gift of the Magi is an extraordinary novel. Form the social

point of view, it is a story about a very poor but blissful young couple named Jim and Della in the end of 18th century in England. As

a love story, one of the most moving things is that in spite of the

difficulties in their everyday life, their true love to each other and the enthusiasm for life do not change at all. This story

reflects

the sympathy with the poor and the criticism on the unfair society.

At the same time, it advocates the simplicity and true love.

So it was worth to praise and sing the pure humanity. As to have

a deeper understanding of the contribution that O. Henry has made

and his achievements,

the author of this paper would like to discuss his

writing techniques in The Gift of the Magi. The author holds that

his

works are mainly characterized on the sublimation of humanity. The next three parts of the paper will discuss the characters, the

embodiment and the causes of sublimation of humanity, and then make

a

conclusion by summing up his main achievements in his respect and the

conventional virtue which we need to promote.

II. Depiction of Characters in The Gift of the Magi

A. Considerate and Meek Heroine

At the beginning of the novel, the author has deliberately

exaggerated Della’s poor life condition. Those are all the

money―one dollar and eight-seven cents.

“And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher. Three times Della counted it.”1 There are one dollar and eight-seven cents. And the next day would be the Christmas. The author emphasizes that Della counts money pitifully and hardly, especially through “several” repeated action to let us feel the difficulty of Della’s life.

hearted This description indicates Della’s shy and kind-

personality. At the same time, it also allows us to deeply understand

the poor’s life in that money society. Her home-a furnished flat is 8 dollars per week. In the vestibule below is a letter-box into which

no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Della is with 20 dollars income to maintain

their lives per week. Therefore, we could understand one dollar and

eight-seven cents are so difficult to her. Facing such a distress of life, Della has no choice but to cry down on the shabby little couch.

Della finishes her cry and stands by the window, and she thinks

tomorrow would be Christmas Day. But she just has one dollar and

eight-seven cents with which to buy Jim a present.

In face of hard situation, Della is so weak and helpless. It

gives us simplicity impression of Della. She wants to buy a rare and valuable thing for her husband as Christmas gift. But there are only one dollar and eight-seven cents to buy a present for Jim. There is

a

pier-glass between the windows of the room. “Suddenly she whirled

from the window from the window and stood before the glass. Her face had lost its color within twenty seconds”.2 There are two

possessions of the Mr. James Dillingham Young and Mrs. James

Dillingham Young in which they both take a mighty pride. One is

Jim’s gold watch that has been his father’s and his grandfather’s.

The other is Della’s hair. Has the queen of Sheba3 the women who

rules the ancient kingdom of Sheba and is referred to in Habeshan

history, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an. lived

in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her

Majesty’s

jewels and gifts4. Della’s beautiful hair falls about her rippling

and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reaches below her

knee

and makes itself almost a garment for her. It seemed that the hair was so beautiful and cherished.

Della decides to sell her beautiful hair eventually, and this

decision is painful and heavy. However, she feels pleased, because she loves her husband, so she would prefer to suffer losses. That is Della’s true love and considerate heart. Della receives twenty

dollars from the Madame for her hair. After that, she ransacks the stores for Jim’s present. Because of the love, she researches the

gift from one shop to another. Finally, she finds the suitable chain.

Della is a considerate and meek woman. At this moment, there is only one person in her mind―that is her husband. In order to buy the

simple and chaste chain, she spends twenty-one dollars.

B. Thoughtful and Kind Hero

The author seems to describe the role of hero-Jim much less

than the heroine. For instance, he seems to pay less attention to

selling and buying gift for his wife. However, his characteristic

could be given in an indirect way. For example, Jim is never late, which indicates that Jim is always punctual. As is described that

“He looked thin and very serious. Poor life was following, he was only twenty-two and to be burdened with a family. He needed a new

overcoat and had no gloves.”5, they live a hard life and struggle for living in a better condition, but they possess not enough money

and could not seek any way to change their current situation.

