Summary Of Gilded Six Bits By Zora Hurston

Alice Walker says "without money of one's own in a capitalist society, there is no such thing as independence.” She writes this about Zora Hurston the author of “Gilded Six Bits” she wrote in 1933. Walker makes her “Hurston: A Cautionary Tale and a Partisan View several years later in 1979. The main outcome that Walker points out is that we need money in order to gain independence. She explains this by saying "Without money, an illness, even a simple one, can undermine the will. Without money, getting into a hospital is problematic and getting out without money to pay for treatment is nearly impossible. Without money one becomes dependent on other people"(962). She then adds that people are willing to help you but they want something in return.

Walker writes “Zora was forced to rely on the kindness of strangers”(962). This is a huge step back from her independance that she supports her claim about money in a capitalist society. Having worked all your life and nothing to show for it was the outcome for Hurston’s life. The result, by Walker was due to “America does not support or honor us as being human beings, let alone as blacks, women, and artists”(963). In Hurston’s story, she focuses on the characters Missie May, her husband Joe, and Slemmons, a wealthy man who own’s a ice cream shop they visit. In it Missie May sees her husband work so hard and has little to show for it. Slemmons shows off by his clothes and gold teeth. Missie is attracted to this and is one night caught them together when he comes home early. The money Slemmons leaves behind for Missie turns out to be a fake gilded half dollar. The ending shows how happy they are again when they play around with their silver dollars. To the couple, money drove the wife to be unfaithful to give her husband what she thought money could buy. This also supports Walker’s claim having wanting money, be the reason why she became unhappy in the first place. Missie let the thought of money drive her to sadness which might have never happened if she didn’t give in at first.