In "the gift of the magi," o. henry most likely uses the irony of the couple’s gifts to express the theme that expensive gifts are sometimes a mistake. love and sacrifice for others is the highest virtue. material goods usually increase in value over time. it is best to retain one’s most prized possessions.

The courage that my mother had went with her, and is with her still: rock from new england quarried; now granite in a granite hill. the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more: yet, it is something i could spare. oh, if instead she'd left to me the thing she took into the grave! - that courage like a rock, which she has no more need of, and i have. based on the 2nd stanza, how does the speaker feel about the golden brooch that was passed down from the mother to child? question 2 options: a: the speaker thinks it was a waste of money b: the speaker places a high value on the item c: the speaker never wears the brooch d: the speaker feels it could be easily replaced