Although in such a difficult life environment, Jim sells his most previous chain. He cannot live through the Christmas if he does not prepare a present for his wife. He draws a package from his overcoat pocket and throws a gift on the table. That is The Combs-the set of combs, side and back, that Della has worshiped long in a Broadway window. They are expensive and beautiful combs. The combs seem to suit Della only. This is not only the true love but also reflects Jim’s personality. Jim is a thoughtful and kind husband. He and his wife both are sincere and honest people.

III. The Sublimation of Humanity in The Gift of the Magi

A. Self-sacrifice

O. Henry creates a special ending of the article. It means that

at the end of the whole passage the mental status or the fate of the character has changed greatly. From the special ending, the humanity is clearly presented. Among O. Henry’s short stories, the eternal theme proves to be the humanity. The great success of the story

could not be separated

from the humanity of characters. First of all, one

of the most beautiful human virtues is the co uple’s self-sacrifice.

There exist good and evil elements in human nature, for the two

are usually mixed with each other more or less. While the good

elements constitute the predominant portion, man will carry forward his virtues such as kindness, self-sacrifice, selfless dedication,

simplicity and so on. Della has the most prized thing―that is her hair. And her husband just owns the most valuable thing―gold watch that has been his father’s and his grandfather’s. These two things are so priceless and meaningful for themselves. Although they face the poor life, they still want to express their love through a

unique

gift. But they have no enough money, so they have no other choice.

Their mind just has one solution, and then they sell their own most valuable thing to buy the gift for each other. In this condition, both of them do not consider themselves. They only want the other person whom they love to feel happy.

Della’s hair is so beautiful, and she cries when she cuts it

off. Of course, she loves the hair, because that is her most proud hair. Not only does she love the hair, her husband loves her long

and

living hair too. Thus, her heart is filled with sadness. But for a valuable gift for her husband, she finishes her cry and selects gift happily for Jim. Finally, she finds the suitable chain. She

considers this is the fittest thing for Jim. Therefore, she cuts off the hair

and adds another one dollar to buy the unique chain without

hesitation. At the same moment, Jim also plans to prepare a

particular gift for his wife. Because of the lack of money, Jim

sells

his most valuable gold watch. Eventually, Jim gives Della the set of combs, which are Della’s favorite.

B. Selfless Dedication

O. Henry’s stories usually win the artistic effect within the

plot and pay much more attention to the character’s artistic power.

But he adopts the perspective way to appreciate the human beauty.

In New York, in America, families like Della and Jim’s could

hardly keep their economy balanced. So it is impossible for them to buy a good gift for the other people. The only one thing, which

could

comfort the Della and Jim is their sincere and warm love for each other.

Another one of the most beautiful human virtues is the couple’s

selfless dedication spirit. In the story of The Gift of the Magi, there are many mental and physical actions to express their selfless dedication. Della is a little worried after cutting off the hair.

Because her husband loves her hair too, and she fears that she is

not

as beautiful as before. Although she knows that, she could not help thinking anymore instead of buying a valuable gift for her husband. When Della returns

home, an anxiety comes on her. She finds herself

like a truant schoolboy. She tells herself “Does Jim like me?”6 full of worry.

She has prepared for supper and waits for her husband. When she

doubles the fob chain in her hand, Della keeps saying a little

prayer, “Please God, make him think I am still pretty”. From those descriptions it can be known that Della loves Jim so deeply that she cares about every detail. Della presents her love under such harsh conditions to express her inner pure emotion.

After Jim going back home, he finds that his wife’s appearance

has changed and he is confused by De lla’s hair. He has sold his

gold

watch to buy the comb for Della’s beautiful hair. But Della’s hair has cut off. We know, Jim can not think Della that she is not as beautiful as before. In his heart, she is the most beautiful woman.

He feels a little surprised because he sells his precious gold watch to buy the comb. However, his wife has no long hair, so he is

confused. Both Jim and Della have the same thought in their mind.

