Consider of money and the presence or lack of it–wealth and poverty–on the shape of the story and on the lives of the characters and their personalities.

Money in this story serves the function of symbolizing how people think certain things will help them rise above their situation, but in the end, it can be an illusion. Money seems to be a solution to both Joe and Missie May, to the point that Missie May was willing to cheat on her husband to get some, but she soon discovers that money is no solution to her problems at all, and that it is a false promise of hope. In the end, Missie May and Joe lacked money, but they possessed something more important, the love of a true companion, and did not realize it. Perhaps as a broader metaphor, money may be meant to stand for the aspirations of White American society, which values wealth above all else, and how it is counterproductive for African Americans to pursue those same values, because there are more important things they may want to pursue. As a metaphor for the greater situation of African Americans in the South, Hurston may be stating that seeking equal treatment, being wary of charlatans with false promises, and valuing community, are more important than seeking to compete in White America’s pursuit of wealth.