The Gilded Six-Bits Summary & Analysis

From its opening lines, the story revolves around a modest Eatonville household. Although its dependence on an outside company makes its financial security precarious, this is a happy home—lovingly tended, tidy, bright, and cheerful. Even before characters are introduced, their pride and delight in their home are evident.

In the midst of this beautiful home, Missie May is introduced. She, too, is attractive—the home environment she creates is a reflection of her beauty. Her delight at the sound of the coins bespeaks the rootedness in custom and routine already established—she is expecting her husband and looking forward to what the coins portend. Joe’s “joyful mischief” further sets the tone of their playful, affectionate marriage. Moreover, money plays a positive role in her life with Joe.

Missie May’s mock anger and feigned search suggest a long-established charade. This also introduces the theme of deception, though here it is of a joking sort, founded on the couple’s familiarity and love of one another. The chase and Joe’s pretended resistance are likewise playful, suggesting strong sexual tension. Joe’s pocketed gifts show that he enjoys being able to provide small indulgences for Missie.

Missie May’s teasing insistence on being a “real wife” both underscores her pride in her role and hints that her authenticity might later be in doubt. She relishes preparing an excellent dinner for herself and Joe, a display of plenty amidst their humble circumstances. Their enjoyment of the meal is marked by deep affection, though, like their earlier play, it is characterized by pretended denials of the same. The warmth of the couple’s bond, filled with well-worn domestic comforts, sets up what is to come.

In the midst of such familiar routine, an outsider suddenly appears in the couple’s conversation. Immediately there is a mystique about Otis Slemmons; unlike them, he is not rooted in a particular place. Everything about his “rich man’s” appearance sets him apart from other Eatonville residents and most strikingly from Joe. However, appearances often contrast with reality in Joe and Missie’s interactions, creating an expectation that perhaps Slemmons is not what he seems. Joe and Missie May disagree about Slemmons’ appearance, hinting that Slemmons will be a source of conflict between them in the future. In a world rooted in the familiar, Slemmons represents both the allure and the danger of the unfamiliar.

Joe continues to be hung up on the outward trappings of Slemmons’ wealth and the lifestyle they represent. He insists that Slemmons’ claims about himself are true because they came from Slemmons’ own mouth, revealing Joe’s trusting (gullible?) nature. Moreover, even as Joe and Missie May’s attraction to one another is reaffirmed, Joe appears to feel insecure about Slemmons’ alleged prowess with women, even trying to imitate Slemmons’ build and gait, but failing utterly. Missie May’s skepticism makes her appear the more reasonable of the two when it comes to Slemmons—but are appearances deceiving here as well?

Joe delights in Slemmons’ sophisticated turns of phrase and in the fact that he finds Missie May attractive. Missie May, however, is much more impressed now that she has laid eyes on Slemmons’ gold pieces. She seems genuinely interested, not in Slemmons per se, but in figuring out some way of obtaining gold for themselves. Joe, for all his outward preoccupation with Slemmons, seems genuinely content with the circumstances of his life, as long as he is married to Missie May.

The importance of domestic routine in the Banks’ marriage is reinforced by Joe’s happy reflections on the best parts of his life. The usual sequence of weekend events brings him great satisfaction and seems to reflect the overall health of his relationship with Missie May. Yet showing off his wife’s beauty in public, whether at the ice cream parlor or at church, is a key part of that satisfaction. This suggests an underlying insecurity in Joe.

Near the climax of the story, the moon’s striking beauty, an unusual sight since Joe typically walks home at sunrise, foreshadows the change about to take place in the couple’s marriage. Joe’s reflections also highlight the healthy role played by both money and sexuality in their relationship—an equilibrium that is about to be disrupted.

Joe’s hopeful expectations are cruelly thwarted. The fact that things are out of place in Missie May’s tidy kitchen suggests the disarray about to befall their marriage. When Joe discovers Missie’s infidelity, he is immobilized by the realization that appearances have proven false. Like the biblical Samson shorn of his source of strength,  Joe’s disillusionment leaves him frozen and speechless.

