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Creation obsessed him. He thought about children. They had been married more than a year now. They had money put away. They ought to be making little feet for shoes. A little boy child would be about right.

Just before the climax of the story, Joe walks home from work fantasizing about having a child. The phrasing of Joe’s thoughts as an obsession implies that Joe has blinders on about other things occurring in his life and marriage. Coupled with other biblical imagery found throughout the story, the idea that Joe thinks of himself as a creator implies that his hubris will be his downfall. At the same time, Joe’s desire to start a family are perfectly natural human instincts and reveal his love for his wife. In the next scene, he discovers Missie May has betrayed him, making all his thoughts about his happy life appear painfully ironic.

The shapeless enemies of humanity that live in the hours of Time had waylaid Joe. He was assaulted in his weakness. Like Samson awakening after his haircut. So he just opened his mouth and laughed.

Immediately following Joe’s discovery of Missie May in bed with Slemmons, he reacts by laughing. Joe’s laughter implies complete shock rather than actual humor and only makes his pain at the betrayal more poignant. The quote also includes a simile regarding the biblical story of Samson, who is tricked by Delilah into revealing that all his power is contained in his hair. Delilah calls upon a Philistine to cut Samson’s hair and take away his power just as Missie May invites Slemmons into her bed to emasculate Joe by sleeping with his wife. Joe’s initial response of laughter illustrates that he is temporarily “weak” in that he does not know how to react. However, as the scene continues, Joe finds his strength again when he punches Slemmons, takes his gilded coin, and kicks him out of his home.

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