Philip Van Doren Stern's short story "The Greatest Gift" is a meditation on life and death. It tells the story of a man named George Pratt, who is depressed and not satisfied with life. As a result of his depression, he contemplates, and begins to make plans, to commit suicide.
To that end, George travels to a bridge one day, bent on ending his own life. Before he is able to kill himself, however, another man (who is poorly-dressed but well-mannered) approaches George. George, in turn, strikes up a conversation with the man and tells the man that he wishes he had never been born. The man, clearly some kind of genie or wish-giver, grants George's wish and hands him a bag, which the man says George should carry around with him.
George returns to the town he once called home, but no one knows who he is. As he checks in on his friends and family, he discovers that their lives have taken a much darker turn. His brother, who George had saved from death, was dead. The woman he married was in a loving relationship with someone else. George, in fact, attempts to enter his house, but is quickly rebuffed by his wife and her new husband.
George is understandably dejected and returns to the bridge, hoping that he can convince the man to put him back in his old life. The man tells George that he was given the best gift anyone could ever have, life. George understands the lesson the man was trying to tell him and decides to beg the man for his old life back. The man agrees and George returns to his past life. He hugs his wife and expresses his profound love for her.
"The Greatest Gift" is, as its title suggests, a meditation on life and how life is the greatest gift there is. It is also a lesson and an advisement to those who are depressed and potentially considering suicide. That is, you don't know what you have until it is gone. The short story is also a lesson about the power and importance of family.
Van Doren Stern's short story also explores themes related to the Christmas season, life and death, the butterfly effect, and appreciating the small things in life. Although it is set against a negative backdrop and has a rather dour atmosphere, "The Greatest Gift" is a fundamentally positive movie which has favorable things to say about humanity.
