Consider the role(s) of betrayal and infidelity in the story.

Betrayal and infidelity play leading roles in The Gilded Six Bits. The story begins with Missie May and Joe playing flirtatiously and obviously in love. Their relationship seems strong. Joe even notes; “That was the best part of life–going home to Missie May.” One evening on his walk home, Joe thinks about their future and imagines having children and starting a family: “…he saw it with his feelings. It made him yearn painfully for Missie… He thought about children.” The scene is set for disaster as Joe arrives home early to find his wife in bed with Slemons. Joe’s intense love for Missie and his dreams of growing old together make the moment especially tragic. Her infidelity breaks his heart and creates inordinate damage and grief for them both. But betrayal and infidelity do not break their marriage. When Missie gives birth to a baby boy, whose paternity is in question, Joe decides to reclaim his life and leave the painful chapter behind. He has a son to raise, after all. He rids himself of the gilded coin left behind by Slemons on the night of the affair. This act symbolizes Joe’s readiness to renew his faith in his wife and to begin rebuilding their fractured past.