Introduction

Originally published in Story magazine in 1933, Zora Neale Hurston's "The Gilded Six-Bits" has become a canonical, frequently anthologized text, one that has proven to be a popular addition to literature classrooms across the United States. A shining example of Hurston's use of dialect and "local color" – traits for which she is well-known – this short story is perhaps the most famous example of Hurston's shorter fiction. A tale with an "appearance versus reality" theme, "The Gilded Six-Bits" reveals how things are not always what they appear at first glance: "objects are covered to make them seem better than they are," people are "two-faced," and the "slippery nature of language makes communication impossible" (German 5).

This Depression-era story, which takes place in the fictional town of Eatonville, Florida, is also touted as a tale about love and betrayal. Demonstrating how a disruptive force can affect an otherwise happy marriage, a flashy outsider named Otis D. Slemmons tempts Missie May (the young wife in the story) into cheating on her loyal husband, Joe Banks. As Nancy Chinn and Elizabeth E. Dunn neatly summarize in their article, "'The Ring of Singing Metal on Wood': Zora Neale Hurston's Artistry in 'The Gilded Six-Bits,'" Hurston's story is about "love, marriage, value conflict, and new beginnings" (775). In this short narrative, "Hurston explores approximately one year in the life of one couple, Missie May and Joe Banks, to relate a parable that has an appeal beyond its specific historical context as she tells how Joe and Missie May faced the challenge of a street-wise stranger named Otis D. Slemmons" (Chinn and Dunn 775). Of course, the story is also rich with symbolism, hence, the "gilded six-bits" referenced in the story's title, a symbol alluding to the theme of appearance versus reality, which Hurston dramatizes by depicting objects superficially covered to make them appear more than they are. These gilded coins, as Anthony Dawahare emphasizes, point to the "corrosive effects of money (as a fetishization of bourgeois whiteness) on relationships" (39-40).

While these aspects of the story remain crucial to understanding its plot, characters, theme, and cultural-historical context, the extant scholarship has already done much to unpack their significance, so much so that other features of the story have been underexplored, if not altogether ignored. With the majority of scholarship emphasizing Hurston's handling of language/dialect and/or her use of the aforementioned themes and symbols, the fact that the story also functions as a fable about black manhood has been glossed over. Hence, this analysis seeks to illuminate Hurston's competing depictions of manhood and the tropes of masculinity presented in the story as these concerns represent a subtext of "The Gilded Six-Bits," which has been hitherto neglected. Given that Hurston was a trained anthropologist, and considering that her fiction reflects a sustained interest in the human condition, it should not be surprising that this story would include an interrogation about various representations of black masculinity as well.

Moreover, as Keith Clark notes, from Frederick Douglass to the present, there has been a constant "preoccupation with manhood and masculinity" in the works of black writers (68). Given that "defining African American manhood was a central concern of the Harlem Renaissance (a black literary and cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s)," it makes sense that Hurston's story would reflect this concern (Carroll 17). Hurston's engagement can be located as she brings representations to light via two of the story's main characters: Joe Banks and Otis D. Slemmons. Presented in the story as rivals for Missie May's affections, the two men not only compete for her sexual and romantic attention, but also offer competing visions of masculinity. As these three characters form a love triangle – husband-wife-lover – that propels the plot, their mutual interactions highlight how competing definitions of manhood are at play in the text. A hardworking man who wants nothing more than to establish a home and family, Joe Banks, Missie May's new husband, embodies a particular type of masculinity as he attempts to find fulfillment in his marriage and home. In contrast, Otis D. Slemmons, who is always on the move and fashions himself as a "ladies' man," represents another mode of masculinity via his transient lifestyle. Both modes of masculinity hold some appeal to Missie May.