They just hope the other person whom they love happy.

Now, there is no watch to match the platinum fob chain, and also no brown hair to suit the set of combs. It can be said that Della

and

Jim buy the chain and the comb respectively at the expense of their valuable possessions. These presents are quite precious for both, though the gifts are useless temporarily. It is their selfless dedication that makes the gifts unique, which are symbols of their sincere and warm love.

C. Simplicity

Love is an eternal theme of the whole world, and plays a

significant role in people’s li fe. At most of time, it functions like a magic power which renders people a sense of security. The story of The Gift of the Magi exerts a great impact on people’s life

and growth.

Between Della and Jim, simplicity is one of the most human

virtues among their true love and simple life. They lose their own most precious things to buy the Christmas gift for the other. They never imagine that their gifts are useless. There is no doubt that they receive the most valuable gift―simple and true love.

“Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the flight.”

It describes Della’s mood when she waits for her husband. She can hear Jim’s step, which reflects their deep love and Della’s excited

and worried mood. They can make such a sacrifice also because of their simple love. Their choices are meaningful and a kind of

sublimation. Hegel says“There is a high quality in the love, because

it reacts a graceful spirit.”9That is a kind of power and spirit.

That is an embodiment of human virtues. Although love is exposed in poverty, this

love is still true and

precious without money. Still in the unfair society and world, Della and Jim present a distinctive love story. They are lovely people in the world. In the beginning, O. Henry uses the story of the Magi to compare the acts of the two characters in The Gift of the Magi. He does this by using the symbols and comparing the selfless giving of presents of Della and Jim. He speaks highly of the couple’s

simplicity.

In the end, their gifts are useless on the surface. But they are the wisest persons. They use their simple actions to express

individual thought, languages and behaviors. They use their

simplicity to prove the real value in that money society. They tell human what the most priceless thing is in the world.

IV. The Causes of Humanity Sublimation

A. Economic Cause

The Gift of the Magi reflects the inevitable result and the real love in that complicated capitalist society. O. Henry displays the theme with simple language. O. Henry is under the influence of Europe

and naturalistic realism, and he has a strong feeling to United

States’ social changes.

O. Henry in the late nineteenth, it was the U.S. transition

period from free capitalism phase to the monopoly capitalism phase period. At the time of the united states in the capital socialist rapid development stage, the capital appeared pauperization.

Meanwhile, bankruptcy of medium and small bourgeois and the expansion

of unemployment made American society full of contradictions.

With the contradictions, people made up of a kind of

relationship. The relationship between the people became the naked money relations. Most of people’s heart was also corroded because

of

money society. With a clear understanding of the society, O. Henry expressed severe satire in his works. In America, especially in the large cities, the loss of human nature was too fast. O. Henry used his own way to express the human nature in such an evil society. The Gift of the Magi was not only the embodiment of humanity sublimation but also showed out a strong human nature.

B. Political Cause

“With the deep contradictions, the masses of the people were

doubt and despair to American democratic society.”8 Once they tried to wipe out the slave through the war, they thought after wiping out the slave America would change. They considered that America would

be

the most advanced democratic country. But as a matter of fact,

America did not become a country which everyone expected with

democracy, freedom and fortunate. On the contrary, America was one

of the deepest countries which

existed in the gap between the rich and the poor. During that period

of time, on the one hand, there was a small part of billionaires who indulged the luxury life. On the other hand, there was a large part of people who lived in a very hard life condition. Most of them

lived

on the verge of starvation. In such a social situation, social life experienced a great change. In that century, people faced the

capitalist system which was decayed, deceptive and hideous. It seemed

that the society was full of all kinds of ugly phenomena. It was as

a

dark society and a dim period of time. We could witness different classes and all kinds of people. That included billionaires,

policemen, thieves, cheaters and so on.

