How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. (1)
The very first line of the story emphasizes just how poor Jim and Della are. It's agonizingly difficult to even save up such a small sum of money. Della's poverty also means she has to humiliate herself in front of others by being a penny pincher.
Quote #2
A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad. (3)
Jim and Della live in a very humble apartment indeed. The narrator uses both the word "beggar" and "mendicancy" (a mendicant is a beggar). You might think that Jim and Della would benefit from the generosity of others, not from giving their own things away.
Quote #3
The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. (5)
Here we get the meager figures of Jim's salary. The remark about the name on the mailbox also shows that Jim and Della are self-conscious about their poverty, and that they're humble. They care about how they appear to others, and they're currently so poor that they're even embarrassed to have a name that might sound pretentious.
Quote #4
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. (9)
The two prize possessions of Jim and Della are introduced. They're more valuable than anything else because they'd actually fetch a fair sum of money. They're also valuable in other ways, though. Jim's watch has a great sentimental value as something that has a long history in his family. Della's hair is actually a part of Della, her distinguishing feature, and probably the aspect of her looks Jim loves most. Both things are also especially valuable to the couple because, unlike almost anything else they own, these objects are truly beautiful.
Quote #5
Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy. (9)
This use of Biblical allusion really sticks out in a story otherwise sparse in such imagery. It's certainly a fanciful exaggeration. But it helps to emphasize how valuable the two possessions are to Jim and Della. It also couldn't clash more with the image of Jim and Della's humble apartment. This first suggestion that Jim and Della are actually among the richest people of all hints at the later affirmation of the value of their love.
Quote #6
Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.
"I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."
Down rippled the brown cascade.
"Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand. (13-16)
Whereas Della's hair is for her almost a treasure without price, for Madame Sofronie, it's just something else to be bought and sold. For twenty-dollars. She sees stuff like this all the time. The contrast between the value Della gives to it and the value Madame Sofronie gives to it is striking.
Quote #7
It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation – as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value – the description applied to both… Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain. (19)
In Della's eyes, real value is not something flashy or ornamental. It's "chaste" and simple, not the kind of thing to call attention, but still beautiful and of great worth. That applies to the watch chain, all of whose value comes from the metal it's made of. But it also describes Jim, who's simple and unassuming but of great worth. The image of the beautiful watch with the shabby leather strap captures the contrast between Jim's "inner value" and his poor appearance very well.
Quote #8
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two – and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves. (25)
Jim's very appearance reflects his poverty, from the worn overcoat and lack of gloves to his thinness and the seriousness on his face. That seriousness probably comes from being overburdened and overly worried.
Quote #9
For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year – what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on. (34)
Here the narrator draws explicit attention for the first time to the two different ways of thinking about value: monetary value or something else. The implication is that money isn't what's really valuable – the difference between a poor man and a rich man is of no great worth. What the real measure of value is the narrator doesn't say, though he promises to tell us more later on. (Although we don't think that he ever does explicitly tell us.)
Quote #10
She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit. (41)
Here the narrator makes a direct comparison between two things with very different kinds of value – the platinum watch chain and the shining soul of Della, which has an "inner value." It's the latter that's really precious.