The fact that Hurston represents these modes of masculinity as multifaceted makes sense given the cultural and historical context of her story. To be sure, questions surrounding black manhood in the Jim Crow South are fraught with complications, a point that Marlon B. Ross makes in his book, Manning the Race: Reforming Black Men in the Jim Crow Era:

The Jim Crow regime poses an impossible paradox for those endeavoring to build an efficacious black manhood. On the one hand, the Jim Crow system insists that men of African descent are not fully men – in effect, that they are not capable of being normal men...On the other hand, while Jim Crow insists on black men's natural deficiency as men, it necessarily also demands that they adhere and aspire to the social codes established for the conduct of men. (1-2)

Scholars, however, "who pinpoint the black male dilemma as deriving basically from the gap between the ideal male gender role for the American society and the actual ability of black males to realize it, miss the mark" (Gause 48). To be sure, throughout American history, black men were not "expected to be able to fulfill the ideal male gender role. Indeed, it was made abundantly clear that severe repercussions would follow if they made serious and persistent efforts to do so" (Gause 48). Indeed, black men "[e]xercising power, at the economic, political, social, and cultural level" were "fervently opposed. Indeed, this was the source for innumerable violent conflicts, notably lynching" (Gause 48). Thus, black men occupied a liminal space in society, even as they were forced to negotiate conflicting ideologies.

Joe and Missie May's Marriage:
A Model of Domestic Bliss?

Despite the paradox Ross alludes to, and even while conflicting ideologies inform definitions of black manhood, all-too-often the "meaning of manhood has been treated as largely unidimensional and universal – man as economic provider and as head of the family" (Hunter and Davis 20). These roles, of breadwinner and household leader, are ones that Joe Banks takes on happily in Hurston's story.  As Missie May's husband, he pays the bills – thanks to his job at G. and G. Fertilizer plant – and makes the household decisions while Missie May tends to the house and cooks. In this respect, Joe happily conforms to the role of breadwinner with Missie May content in the domestic sphere. Their marital arrangement seems, at first, to work well for them, as the initial picture that Hurston presents of the home Joe and Missie May share is one of domestic bliss:

It was a Negro yard around a Negro house in a Negro settlement that looked to the payroll of the G. and G. Fertilizer works for its support. But there was something happy about the place. The front yard was parted in the middle by a sidewalk from gate to doorstep, a sidewalk edged on either side by quart bottles driven neck down into the ground on a slant. A mess of homey flowers planted without a plan but blooming cheerily from their helter-skelter places. (Hurston 208)

Much like the "mess of homey flowers," Missie May and Joe seem "planted without a plan," but are "blooming cheerily nonetheless" (Hurston 208). Their mutual satisfaction can be easily witnessed in the story's early scenes. For instance, when Missie May greets her husband upon his arrival home from work, she "grinned with delight" at his presence (Hurston 208). Likewise, "Joe smiled indulgently" back at his wife (Hurston 209). When they sit down for dinner later that night, their contentment is obvious, as well. They share "very little talk during the meal but that little consisted of banter that pretended to deny affection but in reality, flaunted it" (Hurston 210).

It is not until an outsider arrives in Eatonville that their happy home life is shattered. Moreover, it is not until this disruption that both Joe and Missie May begin to re-evaluate their stereotypical – at least in terms of their gendered-division of labor – marital arrangement and their respective notions of manhood. One night after dinner, Joe and Missie May venture to an ice cream parlor and pass the time there with Otis D. Slemmons, the proprietor, a well-dressed man, newly arrived from Chicago. Otis brags about how white women gave him "gold money," a boast that catches the attention of Missie May and Joe alike (Hurston 211). Beyond the fact that Otis is trying to appear wealthy, this scene also underscores how he fancies himself a "ladies' man." His boasting is not lost on Joe, who seems particularly impressed by Otis. On the way home that night, Joe is jubilant as he expresses his admiration for the man's mode of masculinity: "Didn't Ah say ole Otis was swell? Can't he talk Chicago talk?” (Hurston 212). Beyond flaunting his apparent wealth and suggesting his prowess with women, the fact that Otis purports to be from the big city clearly has an effect on Joe as does the sophisticated manner of speaking that Otis displays.

