The Promise of Gold

 

Kailey Franklin

Dr. Cindy Spangler

EH 3365

22 October 2024

The Promise of Gold

Oftentimes, humans are swept away by the gilded objects in life. They chase after wealth and success, forgetting that true value is found within their loved ones and not external objects. Joe from The Gilded Six-Bits by Zora Neale Hurston is my favorite character because of his weaknesses concerning societal status and his corresponding character growth based on his interactions with other supporting characters such as his wife Missie May and Slemmons.

Joe struggles with his position in society and wants to attain higher status for himself and his wife. When Slemmons come to town, his content lifestyle is completely overthrown in his envy of Slemmons’s gilded appearance. He even tries to mimic Slemmons’s posture: “Missie May went off to dress and Joe spent the time trying to make his stomach punch out like Slemmons’ middle. He tried the rolling swagger of the stranger, but found that his tall bone-and-muscle stride fitted ill with it” (303). In the climax of the story, Joe finds his wife cheating with Slemmons for a few pieces of his gold but discovers that Slemmons’s fancy watch chain is not actually gold. It is only gilded with a thin layer. Joe tells the store clerk, “He had it on his watch chain for a charm—goin’ ’round making out iss gold money. Ha ha! He had a quarter on his tie pin and it wuz all golded up too. Tryin’ to fool people. Makin’ out he so rich and everything” (308). Joe realizes that appearances are not always what they seem and becomes content with the true values in life once again. After all, keeping his new little blossoming family together is far more important than any piece of gold will ever be.

One of the main aspects of this short story is the relationship between Joe and his new little wife Missie May. After the mistreatment many of the husbands in other short stories demonstrate towards their wives, Joe’s behavior towards his wife really stands out even if Joe does treat their marriage superficially at first. For instance, he describes their relationship: “That was the best part of life—going home to Missie May. Their white-washed house, the mock battle on Saturday, the dinner and ice cream parlor afterwards, church on Sunday nights when Missie out-dressed any other woman in town—all, everything was right” (304). Although he is more focused on the shallow parts of their relationship, he still carries his wife in high esteem. After Missie May cheats on her husband, their relationship is very strained. However, Joe does not turn her away and eventually forgives his wife for her error. After Missie May delivers his baby, Joe cares for her as much as a working man can: “Joe said nothing. He fooled around the house till late in the day then just before he went to work, he went and stood at the foot of the bed and asked his wife how she felt. He did this every day during the week” (308). The way Joe handles Missie May’s misdemeanor demonstrates his loving and respectful behavior. His interactions with his wife shows character development of a foolish young man into a mature one. At the end of the story, both Missie May and Joe regain their playfulness, but in a more settled way.

            Both Joe and Missie May are swept away by Slemmons’s appearance and envy his wealthy status. However, Slemmons envies their sweet relationship and ruins the young romance with the promise of gold. Joe struggles to rebuild his marriage after this infidelity, but finally realizes the value in internal character rather than in the appearance of wealth.