The Gilded Six-Bits

“The Gilded Six-Bits” was a different story from what I am used to. It was from a different time, a different culture, and a different society, yet its themes and messages can be applied to my life. The story is about a young couple, Joe and Missie May, who although poor, are very happy and in love. Then a man from out of town comes in who is apparently rich and has gold teeth, watches, chains, and coins. Joe says how he wishes he had those things and Missie May sleeps with the man to try to get some gold for her and her husband. Joe catches them and feels many emotions but knows that he still loves his wife. There is a period of awkwardness and alienation from each other. During this time it is learned that the mans gold was simply gilded and not actually worth that much. After some time they have a baby on the way. After the baby is born their relationship goes back to how it was before the event that had them alienated from each other for so long.

What can be taken away is not to judge people on initial appearances. Joe and Missie May both saw the new man who came into town as some big shot who was wealthy but in reality he was just a fraud trying to be bigger than he actually was. Apparently he had done this in many places and poor people like Missie May get tricked into sleeping with him for money that they think is a lot of Gold when its really just gilded and not worth much.

Something else this story demonstrates is how if a person truly loves someone, they should be able to forgive them for mistakes they make. Joe was able to forgive Missie May for what she did. Although it took awhile for him to go completely back to normal, he eventually did. Him being almost overly nice throughout the whole thing just built up more guilt to Missie May which got his point across probably more than it would have if had just started screaming and yelling at her. Joe’s calmness through it all also helped Missie May see how much he really did love her and in turn, Joe got love from her.

This story was different from what I am used to in terms of the vernacular. The dialogue was somewhat hard to read at first but once I got into it, I did not mind it and ended up being able to pull out some of the themes that I personally can relate to including not to judge people by what they say of themselves and to forgive friends and loved ones for mistakes.