Missie May also seems momentarily impressed, noticing "he sho is got uh heap uh gold on 'im," but she quickly clarifies that she does not see him as equal to Joe (Hurston 212). Joe, notably, is jealous and expresses feelings of inferiority in this passage. He admits that he feels he "can't hold no light to Otis D. Slemmons," since he "ain't never been nowhere," whereas Otis brags of being from "spots and places – Memphis, Chicago, Jacksonville, Philadelphia and so on" (Hurston 211). Nonetheless, Joe insists that he remains fulfilled: "Ah'm satisfied de way Ah is. So long as Ah be yo' husband. Ah don't keer 'bout nothin' else" (Hurston 211). Since Joe's contentment rests so heavily on his relationship with Missy May, he is acknowledging that he derives real fulfillment from his role as husband and provider.

When their romantic relationship gets tested, Joe must therefore re-evaluate not only his marriage, but also his own sense of identity as a man since Missy Mae and their life together is his raison de vivre. This point is evidenced when he relates that "the best part of life" was "going home to Missie May" (Hurston 213). Although she initially communicates ambivalence about Otis and his flashy demeanor, there is later a reversal, and she is seduced by what he represents ("gold"), ultimately betraying Joe with him (Hurston 211). Joe catches Otis and Missy in bed together when he arrives home early one night after the "acid had run out" at the plant where he works (Hurston 213). As Joe realizes when he witnesses her betrayal firsthand, Missie May had clearly been tempted by the mode of masculinity that Otis (falsely) represents. Apparently unfulfilled with the simplicity and security of life with hard-working Joe, Missie May has been seduced by the (seemingly) worldly Otis. Yet, as she soon realizes, this exchange comes with a high cost. For Missy May, her marital relationship with Joe also means having a stable home life, a quality that – despite the many other (false) promises he makes – Otis cannot offer her. In this regard, Otis's mode of manhood comes up short in Missie May's estimation, especially when measured against normative notions and what Joe can provide for her.

While Joe's mode of manhood is evident in the way that he takes care of Missie May, it is also worth noting that he represents a major departure from stereotypes about black men from that era, namely that they were frequently "absent, footloose, and sexually irresponsible" (Brown 2055). In contrast, Joe is a steady and reliable presence in Missie May's life. Moreover, Joe's hard-working nature, job, and relative financial stability all allow Missie May to reside in a comfortable, if modest, house. Speaking of black families' historical relationship to housing, Elda Maria Román makes the point that "where they live and the kinds of homes they have become markers of how they perceive themselves in relation to the class and racial hierarchies of their day" (731). While Joe cannot compete with Otis in terms of sophistication or manner of dress, he nonetheless demonstrates his ability to provide for Missie May in ways that Otis cannot. In the aftermath of being caught with Otis, Missie May seems to realize this fact, and she immediately regrets having been unfaithful to Joe. Tellingly, at this point, Otis exits the text and presumably also moves away from Eatonville for parts unknown. With him absent, Missie May tries, and eventually succeeds, in winning back Joe's affections. When she delivers a healthy son, Joe fully takes her back into his heart – in fact, even his mother, who had expressed skepticism about Missy May in her role as wife, seems to endorse their family union at this point.

Yet, even with Missie May and Joe's reconciliation complete (which effectively concludes the story), questions linger regarding Hurston's portrayal of manhood and the messages she is trying to send. Indeed, these questions become even more crucial when considering them in the context of Hurston's other literary works, especially Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), a novel in which she interrogates different styles of masculinity (as well as femininity). Considering that Hurston depicts widely different characteristics in the three men that Janie – that novel's protagonist – has relationships with underscores the author's interest in exploring competing modes of masculinity.


