Quote:
“For there lay The Combs—the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped for long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims—just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.” (The Gift of the Magi by: William Sydney Porter Pg. 165)
“”Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas present’s away and keep ‘em a while. They’re too nice to use just as presents. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on.””
Response:
I did both quotes because this story really need both quotes to me to somewhat make sense. For this class we were told to skim through everything but the stories we were reading. The reason behind this was so that we wouldn't miss having the emotional connection with the story. In reading this story I was on the edge of my seat because of her cutting her hair. I cut my hair when I was pregnant with my daughter and I thought that my boyfriend was going to leave me over it. In the end he got over it, he did not handle it the way her husband did in this story so I felt really connected to her. It really made me look hard at my life and the hard times that after reading this really weren't so hard after all. I know that this story is set back quite a few years but it still is an awesome story. Not only does it display courage and kindness on her part but it shows the love that they both have for each other. The way the author describes her combs you can actually visualize them. We have read quite a few stories so far this term and I found myself actually tearing up at the end of this one. It is kind of hard to read due to the age of the writing but I wished that there were more to the story that it didn't just end. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. It gives you hope, maybe not even in the same area but after reading it I feel loved and that there is always possibilities.
Carmen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You response made me laugh. My husband is the same about my hair. I recently cut shoulder length (it was below my butt)when I was just going in for a trim, and my husband nearly had a heart attack..seriously. I have had my hair shoulder length before but it was when one of my sisters got cancer so all six of us girls cut our hair to support her. I think that Della really showed how much she loved her husband and visa-verse. I wish that this story went on a little longer to make a "happily ever after" but I guess that would defeat the purpose of the story.
ReplyDeleteHi, Carmen and Sami. I think women's hair culturually remains a symbol of femininity. In the period of the story, women generally wore their hair long, so cutting it off would be even more traumatic because it would call attention to Della and potentially make people question her status as a lady. Yet, even today, women's beauty is connected to hair. My husband, too, likes my hair long. My daughter wanted me to cut it off, but my husband won out this time. Next time, we'll see... Nancy
ReplyDelete