The Gilded Six-Bits Characters

Our first impression of Missie May is anything but innocent: Her dark-brown skin glistened under the soapsuds that skittered down from her washrag. Her stiff young breasts thrust forward aggres...

In "The Gilded Six-Bits" we get a pretty positive picture of Joe: he's a hard worker, he supports his wife, and he buys her presents. He even gives her cute compliments, like when they eat sweet po...

Mister Otis D. Slemmons, of spots and places—Memphis, Chicago, Jacksonville, Philadelphia and so on. (35) From the minute we meet him, we can tell that Slemmons has an air of importance to hi...

Although she's a minor character in the story, Joe's mother serves two important purposes. For starters, she is the motivation for Missie May to change her mind about leaving Joe. She runs into...

Another minor character, the candy store clerk in Orlando still plays a notable role. In his quick, ignorant comment about African Americans, we get a glimpse of racial relations during the 1930s:...