Otis’s Movement:
Migration as a Metaphor for Male Mobility

Considering that Hurston has focused on the theme elsewhere in her literary oeuvre, given that there is a proliferation of varied and conflicting notions of manhood to be found in African American literature as a whole, and taking into account the time period in which Hurston was writing, it should not be surprising that Hurston would ascribe characteristics to Otis to represent a certain type of masculinity. To be sure, Otis's role in the story proves more significant than the third point in a love triangle made up of him, Missie May, and Joe. Likewise, Joe's discovery of Otis in bed with his wife is undoubtedly an important catalyst that compels him to move away from Eatonville. However, Otis also functions in the story as the embodiment of a specific mode of masculinity: his masculinity is bound up in his freedom, the only manner of empowerment available to him. Moreover, Otis’s movement reflects a broader theme, that of black men’s migration in the 1930s.

In the case of Otis D. Slemmons, his literal movement from place to place signals much in the text. For one, it establishes his transient nature. It also serves as foreshadowing for the reader that his stay in the town of Eatonville shall likewise be short-lived. However, for Otis, the fact that he is from all over – "spots and places" – works, most notably, as a metaphor for both the freedom he has seized and the social mobility he desires, but has been denied (Hurston 211). In other words, for Otis, the geographic mobility he has clearly attained, and which arguably defines his existence, is a way for him to demonstrate that he is bound to no one and to no place. At the same time, it operates as a stand-in for the social mobility that he – despite the outer trappings saying otherwise – has been cut off from as a black man in the Depression-era US. While he can present the guise of a wealthy man, the reality of his situation is far different. His options remain limited, given the lack of opportunities for black men in the Jim Crow era. With respect to this latter point, even if he were to attempt to define himself as a man within the black community, given the unfair playing field, this journey would prove difficult. Otis would have most likely continued to struggle with upward mobility, be it social or economic.

With social and economic opportunities largely denied to him, Otis seeks, instead, a sense of freedom and power. He does this by moving around and being beholden to no one. Indeed, the hasty manner Otis departs the text only further underscores his transient nature.  Moreover, it suggests that he will likely continue to move around without truly attaining stability. Joe's characterization of Otis's brief time in Eatonville – and, in particular, the fact he refers to Otis a "stray" that came "through Eatonville" – even further drives home this point (Hurston 218). Hence, it is obvious to those within the story and readers of the story alike that Otis was just passing through and that Eatonville, for him, was just one of many stops on his journey. In this respect, Otis reproduces a stereotype that had some basis in reality.

Reflected not only in fictional representations, but grounded also in historical practices, there existed a trend of black men migrating around America in the long period that followed the Civil War – and this fact was especially true during the time period when Hurston's story is set, the period of the "Great Migration." Fueled by racial and socio-economic factors, black men migrated in the hopes of finding better opportunities and living conditions. Sociologists, well-aware of this phenomenon, describe how "especially since the Industrial Revolution, migration was spurred on by labor needs, food crisis, political persecution, urbanization, natural disaster, and of course free choice" (Mathieu 19). Unlike other migrations, "African American migration since Reconstruction was a distinctly American experience, with important social, political, economic, and demographic ramifications for the nation's history" (Mathieu 19).

As Stewart E. Tolnay and E. M. Beck explain, "the abolition of slavery presented southern blacks with many new opportunities, including the freedom to relocate if existing circumstances were unsatisfactory or the potential for improved conditions beckoned elsewhere" (103). This "free black population in the South had a tradition of short distance moves – often from the countryside to the city or from farm to farm – in pursuit of employment. But the massive surge in black migration during the second and third decades of this century represented a demographic revolution" (Tolnay and Beck 103).  While the stereotype of this mass movement imagines black migration from the South to the North, as Tonay and Beck clarify, "not all black migrants during the era of the 'Great Migration' were headed northward, however. There was a great deal of circulation within southern states" (104).

In Hurston's story, Otis's backstory and transient lifestyle both conform to the model described by these sociologists who give accounts of migration patterns within the black community. Indeed, upon scrutiny, his experiences very much conform to "the dominant discourses from the 1930s to the 1950s that constructed the African American male as 'absent and wandering'" (Brown 2052). In this respect, Otis represents and adheres to a competing mode of masculinity, especially when compared the one that Joe Banks embodies. Otis, unlike Joe, lacks a stable home life, but he exercises his freedom by his geographic movements. 

