Who are the Magi in "The Gift of the Magi"?

As the narrator explains at the end of "The Gift of the Magi," the Magi were the "wonderfully wise men" who brought gifts to the infant Jesus at his birth. Because of these gifts, the narrator says, we all traditionally give gifts at Christmas time, just as Jim and Della do.

The gifts that Jim and Della give each other seem foolish at first. Jim giving Della the costly comb and brush set after she has sold her hair seems pointless. It also seems pointless for Della to have bought Jim a watch chain after he sells his gold watch. Neither of them know that, from a practical standpoint, they are making a pointless purchase at the time.

The narrator, however, says that these gifts are wise, not foolish—the wisest gifts of all. Jim and Della are the Magi of this story, because of their wise gift-giving.

The narrator, however, does not explain why the gifts are wise. The reader, having read the story, can understand the reason. It is because the gifts are given with love. Because of the sacrifices they each make, Jim and Della show that they love the other person more than themselves. Being able to express love, the story says, through a gift counts more than the gift itself.

The Magi are the the wise men from the East who in the traditional story of Jesus birth came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The use of the word magi is a biblical allusion to these men because they brought gifts appropriate for a promised king. When they arrived, the found Jesus wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger, and born in a stable. These were certainly conditions for a most impoverished person.

These magi are significant because they help create many parallels to the story of Jim and Della. Both Jim and Della sacrifice something most important to themselves to give the other a gift of great significance and honor. The concepts of sacrifice and appropriateness are both relevant in the Jesus story and the story of Jim and Della.

What is the relationship between the main characters in "The Gift of the Magi" and The Magi?

Della and Jim enjoy a close, loving relationship as husband and wife. What they lack in money, they more than make up for in love. With Christmas coming up, they want to express their love in time-honored fashion through the exchange of gifts. Unfortunately, because Della and Jim are so poor, they have to resort to desperate measures to buy each other Christmas presents. Della sells some of her beautiful locks of hair to a fancy salon to buy Jim a gold watch-chain. For his part, Jim sells his gold pocket-watch to buy Della a set of fancy combs that she has so long admired.

Although both Jim and Della have effectively ended up with useless gifts, the love they share remains stronger than ever. They realize that this love is so much more important than any gift, or anything else that money can buy. And that's what makes them wise, just like the Magi, or three wise men, who made their way to Bethlehem to bestow gifts upon the baby Jesus.

The magi were three kings who traveled to bring gifts to the baby Jesus in the Biblical telling of his birth.  They sacrificed their time to travel a great distance to give their gifts.  In The Gift of the Magi, the two main characters sacrificed in order to give each other a gift.  The characters were similar to the three magi because of sacrifice and the desire to give a special gift.  

Della and Jim were husband and wife.  Jim had a treasured pocket watch, which had been passed down for generations until it became his.  He wore it on a worn leather strap because it was all he could afford.  Della had long, beautiful hair.  Both she and Jim admired her long locks.  Being very poor, Della and Jim could not afford to spend much on gifts for each other.  Della sold her hair to buy a platinum watch chain for Jim.  Jim sold his watch to buy combs for Della's hair.  This was their sacrifice.  At the end of the story, O. Henry compared them to the magi.