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Joe is an optimistic and honest working-class man who is forced to grapple with the betrayal of his wife’s infidelity. Joe’s play-fighting and teasing of Missie May belies a deep and genuine affection for his wife. Joe’s main goal in life is to be a capable provider and a family man, and he proves this by working night shifts and socking away money to support any hypothetical children he and Missie May might have. Joe is also initially painted as a gullible optimist when he is completely taken in by Slemmons’s façade of wealth and desirability. Similarly, the night Joe discovers Missie May and Slemmons in bed together, he is initially not suspicious that his wife is unfaithful and instead is worried for her safety.
 
Prior to the discovery of Missie May’s infidelity, Joe is optimistic about the future, daydreaming about starting a family and looking forward to returning home to Missie May after his work shifts. In the wake of Missie May’s disloyalty, Joe is predictably withdrawn and contemplative. Though his pain over the infidelity is not explicitly stated, it is metaphorically implied when he develops chronic back pain several months after the incident. Joe ultimately reveals his emotional strength when he forgives Missie May and embraces their newborn son, even though the baby’s paternity is technically uncertain.

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