The Analysis of Black Humor in The Gift of the Magi

井麗萍

Abstract：O. Henrys writings are famed as “the humorous encyclopedia on American life”， and they are appreciated by generations of readers at home and abroad. The thesis first explains why O. Henry exploits black humor in his writing. O. Henrys gloomy outlook on the world and life is in accord with the essence of black humor， so he exploits unconsciously black humor in his short stories. Then the thesis illustrates with the examples of black humor， which not only arouse readers ponder about the humanity but also earns O. Henrys story fame of “smile with tears”.

O. Henry is a famous short-story writer in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. During his literary career， he has written over three hundred stories， which are characterized by vivid plots， frequent coincidences， humorous language and surprise endings， hence making up what is called O. Henrys technique. In order to carry forward the fine tradition of O. Henrys works， the O. Henry Memorial Award has been presented since 1918 for the best short stories published every year. His writings are famed as “the humorous encyclopedia on American life”， and they are appreciated by generations of readers at home and abroad.

O. Henrys own life experience is full of misfortunes， which shapes all his writings， supplies the settings for his stories and the dominant note that man is a plaything of fate， the victim of strange circumstances （Eugene 118） . It is no wonder for such an ingenious writer as O. Henry to exploit， probably without consciousness though， black humor in his writings.

As a keen observer， O. Henry knows profoundly the evil essence of the capitalist America； he lived in the period between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the dawn of the twentieth century when modern America was born and grew into a nation of great size， power and wealth. The period witnessed the nations rapid strides in industry and agriculture. It was not long before the American people realized that the process brought about corresponding problems. Great wealth was accompanied by poverty； democracy was mocked by political corruption， and for the majority of people hope only ended in disappointment. Whats more， he himself has long struggled at the bottom of the society， and had a wide contact with the common people， so he can share their feelings and represent their hard life in his writings. As an ordinary citizen in New York， O. Henry came to know many kinds of different people living locally. As a writer， he faithfully put those people in his stories and continued to pay his concerns. At the height of his popularity， according to Littell （2008）， “O. Henry could dine in the fanciest restaurants and buy tickets for the most popular shows. Yet he never lost sight of the fact that there were thousands of working-class New Yorkers who lived very differently.” Even when his life was very successful， he kept an eye on the “common folk” and wrote about the “four million” New Yorkers that other writers tended to ignore. He frequently pictures the lives of ordinary people of early twentieth century America with warm and sympathetic colors. His characters are frequently the overlooked： the struggling shop girl， the unsuccessful artist， and the impoverished （Dark 12）.

Black humor is one important school in modernistic literature. It is established in the 1960s， though its origin can date back much earlier. Writers who exploit black humor hold that the modern society is a fantastic or nightmarish world， and they treat the disturbing subjects like death， crime or agony with bitter amusement. In their works the heroes are mostly antiheroes， and the events are often simultaneously comic， horrifying and absurd （Yang Renjing 557）. Black humor is strongly evident in Joseph Hellers Catch-22 among modern American fiction （Abrarns 178）. Evidences of black humor can be found in O.Henrys exploited short stories. Black humor runs through some of his stories， while it is as a spice in some others. As is well known， one of the prominent artistic features of O. Henrys writings is the “tearful smile”. This effect is achieved in two ways. For one case， most of his short stories， especially those on love and friendship， have a satisfying ending， causing readers approving smile； yet as the characters often live in poor conditions and have to struggle to survive， those stories tend to arouse readers tears---they shed tears in sympathy on the one hand， and on the other they are moved to tears by the pure feeling and self-sacrifice. Another case is the exploitation of black humor. The “black” reality is no doubt the cause of tears， but it is reflected with “humor”； thus readers feel amused and cant help smiling at it. This kind of tearful smile is also remarkable in O. Henrys short stories， though it is less frequent than the former kind.

