The combs that Jim purchased for his wife Della represent three things that are at the center of the couple's relationship: an incredible love, a deep wisdom about what matters most, and a willingness to sacrifice one's own happiness for the greater joy for one's spouse.Unbeknownst to Della, Jim sold his treasured watch to buy the combs for her for Christmas. On the very same day, Della sold her own hair in order to purchase a watch chain for Jim. When Della opened her gift, there "lay The Combs...that Della had seen in the shop window and loved for a long time...without the least hope of owning them." Jim sacrificed his favorite possession to bring greater joy to Della, just as she had done for him, as a symbol of incredible love.
The story ends with a bit of moral instruction: the narrator tells the reader "of all those who give and receive gifts, such as they the most wise." The combs are symbolic of the love between Jim and Della; it is rooted in a mature understanding that one's own happiness is secondary to the joy one can bring to their life partner.
In the story, the combs symbolize Jim's abiding and deep love for Della. Because the combs have always been beyond the couple's financial reach, they also represent unattainable objects of longing.
The text tells us that both Jim and Della sell their most cherished possessions in order to purchase valuable gifts for each other. Jim sells his watch to purchase the combs for Della, while Della sells her beautiful hair in order to purchase a gold chain for Jim's watch. According to the text, Jim is as wise as the magi because of the sacrificial nature of his gift. Likewise, Della is also a "wise one" because she relinquishes her most cherished possession (her hair) for Jim.
Essentially, the author compares Jim and Della to the wise magi who first brought gifts to the newborn Christ.
Thus, the value of the combs is not in their cost or beauty but rather in how they communicate devotion, sacrificial love, and abiding faith.
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