The excerpt that best represents the central conflict of “The Gift of the Magi” is:
“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.”
In the short story “The Gift of the Magi” written by O. Henry, Jim and Della, a poor young couple, wanted to buy each other a great Christmas gift. Della saved little money by selling her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch, not realizing that Jim sold that watch to buy her a comb for her hair because he loved her hair so much.
