Foregrounding Poverty through the Heterodiegetic Narrator in O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi"

OpenAlex İngilizce

This article analyses the contribution and effect of the heterodiegetic narrative style employed by O. Henry, as exemplified in his famous short story titled The Gift of the Magi.In it, while the significant conceptual conflict is created by juxtaposing poverty and generosity, the stylistic analysis highlights the importance of the devices used in the short story, such as capitalisation, situational irony, and repetition.It is concluded that the stylistic devices employed by O. Henry foreground the willingness and commitment of the impoverished family to maintain the tradition of exchanging gifts during Christmas.