[transcribed 2021-06-02] In *Gift of the Magi,* on Christmas Eve, a woman named Della sells her long hair to buy her husband Jim a watch fob. Jim buys Della hair combs using money he got from selling his watch. The gifts are rendered useless. This is a case of irony affecting the story – in my opinion, for the better. Without the ironic twist at the climax, it would have been as you expected.. normal. The story would have been easier to predict, so as you read it, you wouldn’t get that feeling of surprise you do when the twist is there. A normal story is boring, and predictable, and that’s not the feeling you want to get from reading a story.
 Just after the section where Della and Jim give each other their gifts, a paragraph follows: And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Jim and Della are called both wise and unwise. Both apply. The gifts they got each other ended up being useless. They could have seen they might both do the same thing, causing this very outcome, but they didn’t. In that respect they are unwise. But in the end, they tried, and they sacrificed so much for each other. This helped make their relationship better, making caring so much a wise decision.