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The Gilded Six-Bits | Introduction

Zora Neale Hurston's ‘‘The Gilded Six-Bits’’ was published in Story magazine in 1933, when Hurston was a relative newcomer on the literary scene. The well-known publisher Bertram Lippincott read the story and liked it so much that he wrote to Hurston and asked if she was working on a novel. She wasn't, but eager for a book deal, she told him that she was, and three months later presented him with the manuscript of her first novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine.

Hurston, a noted talent and personality of the cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance went on to greater success with the publication of her second novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in 1937, but later fell into obscurity and eventually died in poverty. Though it was pivotal to her career, ‘‘The Gilded Six-Bits’’ was not reprinted until renewed scholarly interest in Hurston led to the publication of a compilation of her short stories, entitled Spunk, in 1985. It is now considered one of Hurston's best stories.

‘‘The Gilded Six-Bits’’ is a story of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. It playfully portrays the happy domestic life of two young newlyweds and shows the havoc that is wreaked when a slick and sophisticated outsider comes into their community and into their home. The story is typical of Hurston's fiction in that it offers a positive and affectionate vision of African-American life, that it is set in her native town of Eatonville, and that it reflects the rich oral traditions of that community. ‘‘The Gilded Six-Bits,’’ rich in metaphor and melodious dialect, is a meditation on the meaning of value and a celebration of emotional resilience and integrity.

The Gilded Six-Bits Summary

The story opens with the description of a modest but cheerful house in an all-black community. Inside, Missie May, a young newlywed, rushes to bathe in anticipation of her husband Joe's return from work. She hears the sound of Joe throwing nine silver dollars in the door, signaling their playful weekly ritual. She pretends to be mad that he is throwing the money and chases him, then goes through his pockets to find little presents he has bought her.

As they eat dinner that night, Joe tells her that he is going to take her out to a new ice-cream parlor opened by a man from Chicago. They discuss this new man in town, whose name is Otis D. Slemmons. Slemmons appears to be rich and worldly. Joe admires his fine clothes, while Missie May comments on his big gut and suggests that he might be lying about his wealth and success. Joe cites a five-dollar gold piece that Slemmons wears as a stickpin and a ten-dollar piece he wears on his watch chain as evidence of his wealth. Joe has heard that women gave him all of his money, but Missie May continues to compliment her husband and deny Slemmons's attractiveness. Joe tells Missie May that he wants to show off his pretty wife to Slemmons.

When they return from the ice-cream parlor, they continue to talk of Slemmons and his gold. Joe tells his wife that he is happy without riches as long as he has her. A weekly trip to the ice-cream parlor becomes part of the happy couple's routine.

One night Joe is sent home from work early. As he walks home he fantasizes about having a son with Missie May. When he arrives home, he calls out to his wife... » Complete The Gilded Six-Bits Summary