“The Gilded Six-Bits” By Zora Neale Hurston
How and why does Hurston incorporate the process of giving great value to seemingly small things (e.g. gifts, personal foibles or tendencies, inside jokes, games) into the story?
Hurston incorporates the process of giving great value to seemingly small things into the story by describing in great detail and length, at the beginning of the story, of how Missie May and Joe interact as a married couple. In the beginning, Hurston’s “The Gilded Six-Bits”, Missie May knows that Joe will be home every Saturday and will throw silver dollars in the door for her to pick up while he will hide behind bushes. She also knows that Joe will hide many surprises for her in his pocket including candy kisses, yet she and Joe still pretend like it’s their first time. Joe and Missie May will often role-play as a way of expressing their love. They don’t openly express their undying love for each other but show it in other ways. For example, during their lunch, there was, “very little talk during the meal but that little consisted of banter that pretended to deny affection but in reality flaunted it.“ Missie May and Joe’s relationship is based on small gestures which can be seen as unobtrusively flirting. It’s how they show love for each other while not flaunting about it.
I think Hurston incorporated these seemingly small things into the story to show that love does not always need to include big and extravagant things, nor does love need to be so apparent. The couple lives a simple life enjoying each other’s small gestures and companion. These small things signify their relationship and the love that exists; however, the simple gifts and gestures were not enough for Missie May. Her greed for more than just silver coins, causes her to commit adultery. Joe then stops getting gifts and flirtatious gestures. Small gestures build a relationship, but all that can be destroyed by one simple act of betrayal as shown by Missie May’s infidelity. Towards the end of the story when Missie May had given birth to a son, Joe bought candy kisses and threw silver coins again on the front porch to signify his forgiveness and the shift in their relationship again.
I totally agree with you on the fact that these small gifts and gestures are the foundations of Joe and Missie May’s relationship. The bantering and the throwing of the coins is what makes their relationship genuine and authentic. These gestures and their games, i believe, is their expression of love towards the other. However, I disagree that it was Missie May’s greed that caused her to cheat on Joe. Her actions doesn’t make her seem like she intentionally cheated for her own personal gains. When Missie May was caught with Otis D. Slemmons, she confessed that she still very much love Joe. She even questioned why Joe was still with her, which isn’t normal for someone who really cheated for money would do.