The Gift of the Magi is a story in black humor. O. Henry creates a couple， Jim and Della， who are living in a rented room in New York. They are leading a poverty-stricken life. After rent and groceries， the couple hardly has any money left. Christmas is only a day away and Della wants to buy Jim a good watch chain for his gold watch as a Christmas gift. The gold watch and Dellas long hair are the greatest treasures of the couple. However， Della sells her hair to buy Jim a platinum fob chain； while Jim sells his gold watch and buys her a set of beautiful combs for her hair. Though they lose their treasures and the gifts seems useless to them， the mutual self-sacrifice between them tells readers that they are wisest people of all who give gifts. And the true unselfish love is more valuable than physical possessions. Readers tearful smile will definitely be evoked by the great change and reverse of the development of the incident， of course based on the acceptable facts， which always make the readers moved， and give people hope and courage （Musick 64） .The selfless love which can be seen though the life is miserable in the novel. O.Henry is good at presenting kindness of the world. “Greatest of all of O.Henrys characteristics is the power of bringing goodness out of evil， of finding a place for love and laughter， where all around seems misery and sin” （Leacock 36）.

Nevertheless， in the novel， Jim and Della each longed to bring home just the right gift for the other. But with so little money， how could there be hope？ Their income was shrunk from $30 per week to $20 per week. Neither relatives and nor friends visited them and no letter would go into their letter-box， even the card of “Dillingham” looked blurred， as though the letters were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D（O.Henry 15） . As a result， when there is only$1 .87 at home Della can do nothing but flop on the shabby little couch and howl， which instigates the moral reflection from the author that “life is made up of sobs， sniffles， and smiles， with sniffles predominating” （ibid. 18）. In order to buy a gift being worthy of the honor of each other， they sell their own possessions in which they both take a mighty pride. Unfortunately， their precious gifts become useless in the end and leave endless pity to the readers. They give each other a precious gift which is not among the gifts brought by the Magi.

The Magi are three wonderfully wise men who bring gifts to the Bade in the manger. The gifts they brought are valuable and wise. Here， the author entitles the story The Gift of the Magi with the purpose that the couple is as wise as the Magi. However， the conclusion O. Henry brings to the story is that： “Two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house…Of all who give and receive gifts， such as they are the wisest. Everywhere they are the wisest. They are the magi.” （ibid. 23）

The poignant twists and heartwarming conclusion of this perfectly-organized story help explain the lasting appeal of this American author. Writing under the famous pseudonym， O. Henry， William Sydney Porter breathed life into characters， creating moments that touched readers with their sensitivity and humanity （Lin Tai-An 52）.

O. Henry portrayed people with the authentic touch， using sympathy， irony， and the wit for which he is justly famous （Leacock 45）. And the human virtues and defects emerge from the black humor. That not only arouses readers ponder about the humanity but also earns O. Henrys story fame of “smile with tears”. Henry not only widens the experience of his readers， but also restates the verities that exist wherever people continue to strive for truth and beauty in life.

[Works Cited]

[1]Abrarns， M. H.，ed. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2004.

[2]Dark， Larry. The O. Henry Prize Stories 2002.New York： A Division Random House， Inc.， 2002.

[3]Eugene， C. O.Henry： A Study of the Short Fiction. New York： Twayne Publishers， 1993.

[4]Leacock， S. The Amazing Genius of O. Henry. Dodd， Mead & Company， 1916.

[5]Leacock， S. O. Henry and His Critics New Republic， 1916.

[6]Lin Tai-An. A Study of Metacognition on O. Henrys “The Gift of the Magi”. Asian Social Science，2010（4）.

[7]Littell， M. The Tales of O. Henry. New York： A Division Random House Inc.， 2008.

[8]Musick， M. P. O. Henry and the Gift of the Magi. Literary Traveler，2008.

[9]O. Henry. The Four Million and other Stories. New York： Airmont Publishing Company INC.， 1963.

[10]楊仁敬.20世紀美國文學史 [M].青島：青島出版社，1999.

（作者單位：陜西理工大學外語學院，陜西 漢中 723001）