Read this characterization of della from "the gift of the magi." then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. the phrase "she turned white for just a moment" is mainly used to show that della has very fair skin. is afraid of jim's reaction. is beginning to get an illness. had become extremely angry.

The phrase "she turned white for just a moment," from the short story The Gift of the Magi, means she was afraid of something. In this case, she was afraid of her husband Jim's reaction.

She didn't have money to buy him a Christmas present, so she decided to sell her hair for 20 dollars. Later on that day, when she noticed her husband was arriving to the house, she got worried that he would think she wasn't pretty anymore.

In the characterization of Della from "The Gift of the Magi", the phrase "she turned white for just a moment" is mainly used to show that Della is afraid of John's reaction.

The expression "turn white" means to go pale usually from shock. In this case, Della was shocked after hearing steps.

Although the phrase can be also associated to an illness, considering the context, it is very unlikely that a person will begin to get ill just by hearing someone's steps.