Drama; African-American Literature
This tale focuses on a young married couple and the insertion of a stranger to that dynamic. On the outside the marriage between Joe and Missie seems ideal, loving and innocent. Joe brings home the bacon and Missie cooks it, but things really start sizzling when a new man, Otis Slemmons, comes into town with a lot of flashy gold and everyone gets caught up in the excitement.
The conflict comes from Joe's admiration of the man and Missie's subsequent attempt to get money from him. Unfortunately, her exchange of goods with Slemmons doesn't work out as planned. Drama is everywhere when Joe finds his wife with Slemmons in his bed, and readers go through the ups and downs of a marriage in peril.
Hurston was also one of the most prominent writers to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and this story's dialogue is written in the black vernacular—not to mention, almost every character in the story is black. Hurston's works make up one of the pillars of African-American literature, and this story fits right in.