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Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—The Watch Chain:
The story's description of the watch chain is an example of visual imagery. Della has spent months saving and planning to buy Jim "something fine and rare," "worthy of [...] being owned by" him. After searching many stores, she finds the perfect thing—a unique platinum fob to go with his grand pocket watch, a family heirloom:
It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation [...] It was like him. Quietness and value—the description applied to both.
The imagery of the watch chain reflects Della's high opinion of Jim, as well as the fact that both Della and Jim value their marriage's substance over external style. Fob chains were fashionable in the early 1900s, when the story is set. The pocket watch would be attached to one end of the chain and kept in a pocket, and the chain would be passed through buttonholes and anchored in an opposite pocket.
"Quietness and value" apply to both him and the watch chain. Like Jim, the watch chain isn't showy and doesn't draw attention to itself, but it has inherent value that's clear to someone who takes the time to look. Its quality consists in the fact that it's well made and useful. The word "meretricious" can mean tawdry or pretentious and can even be associated with prostitution; the watch chain, being "simple and chaste," lacks these flamboyant qualities. Jim, similarly, is thin, serious, and unassumingly dressed ("He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves"), yet in spite of his obvious lack of wealth and his unimpressive exterior, he is a kind, steady, substantial presence. Like the watch chain, Jim must be studied closely so that his inner value can be appreciated.
The image of the "simple and chaste" watch also shows what Della values most: Jim's internal qualities. Though she buys the fob chain because she believes it expresses those cherished qualities and she wants to honor those same traits ("quietness and value") in her husband, she clearly values intangible character much more than material wealth. And so does Jim—when he later appears in the story, his own actions make it clear that although he's very proud of his heirloom watch, he values his wife more. Selling the watch means a family heirloom is gone forever and that he can't even use the watch chain Della has gifted him, but it also suggests that expressing love to his wife is more important to him than even the modest status symbol of a handsome accessory.
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