Who among us has not been shaped to some degree by our life experiences and religious or moral beliefs? The main character in the short story “Sweat” by Zora Neal Hurston is no exception to this rule, and Hurston demonstrates this very effectively throughout the story with the use of symbolism. The deeply religious, hard-working Delia seems cursed with the burden of a lazy and morally bankrupt husband, however she is able to persevere through the trials of her everyday life because of the strong influence of religion on her life. Hurston shows that Delia is shaped and grows stronger due to her religious beliefs time and time again throughout the story; not only through the biblical references made throughout, such as referring to Gethsemane, the rocks of Calvary, and the river Jordan, but also through describing Delia’s devout religion when detailing her Sunday church activities and her fear of snakes which is symbolic of evil.
When we are first introduced to Delia, we find her sorting laundry for wash the next day after spending her Sunday morning in church. Although it was late at night, Delia was still up sorting and soaking the laundry, preparing for her busy day on Monday. This is where we first see evidence of Delia’s devout faith. To many religious people, particularly in the South during this time period, the Sabbath (or Sunday) is considered a day to be devoted to attending church worship services. It is of great importance to Delia that she be able to devote her Sunday to worship, so “she collected the soiled clothes on Saturday when she returned the clean things. Sunday night, after church, she sorted and put the white things to soak” (Hurston 563). Even when her violent husband, Sykes, comes in and kicks her freshly s...
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...n with her day to day life and endure her mistreatment at the hands of her husband knowing that she will one day be free from it all, and her wicked lout of a husband Sykes. After a day of worship in church on Sunday, Delia finds the strength to stand up to Sykes by not taking any action to save him from his fatal snakebite, which was caused ultimately by his own evil actions. How fitting that this man who was portrayed as a slimy snake was killed by an actual snake, one of God’s creatures.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. “Sweat.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 563-571. Print.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. “Sweat.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 563-571. Print.
Hurston puts many biblical allusions in this short story. Delia is a woman with strong faith. At one point , she even went to the extent of changing her church so she would not have to deal with Syke (Hurston 707). Sykes is said to “ have strayed from God’s path of righteousness” (Hurd 3). One allusion that contributes to Delia’s character is the following:
Hurston, Zora Neale. "Sweat." Norton Anthology of Southern Literature. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York: Norton, 1998.
The character Janie in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is portrayed as a woman who has a modern mindset that is much too advanced for her thinking. Janie does things that raise much controversy with the community and endures situations that would be deemed inhumane in today’s society. Examining the abuse, oppression and criticism Janie undergoes in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God from both a contemporary woman's viewpoint and an early twentieth century woman's viewpoint reveals differences, as well as similarities in the way people respond to events.
Setting, including physical location and time, is essential for establishing the backgrounds and identities of characters in a piece. Even within countries like the United States, where English is the national language and spoken by almost everyone, regional influences on language exist. The way a character speaks and communicates is an important part of their personal identity as a character, as well as an expression of their regional and cultural background. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Sweat, the dialect of the South used by the characters is a ready example of the influence of culture on one’s language. The heavy influences of culture are apparent in many texts, and a change in time or location would alter the language and mannerisms of speech
Hurston, Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. Print.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
It is strange that two of the most prominent artists of the Harlem Renaissance could ever disagree as much as or be as different as Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright. Despite the fact that they are the same color and lived during the same time period, they do not have much else in common. On the one hand is Hurston, a female writer who indulges in black art and culture and creates subtle messages throughout her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. On the other hand is Wright, who is a male writer who demonstrates that whites do not like black people, nor will they ever except for when they are in the condition “…America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears.” Hurston was also a less political writer than Wright. When she did write politically, she was very subtle about stating her beliefs.
Zora Neale Hurston's writing style in Dust Tracks on a Road is one of her greatest advantages. She easily and humorously show cases southern African American dialect. Examples of this southern African American dialect is when she shares with her readers co...
Kempe, Margery. "From The Book of Margery Kempe." The Norton Anthology of Literature By Women. 2nd ed. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 18-24.
Hurston, Zora N. "Sweat." Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardener, Beverly Lawn, Jack Ridl, and Peter Schakel. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin, 2013. 176-79. Print.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their eyes were watching God: a novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Charters, Ann & Samuel. Literature and its Writers. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 137-147. Print.
Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.