Thus, human virtues were not so common. So many people just

thought of themselves. During that long period of time, capitalism was very obvious. With the social phenomena, citizens destroyed and twisted human nature. However, the story in The Gift of the Magi made

an embodiment of the humanity sublimation. It told human a truth no matter how hard and dark the society is, the human nature still

exists.

C. Individual Cause

The theme of the story is about the human nature. The writer

chooses the subject intentionally according to his different experiences and living

conditions. As the author, O. Henry has a

special experience and he gives an endless thinking and complicated feelings to the society and humans.

In general, O. Henry writes to the reflection of the life. His

short stories are full of human consciousness. The human

consciousness is not only his feeling to the life, but also the

result of the influence of American social background and culture. O.

Henry lives a tough lifestyle throughout his life. Therefore, he

feels the pain and misfortune of the bottom layer deeply. He

recognizes the social evil through many social phenomena. There is

no

doubt that the hard life experiences bring him a lot of pain.

O. Henry’s short novels are as the epitome of his whole life

course. O. Henry exclaims in The Gift of the Magi that “life is

made

of sobs, sniffles and smiles.”9 And sniffles occupy a majority of

the life. O. Henry’s worse life leads him to experience all the

major life scenes. There are various scenes which include unusual

adventure, city life, high society and more bottom life. A special experience brings him pain, but also teaches him to recognize and

adapt to the hard society.

O. Henry reflects the unusual social meaning through usual

things. In this way, it can reveal the most profound truth of the life. In The Gift of the Magi, he also uses a simple and usual story to reflect an

unusual meaning. He tells a story about Della and Jim

to express the human nature. He plans to reflect humanity and make an

embodiment of humanity sublimation successfully.

V. Conclusion

This paper has discussed the simple but true love in the story of The Gift of the Magi. Love in the novel is a crucial part as

affection between male and female is highlighted. In the aspect of developing the plot, love as a clue, a main line runs through the whole story. Through the paper, we plan to make a study on the

sublimation of humanity in The Gift of the Magi. In the story,

although Della and Jim live in a very poor and difficult life, they seem to have a usual lifestyle and their story is full of true

humanity. Those are human’s genuine, kind and beautiful spirit. The precious spirit is humanity sublimation in the hard situation. In that society which is corrupted by money and authority, money is everything. In the money society, the author tries to help us

understand whether exists something else more important than money.

The story of The Gift of the Magi gives everyone an obvious

answer concerning what is the most valuable thing in the world. In people’s eyes, the gift can be bought with money, but the true love

is priceless. The true love includes self-sacrifice, selfless

dedication and simplicity from one person to another one. In the story, Della and

Jim are wisest persons and they are the magi each

other because their unique virtue. The Gift of the Magi is a

realization about true love and humanity sublimation. O. Henry’s

writings are still lively and entertaining as ever. The story of The Gift of the Magi is the signature of his writings. Human can not

choose the life environment, but we can choose our spirit support.

The paper lets us know the most priceless gift is our human’s

spirit.

O. Henry exposes the injustice, unreasonable things, abnormal

phenomena and lower people’s miserable destiny through his creation.

For one thing, O. Henry is pitiful with the lower people. For

another, he appreciates the beauty of the human nature highly. The article is designed as a comedy atmosphere in the tragedy life of lower people. This paper praises mightiness personality and noble characters in ordinary people. Notes

1 O??Henry, The Selected Short Stories of O Henry Shanghai:

Shanghai World Book Press, 2004 , 3.

2 Ibid..

3陈立华，《美国文学选读新编》，武汉:华中师范大学出版社，2009年，第123

页。

4同上。

5 Shizhao Zhai, Selected Readings in American Literature

Zhengzhou: Henan University Press, 2006 , 151.

6 Ibid..

7

8

9 Bibliography

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Zhengzhou: Henan University Press, 2006

Henry, O.. The Selected Short Stories of O??Henry. Shanghai:

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陈立华《美国文学选读新编》，武汉:华中师范大学出版社，2009。

程学兰《外文学名作导读》，广州:华南理工大学出版社，2000。

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