Joe looked down at his own abdomen and said wistfully: “Wisht Ah had a build on me lak he got. He ain’t puzzlegutted, honey. He jes’ got a corperation. Dat make ’m look lak a rich white man. All rich mens is got some belly on ’em.”

Early on in the story, Joe’s greed is activated when he meets Slemmons and falls for his charade of wealth and charisma. Joe’s desire to emulate Slemmons in every way is somewhat comical as he even aspires to have Slemmons’s puzzlegut, or pot belly, because he believes being well-fed is a sign of wealth. Joe is drawn in by Slemmons’s scam because Slemmons intentionally emulates wealth the way white men present it. Just as Slemmons intends, Joe is captivated by his charade of wealth and doesn’t look more closely than surface level and focuses instead on how it might feel to be wealthy himself. While Joe’s greed is harmless in its fantasy, it blinds him to Slemmons’s malicious intent and allows Slemmons to worm his way into Joe’s marital bed.

He’ll do in case of a rush. But he sho is got uh heap uh gold on ’im. Dat’s de first time Ah ever seed gold money. It lookted good on him sho nuff, but it’d look a whole heap better on you.

After meeting Slemmons early in the story, Missie May is overcome with greed. Missie May’s greed erases her previous skepticism and replaces it with desire and fantasy. Missie May immediately covets Slemmons’s wealth and suggests the gold would look much better on Joe. The greed insidiously works its way into Missie May’s heart, and the temptation causes her to betray her marriage vows by getting into bed with Slemmons. Missie May’s actions are confounding considering she does not find Slemmons attractive and repeatedly says Joe is worthier of wealth than Slemmons, but she does not realize that valuing Joe for his character is more important than valuing him based on how much wealth he has. At this point in the story, she has not yet committed infidelity and this quote darkly foreshadows the grave mistake she will ultimately make.