Analysis Of The Gilded Six-Bits By Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston’s book, “The Gilded Six-Bits” is an important piece of literature due to its impact on the world during the Harlem Renaissance era. It is considered a brilliant piece of modernist literature due to Hurston staying true to her background and roots as a black woman from the south, in which segregation was still a huge issue. The reason why it is considered a piece of modernist literature is because she wasn’t afraid to write in the black vernacular which was considered uneducated as blacks were progressing in arts, literature, and the music was alive. The story is filled with many different themes and issues that people can relate to such as money, deceit, and for people who have a big heart forgiveness and reconciliation.

It was controversial because most of the black writers have gained an immense amount popularity due to their exquisite and unique writing styles that were being accepted by the literary world. Hurston’s writing was bold due to her ability to take the way southern black folk spoke and actually incorporate it into the dialogue of the main characters or well throughout the entire short story. For example, in the beginning of the story she writes a line for Missie May, “Who at chuckin’ money in mah do’way?” we pick up on all the grammatical errors but that is what makes the story brilliant, she doesn’t care about writing properly, she wants to write they way she wants to. In my opinion, the only way to fully understand, capture, and be a part of the story is by reading and adopting the text as if one was in the south during the 1930’s and spoke in that southern dialect and accent. It is very difficult to be able to write a piece so beautifully by giving it life using the dialect so preciously giving the reader the sense of living in that time period. The story contains grammar and sentence structure we use as we speak to one another. The way it’s written and read is very obvious, no one can deny that, but looking closely at the words as they come to life by giving them a persona of their own is completely hidden from the text. For example, when Joe and Missie were playing with each other in the kitchen and as Missie searches his pockets Joe says, “Missie May, take yo’ hand out mah pocket!” looking at that sentence right there we can tell there is a lot of spelling errors and it’s written in an intermediate form, but one must look closely at the life Hurston has given the words. When reading it together and putting emphasis on the words “yo’” and “mah” and saying them as they