Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston At the time when African Americans writers were struggling, Zora Neale Hurston was realized by her fresh and utterly distinctive language of text. Her style was not so much invented, but it is cleverly brewed together with the poetry of black folk speech. "Sweat", one of the most enduring of Hurston's work, explored many levels of martial conflicts and female exploitation. This story is around Delia, a symbol of Southern …show more content…
Delia, an abused wife, has many conflicts deep inside which make her change: from being abused to defend, from shouting helplessly to anger then to a scary calm, and from accepting to revenge. The story began with the picture of Sunday's night after church, at eleven o'clock in the evening. Delia was still working. As a washwoman, Monday's morning was important for her because she would return all the clean clothes and earn her money. That money was to pay for the house, her food, and the pony which Sykes, her husband, had gone with. After 15 years of marriage, Delia had lost all hopes in Sykes. The countless beatings and painful acts of Sykes had brought her to her limit. Sykes …show more content…
A snake appeared in the beginning of a story as a symbol of the betrayal, trial and execution. Delia has something similar to the snake. She had been so filled up with helplessness, anger and she digested all of it by the end of a story just as the snake digested all of its meal. Coming home from the "love feast", Delia was filled up with warm feelings. She was singing, and suddenly realized that the snake was loose in the house. In a few second, Delia eventually figured out the reason for the snake in the house and that Sykes intentionally attempted to take away her life, but more importantly her home, her Eden. Her thought about Sykes was descended to the lowest point, the evil view of the woman. When she found out that Sykes was a victim of snakebite and was dying, she had to choose either or not helping him. If she obeyed by the rules her church has laid out for her, she would undoubtedly make the attempt to avoid Sykes' death, but she decided not to. She, a woman who was abused for 15 years, walked away from her husband's demise without pity, anger, or even hatred. That is a scary revenge that one could never
Hurston, Zora Neale. "Sweat." Norton Anthology of Southern Literature. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York: Norton, 1998.
"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston is filled with symbolism ranging from images that are easily captured to things that require a little bit more insight. Religion has apparently played a major role in Hurston's life, readily seen in "Sweat" with the references to a snake and Gethsemane. Symbolism plays a big part of this story and after analyzing these, they give the story a deeper meaning and can enlighten the reader as to the full meaning of "Sweat".
Delia is a hard working woman who uses her faith in God to guide and protect her from her husband’s physical and emotional abuse. She, as a protagonist, is physically weak but yet spiritually strong. Sykes, in the story, tormented Delia in many ways throughout the story. One incident was with the bull horn when he tried to scare Delia while she was sorting the white clothes. Sykes also kicks all the clothes she had sorted all over the floor. Through all the pain and torment she goes through with Sykes, she still goes to church on Sundays and pray and come home go back to working around the house.
Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” is a distressing tale of human struggle as it relates to women. The story commences with a hardworking black washwoman named Delia contently and peacefully folds laundry in her quiet home. Her placidity doesn’t last long when her abusive husband, Sykes, emerges just in time to put her back in her ill-treated place. Delia has been taken by this abuse for some fifteen years. She has lived with relentless beatings, adultery, even six-foot long venomous snakes put in places she requires to get to. Her husband’s vindictive acts of torment and the way he has selfishly utilized her can only be defined as malignant. In the end of this leaves the hardworking woman no choice but to make the most arduous decision of her life. That is, to either stand up for herself and let her husband expire or to continue to serve as a victim. "Sweat,” reflects the plight of women during the 1920s through 30s, as the African American culture was undergoing a shift in domestic dynamics. In times of slavery, women generally led African American families and assumed the role as the adherent of the family, taking up domestic responsibilities. On the other hand, the males, slaves at the time, were emasculated by their obligations and treatment by white masters. Emancipation and Reconstruction brought change to these dynamics as African American men commenced working at paying jobs and women were abandoned at home. African American women were assimilated only on the most superficial of calibers into a subcategory of human existence defined by gender-predicated discrimination. (Chambliss) In accordance to this story, Delia was the bread victor fortifying herself and Sykes. Zora Neale Hurston’s 1926 “Sweat” demonstrates the vigor as wel...
