<span>Jim stops frozen in his tracks. His reaction is probably that he thinks he may have entered the wrong apartment by mistake. He doesn't even recognize his wife at first. He thinks he is looking at a stranger, and he doesn't understand what this strange woman is doing in his apartment and what has become of Della. I hope this helps you</span>
William Sydney Porter's (or more famously known as O. Henry) short story "The Gift of the Magi" shows the story of a couple, who through unselfish love for one another, ended up buying gifts that are useless.
Jim and his wife Della are two characters of the story. Though poor, their love for one another knows no bounds. With the upcoming Christmas festival, Jim and Della each decided to buy a little gift that the other person will like and make good use of. Della sold her long hair and bought a watch chain for Jim while Jim sold his watch to buy a beautiful comb. When Jim went home, he was greeted by a short-haired Della. This gave him a shock, with the realization that now his gift will be useless to her.
Symbolism is an artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.
The use of symbolism in writing makes the narrative more vivid.
