She had a relatively happy childhood until the death of her mother in , after which she held a variety of odd jobs and eventually joined a Gilbert and Sullivan traveling company as a maid. Hurston earned an associate degree from Howard University in and moved to New York City, where she met a number of major authors from the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes.
She began to publish short stories in various periodicals and to study anthropology at Barnard College. Hurston studied under renowned anthropologist Franz Boaz and became the first black woman to graduate from Barnard in She would go on to use her anthropological training in collecting African American folklore in the South. Hurston was married three times, with her first two marriages ending in divorce.
She published a variety of fiction and nonfiction writings over the course of her life, most famously her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston continued to write, teach, and collect folklore, winning prestigious awards such as the Guggenheim for her research. In her later years, however, she suffered a number of personal and financial difficulties, ultimately dying in poverty in Hurston did not identify herself with the emerging Civil Rights struggle or associate her writing with that movement.
Board of Education. She argued that the closure of black schools would hinder the passing down of African-American cultural traditions and would not result in better education for black students. Missie May with her face stiff and streaked towards the window saw the dawn come into her yard. It was day. Nothing more. No need to fling open the front door and sweep off the porch, making it nice for Joe.
No more nothing. So why get up? With this strange man in her bed, she felt embarrassed to get up and dress. She decided to wait till he had dressed and gone. But he never moved. Red light turned to yellow, then white. Joe needed her for a few more minutes anyhow. Soon there was a roaring fire in the cookstove. Water bucket full and two chickens killed. Joe loved fried chicken and rice. She rushed hot biscuits to the table as Joe took his seat.
He ate with his eyes in his plate. No laughter, no banter. She sprang to refill it. She slumped into her seat and wept into her arms. Water ran downhill and birds nested. He was polite, even kind at times, but aloof. There were no more Saturday romps.
No ringing silver dollars to stack beside her plate. No pockets to rifle. In fact, the yellow coin in his trousers was like a monster hiding in the cave of his pockets to destroy her. She often wondered if he still had it, but nothing could have induced her to ask nor yet to explore his pockets to see for herself. Its shadow was in the house whether or no. One night Joe came home around midnight and complained of pains in the back. He asked Missie to rub him down with liniment.
It had been three months since Missie had touched his body and it all seemed strange. But she rubbed him. Grateful for the chance. Before morning youth triumphed and Missie exulted. But the next day, as she joyfully made up their bed, beneath her pillow she found the piece of money with the bit of chain attached.
Alone to herself, she looked at the thing with loathing, but look she must. She took it into her hands with trembling and saw first thing that it was no gold piece. It was a gilded half dollar. Then she knew why Slemmons had forbidden anyone to touch his gold. He trusted village eyes at a distance not to recognize his stickpin as a gilded quarter, and his watch charm as a four-bit piece.
She was glad at first that Joe had left it there. Perhaps he was through with her punishment. They were man and wife again. Then another thought came clawing at her. He had come home to buy from her as if she were any woman in the longhouse. Fifty cents for her love. As if to say that he could pay as well as Slemmons. She slid the coin into his Sunday pants pocket and dressed herself and left his house. Never would she admit defeat to that woman who prayed for it nightly.
If she had not the substance of marriage she had the outside show. Joe must leave her. She saw no more of the coin for some time though she knew that Joe could not help finding it in his pocket.
But his health kept poor, and he came home at least every ten days to be rubbed. The sun swept around the horizon, trailing its robes of weeks and days. One morning as Joe came in from work, he found Missie May chopping wood.
Without a word he took the ax and chopped a huge pile before he stopped. It was almost six months later Missie May took to bed and Joe went and got his mother to come wait on the house. The dialogues between the characters are all in their original dialect. With the use of slang words, the only difference being that of spelling and grammar. These writers mimic the voice of their Black characters in dialogue and speech. The change in dialect is emphasized through the change of spelling. Missie May tells this to her husband as she attempts to convince him that Slemmons could possibly be lying about his lavish and expensive lifestyle, through his boasting and bragging.
Slemmons mouth works the same, it is cut side ways and opens and closes like any other human. As such, Slemmons therefore could open his mouth and tell a lie like anyone else. Additional idioms are found within the story. It is said that telling someone that another is pregnant was forbidden. The use of black idioms and dialect is a unique way to draw in the culture and community of the small Black settlement. It furthermore works to create originality into the story. Slemmons, although he had a small role, made a significant impact to the story.
Flaunting around gilded-bits, Slemmons acts like the seductive snake as he causes havoc in the happy home. His introduction into the story caused Joe to be dissatisfied with his normally happy life.
The reader gets a glimpse of this as Hurston describes Joe attempting to mimic Slemmons walk and stature. Joe envies Slemmons due to his gold, his fat gut, and traveling adventures. Slemmons is a rich man from the big city who represents power and sophistication. He has experienced the world in many ways, including owning his own business. In most ways, Slemmons is a contrast to the tone and quality of life that Joe and Missie May have created.
Although it is Missie May who commits adultery with Slemmons, it is Joe who is first attracted to Slemmons. Missie May, on the other hand, was the first to see the gild in his character and personality. Despite their argument, it is the envy and admiration that Joe has for Slemmons that causes Missie May to practice infidelity.
Missie May began to see Slemmons in the same way that Joe did. This allowed her to be seduced by Slemmons, to be caught in his charm and blinded by his counterfeit gold.
Ultimately, gold becomes a symbol of betrayal that remains evident throughout the story. Saying this, Joe snatches off Slemmons jewelry and money, to hold on to it, using it as a symbol to Missie May as evidence of her betrayal. Joe receives what Missie May wanted to get for him, the gold coins. Instead of bringing the couple together, making them both rich and bringing more happiness to the already happy home, it puts their happiness and marriage on hold.
During breakfast, Joe puts it on the table setting it between them. This shows separation of marriage, household, and happiness. It silences Joe and brings Missie May to tears. Again, this symbolized the infidelity. After the child is born Joe goes to the candy store to pick up candy kisses for Missie May.
He finally hands the coin over to the clerk for purchase. This scene symbolizes the instance of forgiveness. Joe has moved on from the situation and he is willing to forgive, as he spends the gilded-piece on treats for his wife and son. The Gilded Six-Bit is a story of truth and disillusion. It is a story that can be told around the world and in any setting as it is full of apt understanding of basic human nature and culture.
She realizes the gold piece is merely a gilded half dollar. Some time later, it is apparent that Missie May is pregnant. She tells Joe that it will be a little boy, the spitting image of him, but Joe expresses doubt. He uses the gilded half dollar to buy candy for Missie May, telling the store clerk how he had bested Slemmons and that he now has a little boy at home.
When he gets back to Eatonville, Joe tosses silver dollars in the doorway once again, marking the healing of their marriage. The Gilded Six Bits. Plot Summary. The Gilded Six-Bits. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.
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