The Gilded Six-Bits Analysis

The short story, “The Gilded Six-Bits” by Zora Neale Hurston revolves around a young African-American couple living the early 20th century. Missie May and Joe, encounter a bigshot named Otis D. Slemmons who leads them to suffering with trust, greed, and appearance versus reality. The characters exhibit lessons that tie in to the irony of the short stories.

The Harlem Renaissance marked the coming out of many brilliant black authors and thinkers. Names like Jessie Redmon Fauset, Alain Locke, Ralph Waldo Ellison, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston marked the scene. Hurton portrays many messages in her stories without having to explicitly spell it out. This among other reasons make Hurston's writing so rich. Two of her almost fable-like stories, "Sweat" and "The Gilded Six-Bits", each portray powerful messages individually. In "Sweat," you get a message of "whatever goes over the Devil's back, is got to come under his belly." You will reap what you sow among other messages. In "The Gilded Six-Bits," you learn that time will heal, money is the root of all evil, and other morals. These

In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, the author Zora Neale Hurston used a certain dialect and language to help bring to life the social status’ and personalities of each of her characters. The dialect helps compare and contrast each of the characters that Janie, the main character, interacts with. The dialect shown throughout the novel will help the reader understand the level of education and upbringing of the characters as well as bringing the story to life. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston makes it very apparent that Janie, Pheoby, and Tea Cake are all African Americans from the deep south.

Though it is not one of the main themes in the novel, poverty and its effects on people can be seen abundantly in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. The demonstration of poverty that I chose to discuss is how wealth causes a person to act toward others. The most notable examples are Janie’s three husbands, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake, and the way they treat Janie. In the novel, the wealthier a man is, the more power he has over people and the more entitled he feels.

After attempting to snag a meal of a passing woman, the character is left to contemplate about whether the grass was truly greener on the North side while thinking of the “...full hot meals he had left back in Alabama to seek wealth and splendor in Harlem without working” (133). Hurston shows us that the North was not necessarily better for blacks than the South, and that it is better to be true to one’s self than to put on a facade. The author employs the trickster in order to further expand upon the ideas of her

Zora Neale Hurston's aim in The Gilded Six-Bits is to counter the lingering; glad; darky generalization by which African Americans was respected in her time. In particular, she refutes the plainly condescending attitude of the white store clerk toward the end of the story who needs to be similar to the African Americans, obviously effortless and continually laughing. Such a recognition is rendered silly and crazy by Hurston's story of the inside turmoil brought on by a demonstration of conjugal disloyalty and the unprecedented efforts of Joe and Missie May to revive their love and recovery their marriage.

Zora Neale Hurston breathes life into “Spunk” by contrasting African American slang with the formal, educated tone of the narrator to emphasize adversity and express culture in the South. Hurston’s most memorable moments in her childhood were a result of “Skillful story-tellers [that] could hold their listeners spellbound for hours, with tales that combined elements of African tradition, the history of slavery, and current events,” (Bily). Oral storytelling was a news source and form of entertainment for those living in poverty. In “Spunk,” it is evident that Hurston’s goal is to combine the setting she grew up in with her fondness for written literature when Elijah Mosley cries, “‘Looka theah, folkses!’… slapping his leg gleefully.

The Six Gilded Bits, which is a short story written by Zora Neale Hurston, is a tale about marriage, betrayal, and forgiveness. The short takes place in the early 1930’s in Eatonville, Florida, which is a small African-American town. The tale takes the reader on a wild journey of love, yearning, anger, disappointment, compromise, and acceptance. However, the story is composed of many layers that leave the reader questioning certain aspects within the story.

Appearance versus Reality in Alice Walker's and Zora Neale Hurston's Everyday Use and The Gilded Six-Bits

setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred people. On June

In “The Gilded Six Bits” by Zora Neale Hurston, the arrival of Otis Slemmons changes Missie May’s perception of success and social identity, while creating a chasm in her relationship with her husband Joe. After seeing Slemmons’ gold, Missie May desires some of her own, especially for Joe. However, she denies the fact that she and Joe are unable to acquire gold even when Joe explains, “Who would be losin’ gold money round heah? We ain’t even seen none dese white folks wearin’ no gold money on dey watch chain. You must be figgerin’ Mister Packard or Mister Cadillac goin’ pass through heah” (Neale 545). In the beginning, she did not think much about Slemmons’ gold, but as Joe continue to praise and magnify Slemmons for his wealth, Missie May desires other people to recognize Joe for the same reason.

Throughout our reading of the provided passage of “The Gilded Six-Bits,” my attention was drawn towards the gilded half dollar. I believe the gold piece is a prominent symbol in the story due to its multiple appearances in the passage and its relevance in the plot of the story. The golden coin was used by Slemmons, a wealthy resident of Eatonville, to pay Missie May to commit devious, extramarital actions."Oh Joe, honey, he said he wuz gointer give me dat gold money and he jes' kept on after me." (page 732) It is later revealed that the gilded piece, which was believed to be a solid gold token, was in fact a 50 cent piece plated in gold. The gold plated half dollar soon tears the love of Joe and Missie May apart as it reminds them both of the

Zora Neale Hurston, author of the Gilded Six Bits, has a very unique writing style. The artistry in her story makes it a pleasant, easy read for any audience. The title suggests the story is based around money; but rather if one were to dig deeper the reality of the story is being told around the playfulness of money. Character disposition, an idealistic dialect, and the ability to work past an issue all work together to prove that Joe and Missie May’s lives are not strictly revolved around money.

This play has scenes in many different places. But in general the story takes place in England and “Wonderland”.

The story takes place in New York City. It starts with Susan Cheever’s first memory, of her father arriving home after the Second World War. The timeline is from the mod forty’s till 2012. It’s a first person narrator, where we only have access to the narrator’s mind.