her whole life. Hurston, in the beginning of the book, said that women “forget all those things
Sykes not only abused Delia emotionally but also physically. One night after an argument between the two where Delia actually had the courage to stand up to him, Sykes got into to bed and threatened that, '[he] oughter mash [her] in [her] mouf fuh drawing dat skillet [on him].'; After they been married only a short few months he gave her the first beating. Others in town knew of the abuse Delia suffered from. One gentlemen from town made the comment one day, '[Sykes] done beat [Delia] 'nough tuh kill three women.'; Many people in the town had little to no respect for Sykes because he beat Delia and Sykes even tried making offers with presents to some of the other mens' wives.
The past sixty years have been full of monumentally huge changes for society in the United States. From the civil rights movement and the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the election of the first black President and the legalization of same-sex marriage, equality has been the subject on hand. While it may be a big pill to swallow for some, those that have been discriminated against for quite some time finally have the freedom to be themselves, knowing that they are protected under the law. Those minorities that celebrate this equality have a lot to teach the bigots of the country in such a wonderful day and age – pride. Zora Neale Hurston shows how important it is to have pride in yourself, your differences, and where you come from, in her four-sectioned essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.”
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their eyes were watching God the main character Janie is on a quest for self-fulfillment. Of Janie’s three marriages, Logan and Joe provide her with a sense of security and status. However, only her union with Teacake flourishes into true love.
Zora Hurston was an African American proto-feminist author who lived during a time when both African Americans and women were not treated equally. Hurston channeled her thirst for women’s dependence from men into her book Their Eyes Were Watching God. One of the many underlying themes in her book is feminism. Zora Hurston, the author of the book, uses Janie to represent aspects of feminism in her book as well as each relationship Janie had to represent her moving closer towards her independence.
The main character in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” is a black woman who resides in the South that clutches on to her belief in God to help her get through the suffering that she endures from her abusive and adulterous husband, Sykes. “Sweat” is full of religious symbolism that demonstrates that Hurston was using the theme of good vs. evil in the short story.
Appiah, K.A. and Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. eds. Zora Neale Hurston: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1993.
Love is different for each and every person. For some, it comes easy and happens early in life. For others, such as Janie Mae Crawford, in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, it happened much later in life. Oddly, after two failed marriages. Janie sought love in several different men and marriages, hoping to find true love; however, she was often left with abuse, hardship, and a broken-heart. As stated by Hoffman “Well, I think everyone struggles with self-love.” Amour Propre¹ Love for one’s parents is honorable, love for one’s child is unconditional, but self-love is often denied. Loving ourselves isn’t a one-time event. It’s an endless, moment by moment ongoing process. It wasn’t until Janie found self-love that she discovered confidence, peace, and fulfillment. Her finding of self-love helped her understand freedom and self-worth.
In conclusion, Hurston was a modernist writer who dealt with societal themes of racism, and social and racial identity. She steps away from the folk-oriented style of writing other African American authors, such as Langston Hughes, and she addresses modern topics and issues that relate to her people. She embraces pride in her color and who she is. She does not hate the label of “colored” that has been placed upon her. She embraces who she is and by example, she teaches others to love themselves and the color of their skin. She is very modern. She is everybody’s Zora.
In literature, the significant themes of a story can sometimes be developed within dramatic death scenes. With that being said, Zora Neale Hurston 's presents an unappreciated housewife and her high-class husband 's sinful ways which ultimately lead to the husband 's unplanned death, in her short story “Sweat”. The concluding death scene can best be described as illustrating the theme as “what goes around comes around”. Sykes was abusive and tried plotting his wife, Delia 's, death by using a rattlesnake, but his plan backfired and it was Sykes that was killed in the end.
... her true feelings with her sister, or talking to her husband or reaching out to other sources of help to address her marital repressed life, she would not have to dread living with her husband. “It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 262). Her meaning for life would not have to mean death to her husband. In conclusion, her lack of self assertion, courage and strong will to address her repressed life made her look at life and death in a different perspective. When in fact there is no need to die to experience liberation while she could have lived a full life to experience it with her husband by her side.