Question

What impact does point of view have on "The Gift of the Magi"? Explain how the story would be different if told from the first person point of view.

Answer 1

Technically, the story seems to be third person limited omniscient. It's told in the third-person, and only follows Della. We don't see what Jim is doing during the story, and once he does show up, he remains closed to us: we don't know what his reaction to Della's hair is any more than Della does.