The Gilded Six Bits
The Gilded Six-Bits is a 1933 short story written by Zora Neale Hurston, who is considered one of the pre-eminent writers of 20th-century African-American history. Hurston was a relative newcomer on the literary scene when this short story was published, but eventually had greater success with her highly acclaimed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Gilded Six-Bits is now published in Hurston's compilation of short stories entitled Spunk in which it is now considered one of her best stories. The Gilded Six-Bits is a story full of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. It portrays the life of two happy newlyweds who both test their relationship and their love for one another when a charismatic outsider comes into their community and into their home. The story embodies Hurston's typical writing style in which it focuses on the common African-American lifestyle, represented by dialect and metaphors, and is set in her native town Eatonville, FL where it reflects the traditions of the community. The Gilded Six-Bits symbolizes the meaning of a true marriage and the truth that lies underneath its meaning.
Read more about The Gilded Six Bits: Plot Summary, Themes, Influences, and Symbols, Film
Famous quotes containing the words gilded and/or bits:
“Let Sporus tremble—‘What? That thing of silk,
Sporus, that mere white curd of ass’s milk?
Satire or sense, alas, can Sporus feel,
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?’
Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings,
This painted child of dirt, that stinks and stings;
Whose buzz the witty and the fair annoys,
Yet wit ne’er tastes, and beauty ne’er enjoys:”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“What in fact have I achieved, however much it may seem? Bits and pieces ... trivialities. But here they won’t tolerate anything else, or anything more. If I wanted to take one step in advance of the current views and opinions of the day, that would put paid to any power I have. Do you know what we are ... those of us who count as pillars of society? We are society’s tools, neither more nor less.”
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)