Wealth and love in Hurston's "The Gilded Six Bits"

Summary Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “The Gilded Six Bits” takes place in an unnamed “Negro settlement that looked to the payroll of the G. and G. Fertilizer works for its support.” The stability and peace of the working class milieu of the town is disturbed with the arrival of a wealthy businessman from Chicago, Mister Otis D. Slemmons. Slemmons opens a pop-up ice cream parlor and Joe is eager to take his wife Missie May to see it. In spite of herself, Missie May ends up sleeping with Slemmons. Joe catches his wife in bed with the man, but his love for her endures and their marriage survives. The title of the story refers to the fact that Slemmons’s wealth was phony all along, for his six bit piece was not real gold but only gold plated. Hurston offers a sort of “all that glitters is not gold” moral to the tale. “The Gilded Six Bits” is about the allure of wealth and the capitalism of the American dream, but it is also about the nature of long-term relationships. “The Gilded Six Bits” is unique in that it technically has two protagonists, both Joe and Missie May. Their relationship is effectually the primary protagonist of the story, but based on the tremendous changes that take place in her charcater, Missie May emerges as the most notable protagonist of “The Gilded Six Bits.” She has a profound and slightly naive love for her husband, but ends up being easily seduced by the idea of wealth. It is not as if she actually falls in love with Slemmons but she does become intrigued by what wealth symbolizes in American society, and the notion that wealth can be easily gained not by hard work but by wielding one’s sexuality as power. Yet Hurston cleverly shields the reader from knowing Missie May’s true feelings, instead using a third person omniscient narrator to show only that Joe walks in on her and Slemmons. For a minor character with little to no actual insight into his motives or background, Slemmons plays a major role in catalyzing “The Gilded Six Bits.” Slemmons has a major impact on the lives of Missie May and Joe, revealing to them the enduring power of love versus the fleeting, illusory glamor of wealth and capitalism. Critical Analysis Missie May epitomizes the challenges inherent in long-term monogamous relationships. More importantly, her character reveals how easy it can be to become tempted by the illusory promise of soulless wealth. Missie May believes herself to be immune to the charms of wealth at first, making fun of Slemmons for being fat: “He got a puzzlegut on \\\\\\\'im and he so chuckleheaded he got a pone behind his neck.” Yet the other ladies in town are attracted to the big, wealthy man from Chicago, and even Joe seems to have a man crush on Slemmons. Still, Missie May also says “don\\\\\\\'t see whut de womens see on \\\\\\\'im.” Then Missie May sees first hand the power that wealth confers on Slemmons. As if a spell was cast over her, she states, “Dat\\\\\\\'s de first time Ah ever seed gold money. It lookted good on him sho nuff, but it\\\\\\\'d look a whole heap better on you.” Her comment can almost be read as a challenge for Joe, who knows that it is unrealistic to dream the American Dream from their lowly station. Missie May starts to long for wealth and the freedom it might theoretically bring them, all the while not realizing that the love she shares with Joe is a wealth that money cannot buy. Until she meets Slemmons in person, Missie May lavishes love and attention on her doting husband. Until the fateful day she sleeps with Slemmons, Missie May has no idea how good she has it. She takes her relationship for granted. The guilt and shame she feels following her one night stand, plus Joe’s unconditional love and compassion, awaken in Missie May the true gem of maturity and self-awareness. Contrary to the complexity of Missie May’s character, Otis Slemmons is almost one dimensional. He is described mainly in terms of his physical appearance, seen mostly through rumors and other second or third-hand accounts. Whereas Hurston allows the reader a great degree of insight into Missie May’s feelings and those of Joe, Slemmons can only be discerned through his actions and words. Slemmons does have a tendency to boast, show off, and most likely exaggerate or even lie. Missie May even accuses Slemmons of being a liar, saying “he kin lie jes\\\\\\\' lak anybody else,” in response to his showing off about how women are crazy about him. Moreover, Slemmons seems to have made his money not by entrepreneurial ventures or hard work, but via sugar mommies: women who apparently “give it all to \\\\\\\'im.” Missie May seems turned off to Slemmons, but after spending more time with him, starts to fantasize about what easy money could bring to her life. Because she knows Joe will never be able to make money as fast and readily as Slemmons, Missie May decides—presumably—that she will sleep with Slemmons to get a taste of his easy money. Missie May essentially prostitutes herself, and the shame of this and of betraying Joe eat away at her and would have destroyed the marriage were it not for Joe’s wisdom and forgiveness. While Joe remains the bulwark of the marriage, Missie May is the character who changes the most in “The Gilded Six Bits,” making her a more pure protagonist. Moreover, Missie May is the character that most contributes to the evolution of the themes of Hurston’s story. Slemmons, on the other hand, is a catalyst character. He is drawn thinly and weakly, shown mainly as a man who waltzes into town and leaves just as easily as he came. The shallow relationships he builds with other people are apt counterparts for his superficial character. Even if Slemmons is telling the truth about his female entourage, the source of his supposed wealth, he is cocky and boastful and uses money not to make the world a better place but for personal aggrandizement. Slemmons uses both money and sexuality as sources of power. He uses women to gain both money and power. His lack of integrity is especially evident when Joe catches him in bed with Missie May. Instead of facing the truth, Slemmons tries to run and hide: he “looked at the window, but it was screened.” Slemmons does not value the work ethic aspect of the American Dream, but only the notion that one can make easy money by taking advantage of others. Slemmons does, however, contribute to the theme of the story by embodying all that is wrong with the blind devotion to the dollar. His money is fake, both literally and figuratively. Slemmons tries to pass off gilded silver dollars as real gold coins. He also did not make any of his money through business ventures, but apparently only from white women who succumb to his seduction. The ice cream parlor serves as a symbol for Slemmons, who sells a product that has no endurance or substantive nutritional value. Ultimately, he was just “Tryin\\\\\\\' to fool people. Makin\\\\\\\' out he so rich and everything.” Whereas Missie May transforms from a naive newlywed to a mature wife and mother, Slemmons changes not at all. In fact, Slemmons represents an aspect of American life and the skewed value system of capitalism. Slemmons does, however, initiate the character changes that take place within Missie May. From her silly dalliance with Slemmons, Missie May comes to appreciate Joe on a deeper level than she even had before. While she always loved and had deep respect for her husband, she had no idea how faithful and unwavering his commitment to her actually was. Furthermore, her experience being fooled by the gilded six-bit piece teaches Missie May a lesson about being fooled by glamor and appearances. Not only does money not buy happiness, but the promise of easy money rarely provides the deep satisfaction that a well-lived life has to offer. People should not be valued for their wealth, but how they treat others, how they live their lives, and how much they are willing to grow, learn and change. Slemmons values the superficiality of money and power; Missie May values integrity and ethics.