Clearly, the truth of this statement is shown in the way
that Bella and Jim both sacrifice their most treasured possessions to buy a gift for the
other. In spite of their poverty, we are told that this couple have two objects of
inestimable value:
One was Jim's gold watch that had been his
father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived
in the flat across the air shaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some
day to dry just to deprecate Her Majesty's jewels and
gifts.
It is these two
objects that both sacrifice as a symbol of love for the other, so that they can gain the
money they need to buy the perfect present for the other. Note the cost of Bella's
sacrifice when she has her hair cut off to be sold and goes back home to repair the
damage:
She
got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages
made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends--a
mammoth task.
The narrator
signals to us the massive sacrifice she has made by describing her efforts to do
something with her hair and to neaten it, as Bella realises the full extent of what she
has done. And yet, at the end of the story, the narrator is clear that Jim and Bella,
through their actions, captured the original spirit of giving gifts started by the Magi.
Love, it seems, involves sacrifice.
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