May and Joe "now know that the promises of the city and of the open road are often gilded and that, for the fulfillment of their dreams, they must fall back upon themselves" (Howard). Both learn the value of forgiveness as Joe works through the process of forgiveness.
The grass appears greener on the other side of the hill because sometimes our own interpretation skews our perspective. Things always look better from farther away and it is human nature to want more. However, May and Joe learn that more is not always better. Joe and May did not know the value of the happiness they shared when they were "poor." The truth is that in their poverty, they had what many people would give anything to have and that is real love. May and Joe are like many people in that they simply fail to appreciate what they have. Slemmons makes them think they are missing out on something wonderful because they do not have pieces of gold to toss around the town. However, people have a way of concealing the truth and fooling others. Slemmons was a fake for the most part. His gold was phony and May learns why he does not want anyone to touch it. From afar, the pieces looked real and they generated the very feelings of jealousy and desire that Slemmons wanted then to generate. The gold gave his some kind of status in the town but no kind of happiness. In fact, we can see that he was a despicable character with no morals at all. Hurston presents many personality types with this story. May provides us with an example of the free spirit and Joe represents the frailties of the human spirit. Slemmons symbolizes the deceptive nature...
Of these characters, we see the strongest are the ones that experienced true love. May and Joe would never have survived adultery without it. They learn the value of their love and can finally appreciate it as worthy. They are lucky, as many marriages do not survive infidelity. However, we learn that this type of love is something money cannot buy. In a world filled with temptations, the one true thing that everyone seeks is the one thing that money simply cannot own.
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