Who would the author of The Gift of the Magi say is most important?

A 'protagonist' is frequently described as the main character or hero of the story. In 'The Gift of the Magi," the protagonists are DELLa and Jim Young, because they are the main characters. In fact, aside from one other minor character, they are the only characters. They are the ones that battle against the common conflict of man against society or fate as they struggle to survive and make one another happy by sacrificing something important to each of them in order to make the other one happy. They make their respective sacrifices and they make each other happy thereby overcoming their conflicts and becoming the true heroes of the entire story.