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The Gilded Six Bit

Joe meets a man by the name of Otis D. Slemmons. Otis D. Slemmons is a flashy kind of fellow. He reminded me of a retroactive disco freak from the seventies. You can picture this guy in your mind with all the gold on. Gold teeth, five dollar gold piece for a stick pin, ten dollar gold piece on his watch chain. Can you picture this man? A braggart who tells stories that others are stupid enough to believe(254). Joe seems quite taken with this character and his gold. Missie Mae listens attentively as Joe praises Otis D. Slemmons. Joe wishes that he had a belly and the gold to go with it(254).
             How far would you be willing to go to make your mate happy? We all make concessions to our significant other all in the name of love. But, what if you thought the only way your mate was going to be happy was if he had gold? You are poor and there is no way for you to get it for him or her. Joe unknowingly set events into motion he could not possibly imagine. His fascination with the gold gave Missy Mae the false impression that this was what he needed to make him happy. "Ah can't hold no candle to Otis D. Slemmons" Joe told Missie Mae, "Ah ain't never been nowhere and I ain't got nuthin"(255). Imagine leaving your job going home early and finding your wife in bed with another man. That's exactly what happened to Joe. Joe, a man that thought he had the perfect marriage. A man that was so shocked at seeing his wife with someone else all he could do is laugh(256). What was the irony of it all? Otis D. Slemmons was the man Missie Mae was with. A man that Joe looked up to and even wished he was, a man that showed his true cowardice when Joe caught him with his wife. "Please suh, don't kill me. Sixty tow dollars at de sto. Gold money(256). Can you imagine? Sixty two dollars for a man that is suppose to be so rich? Even to beg for his life to begin with is cowardly enough. In the ensuing scuffle, which I believe any married man would punch out the man he caught his wife with, Joe finally gets what was so important to him .


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