Coming from such a mild-mannered man, Joe’s sudden violence is striking. Until this point, sexuality had only been a source of celebration between the couple; Joe’s rage shows how viscerally he feels Slemmons’ intrusion on their bond and on his role as provider. Joe wrenches from him the item that had allured Missie May. The object that had bestowed power and status on Slemmons is now within his grasp.

Although Missie May had not shown much interest in Slemmons, she was receptive to his advances when accompanied by promises of money. While she was initially more skeptical, she proved more susceptible to deception in the long run than her husband. Her actions with Slemmons have stripped her marriage of pretense. She and Joe will not be able to fall back on jokes and games.

A new phase dawns in the Banks’ marriage. Though Joe no longer feels familiar to Missie May, his request for breakfast allows her to resume her comfortable role, showing her gratitude by preparing a special meal for him. However, the disappearance of banter shows that not all is normal. Where Joe’s silver dollars had once lain on the table between them, Joe now places Slemmons’ coin, called merely “yellow” as if to cast doubt on its worth. In another biblical allusion, Joe tells Missie May not to look back with paralyzing regret on actions that cannot be undone.

The sun’s detached steadiness symbolizes the couple’s new normalcy. Outwardly, they persist as they always have, but their routine is devoid of its characteristic joy and liveliness. With the disappearance of the Saturday romps, domestic life, trust, and the healthy role of both money and sexuality are all disrupted. The specter of Slemmons’ gold piece haunts their marriage.

At first it appears that the couple’s marriage is on the mend, but the impersonal description of the marital act suggests that sex alone cannot heal the breach between them.

Finally the extent of Slemmons’ deceit—and the emptiness of Missie May’s desire—is revealed when she discovers the low value of the coin. Where once the Banks had all they truly needed, now Missie May’s desire for wealth has reaped betrayal and estrangement. Further, her pride is injured by the cold implications of Joe’s “payment.”

Though Missie May is unwilling to tolerate Joe’s insult, her ultimate loyalty to her marriage is sealed when she refuses to concede defeat to Joe’s mother. This turning point signals the genuine love that still exists between the couple, even though it is not outwardly apparent.

An unspecified amount of time passes, symbolized by the ever-consistent sun. A thaw occurs in Joe and Missie May’s relationship. Joe’s concern for his wife’s wellbeing overrides his implied doubts about the baby’s paternity. Joe makes a point of telling Missie May that he isn’t blind, as if to remind her that he is not naïve. In addition, Joe is still hanging onto the gold piece, showing that Missie May’s act still lies between them. He has not let go of the power that his resentment affords him.

Though the timing of the child’s conception, and thus its paternity, is left ambiguous, the arrival of the new baby signals a healing phase in the family’s relationship. Missie May’s strength in childbirth, as well as the baby’s resemblance to Joe, wins the respect of her mother-in-law, whose prediction of more children speaks to her newfound confidence in the marriage. Joe bides his time in voicing an opinion, but is clearly concerned for his wife’s welfare.

Joe’s actions speak louder than his words. His long-delayed shopping trip suggests that he is purposefully resuming his old routine. More than that, he also redeems the deceptive “gold” piece by purchasing an abundance of his wife’s favorite treat, simultaneously getting rid of the coin for good. In so doing, he shows his forgiveness of her actions, reaffirms his love, and reasserts his status as the one who can truly provide for her. He describes himself using the same words he had used for Slemmons, suggesting that he had been uprooted and is now back where he belongs. Also, for the first time, he acknowledges the baby boy as his own son. Contrary to his claim, it had seemed as if Joe was taken in by Slemmons’ charms at first, but Slemmons’ deceit has not triumphed; Joe has emerged wiser and stronger in his devotion to Missie May.

The story ends much as it began, yet the Banks’ marriage has weathered a great deal. Missie May cannot run to the door with carefree exuberance, but when Joe initiates their old game, she still responds with heartfelt, teasing delight. Their love may have lost its newlywed innocence, yet it has been tested and emerged stronger, proving it was not merely“gilded,” but genuine.