First, the plot of the novel
1. The plot of this novel is not complicated. Christmas is coming, and a loving young couple want to give gifts to each other. However, because of the tight economic conditions, they can only sell what they love in exchange for what they love. As a result, the wife sold her beautiful long hair and bought her husband a platinum watch chain. On the other hand, the husband sold his ancestral gold watch and bought his wife a long-awaited comb. Their precious gifts have become useless.
The author uses coincidence and suspense to make the uncomplicated plot full of changes and fascinating.
2. Life is full of all kinds of coincidences, but to make readers feel that the story is true and credible, we can't just rely on accidents. Coincidence must be a reasonable part of the story unfolding process, and readers should be mentally prepared through predictions. Firstly, the author sets a time environment for this coincidence: at Christmas, it is customary for couples to give each other gifts to show their love, and Della hopes to give her husband a "delicate, rare and truly valuable" gift, which is the first step of the author's prediction (the platinum watch chain that Della later bought for her husband meets these three requirements). But Della only has "one dollar and eighty-seven cents". If she is rich, she will have no choice but to sell her long hair. Della was arranged step by step by the author to sell her hair. The following is very simple. Della got a "exquisite, rare and truly valuable" platinum bracelet with a hairdressing. -When the husband didn't know anything, he also brought back a pack of things, which also contained a gift of love. The author did not directly describe Della's expression when she saw the gift, but used Jim's "strange" expression and action to pave the way for the plot, in fact, in order to make the coincidence more convincing and sympathetic. Della finally saw her husband's gift, "a complete set of hair combs", "that's what Della has been longing for for for a long time in a Broadway window" and "it goes well with the lost hairdressing and the color is just right". The author took pains to render this set of hair combs in order to explain the extremely coincidental ending that "the hair used to decorate the ornaments that he has been longing for is gone".
3. The author arranged this coincidental plot from the beginning, giving readers a reading wait-suspense. Readers are anxious to know what the next step is. From the beginning of buying gifts, readers are guessing what kind of gifts Della will buy, what kind of gifts Jim will buy, and readers will design gifts for them. But the end of the matter is both unexpected and unreasonable. Readers' interest in reading is always tense, and it is not until the final result appears that they suddenly realize it. The author's ingenious suspense setting method makes the story full of twists and turns and climaxes.
Second, the characters
1, Della, the blonde hair dwarfs all the jewels of Queen Bruno, so you can imagine her beauty. She is as calm as water about the poor and plain life, and has no intention of showing her agitation. The novel describes in detail her anxiety that she has no money to buy a gift for her husband, her eagerness to sell her hair on the street to buy a watch chain, and the way her short hair makes her husband sad after returning home, all of which show her deep and sincere love deeply and delicately.
Jim, there is not much pen and ink in this novel. The author didn't give him any in-depth and detailed description, just polished it up a little with "very fine and serious" But since he sold his ancestral gold watch to buy a gift for his wife, and after returning to China, a series of words and deeds have shown that he is a caring, naive and kind man.
Della and Jim are little people struggling at the bottom of society, but their innocent feelings have not been exhausted by bitter life. They are brave in self-sacrifice and selfless dedication, and still maintain the virtue of simplicity and kindness. In the era of materialization of human nature, they are really smart and brave "sages".
Third, writing characteristics
1. Clever idea. This is mainly manifested in the author's use of coincidence and suspense, which has been analyzed above.
2. The details are rich. At the beginning of the novel, the author repeatedly tells the story of "a piece of 87 cents"; Then use details such as rent, mailbox, bells and business cards to highlight the poverty of the Della couple. Then she wrote that Della was sad because she had no money to buy a gift for her husband. "She suddenly turned from the window and stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes were crystal clear, but her face turned pale after 20 seconds. She quickly untied her hair and let it hang freely. "She thought of her hair. "She quickly combed it again nervously. She hesitated for a moment and stood there quietly, with a tear or two splashing on the worn red carpet. "A series of details, will show her inner struggle incisively and vividly. There are many such details in the text, and students can discover and taste them themselves.
3. Humorous language. The author makes full use of rhetorical devices such as exaggeration and metaphor to create a dramatic atmosphere. For example, "a supernatural feeling arises spontaneously, thinking that life is composed of sobs, sniffles and smiles, in which sniffles dominate", showing a bitter black humor; The narrow wall mirror can't be used. Della's "Mastering this art depends on her slim figure" makes people laugh and feel sad. As for Della's blonde hair, it dwarfs Queen Bruno's "jewelry", and Jim's gold watch makes Solomon blow his beard and stare, which is even more imaginative and lifelike.
4. Narrative of storytelling
In this novel, the author, like a storyteller, often participates in narration and directly guides readers. For example, "let's look at the home of the hostess while her sadness gradually drops from the first level to the second level!" "ah! The next two hours flew by like rose wings. Please ignore this hash metaphor! " For example, the author said, "Maggie brought a precious gift, but there was nothing like that." Then he declared that "the following will explain this obscure sentence". Here, the author uses a way similar to China's storyteller "Wondering what will happen next" to arouse readers' interest in reading. Finally, the author briefly adds his own comments and opinions. The author wants to educate the world with "love" in his novels, so he uses a narrative way of telling stories to better highlight the role of warning the world.
Fourth, the theme
1. At the end of the novel, the author summed up the full text with some enlightening words: "Those two stupid children living in the apartment sacrificed the most precious things in their homes for each other very unwisely. However, I still want to say one last word to the average smart person at present. Of all the gift givers, they are the cleverest. " What gift is more precious and worth cherishing than sincere love? Calling them "stupid" is just a satire on those who indulge in material desires. In fact, they are smart and wrong.
2. Love is supreme, which is the theme of the author's novel.