Conclusion

For all their dissimilarities, however, Joe and Otis share in common the fact that they both are in the predicament of being a black man in America in the Jim Crow era. In differing ways, both show how "Black males are 'in crisis'" (Brown 2047). Joe Banks negotiates within this framework the best way he knows how: his hard work and sacrifice enable him to provide a stable home for himself, Missie May, and (eventually) their son. However, Joe's relative contentment gets threatened when another man comes on the scene. For his part, Otis displays outer trappings of masculinity by the way he dresses and flaunts his "gold," but struggles nonetheless amidst a society that offers few opportunities for him as Hurston so empathetically reveals (211). Rather than make a stand in a potentially inhospitable environment – and having essentially worn out his welcome in Eatonville – Otis remains on the move, conforming to a pattern of migration.

While these observations are not intended to overshadow other features of her fiction, such as how Hurston skillfully uses dialect and symbolism in her "local color" work, this analysis does hope to draw needed attention to an overlooked dimension of the plot. Joe Banks and Otis D. Slemmons display competing notions of masculinity while also raising questions about the place of black men in 1930s America. As these characters interact in the story, they embody the various definitions of manhood at play in the text. The fact that Hurston represents these modes of masculinity as multifaceted makes sense given the cultural and historical context of her story. In particular, the way that she presents each man as having something to offer, but falling short in other respects, reflects the predicament that many black men encountered in the depression era – as well as the predicament of the women with whom they come in contact.

Works Cited

Brown, Anthony L. "'Same Old Stories': The Black Male in Social Science and Educational Literature, 1930s to the Present." Teachers College Record, vol. 113, no. 9, 2011, pp. 2047-2079.

Carroll, Bret E., editor. American Masculinities: A Historical Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications, 2004.

Chinn, Nancy, and Elizabeth E. Dunn. "'The Ring of Singing Metal on Wood': Zora Neale Hurston's Artistry in 'The Gilded Six-Bits.'" The Mississippi Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 4, 1996, pp. 775-790. 

Clark, Keith. Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, and August Wilson. U of Illinois P, 2004.

Dawahare, Anthony. "The Gold Standard of Racial Identity in Nella Larsen's Quicksand and Passing." Twentieth Century Literature, vol. 52, no. 1, 2006, pp. 22-41.

Gause, C.P. "Black Masculinity." Counterpoints, vol. 337, 2008, pp. 37-59.

German, Norman. "Counterfeiting and a Two-Bit Error in Zora Neale Hurston's 'The Gilded Six-Bits.'" Xavier Review, vol. 19, no. 2, 1999, pp. 5-15.

Hunter, Andrea G., and James Earl Davis. "Hidden Voices of Black Men: The Meaning, Structure, and Complexity of Manhood." Journal of Black Studies, vol. 25, no. 1, 1994, pp. 20-40.

Hurston, Zora Neale. "The Gilded Six-Bits." I Love Myself When I am Laughing... and Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader, edited by Alice Walker and Mary Helen Washington, Feminist Press, 1979.

---. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. Virago, 1986.

Mathieu, Sarah-Jane (Saje). "The African American Great Migration Reconsidered." OAH Magazine of History, vol. 23, no. 4, 2009, pp. 19-23.

Román, Elda Maria. "Mortgaged Status: Literary Representations of Black Home Ownership and Social Mobility." Contemporary Literature, vol. 55, no. 4, 2014, pp. 726-759.

Ross, Marlon B. Manning the Race: Reforming Black Men in the Jim Crow Era. NYU Press, 2004.

Tolnay, Stewart E., and E.M. Beck. "Racial Violence and Black Migration in the American South, 1910 to 1930." American Sociological Review, vol. 57, no. 1 1992, pp. 103-116.