TEWWG pg 57

Text: "Janie, Ah reckon you better go fetch me dem old black gaiters. Dese tan shoes sets mah feet on fire. Plenty room in em, but they hurts regardless."

I think that the new shoes Joe tells Janie to bring him are a metaphor for going back to his old ways or turning over a new leaf. His tan shoes represent him as a black man with a white mans power and rule. Right before he sets the old mule free on pg 58, Joe switches into his old black gater shoes which represent him before his power as the nice man that set Janies love blossoming.