In "The Gift of the Magi" what does the author mean when referring to "the wrong answer"? "Eight Dollars a week or a million a year- whats the...

O. Henry is using irony to make a point about the way in
which Jim and Della looked at their situation.

Their income
was in the range of eight dollars per week - an amount that most people would consider
far below poverty level, an amount that most readers would assume would lead to a level
of deep depression or frustration or sadness on the part of Jim and
Della.

However, the basis of their situation was love, not
money. Even if Jim made one million dollars a year and they lived in a fine home with
all the luxuries that money would have made possible, they could not have been in more
love than they were in the story.

The "wrong answer" that
would have been given by "a mathematician or a wit" would have said that the larger
income made for a happier existence. Jim and Della knew the "right answer" - that love
was the most important thing.