Analysis Of The Gilded Six-Bits

In “The Gilded Six-Bits”, the story starts off demonstrating the genuine love that Missy May and Joe have in their marriage. Joe starts bragging about this new ice creams parlor in town that is owned by Otis Slemmons. He goes on and on about how rich he looks with his gold jewelry and about how many women throw themselves at him. Missy May gets under the impression that Joe wants to be just like Slemmons and she ends up sleeping with him for money. Joe is devastated, but ultimately forgives Missy May. At the end of the story, Joe finds out that the gold coin that Slemmons left under the pillow for Missy was fake. He realizes that Slemmons was a fraud the whole time. Zora Neale Hurston uses symbols, characters, and plot to develop the theme of deception.

She uses it to show wealth and high class when talking about Slemmons. Hurston says, “He’s got a five-dollar gold piece for a stick-pin and he got a ten-dollar gold piece on his watch chain and his mouf is jes’ crammed full of gold teethes” (Hurston 286). Slemmons even uses money to get Missy May to sleep with him. He leaves the coin under the pillow after he leaves. Later in the story, we find out that the gold is fake. It turns out that it was a normal coin plated in gold. Slemmons turned out to be a fraud. The coin could also be a symbol as that things are not always as what they may seem. Missy and Joe believed that money would lead to happiness, but ultimately they are almost divided because of it. It took something real, like their love and the baby, to keep them