No More Control

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Have you ever protected someone that’s being bullied? Or give some change for a homeless man to buy food?
In today’s society, acts of compassion are rare as we get more and more focused on satisfying our desire for success and wealth. However, humans do sometimes show remarkable acts that melts the hearts of men and women and restore faith in humanity within those who are less optimistic. But it might not always be a kind return that you may get from such action. In the story “Sweat” by Barry Webster, a young girl named Sue allows Jimmy as an act of kindness to lick her “honey” on her body. As a result, Jimmy chokes from the honey and Sue gets more rejected from the other students at her school. By using characterization, dialogue and narration, Webster demonstrates the theme that compassion and kindness can bring more consequences than benefits when these actions are done by those who are different.

The characterization of Sue illustrates her as a different kind of girl. Sue is stronger than most girls and boys of her age. During a shop class, Sue claims: ``unlike the other students, even the boys, I could whack the silver heads straight on so the iron rods thrust in without bending`` (4). Logically, if she is able to whack nails strait in one shot while other students could not, she could probably overpower anyone in her class, which is very unusual for a normal girl. Jimmy, a guy in her class, goes as far as claiming: ``If we had an arm wrestle (…) I bet you`d win`` (9). This remark clearly shows how powerful Sue is for her age. Also, Sue exhibits some unique characteristics such as her “honey” sweat. Dr. Merton claimed that “[the sweat’s] composition [was] similar to […] bee honey” (1). This statement made it very...

... middle of paper ...

...same favors nor appreciate it. Thus, we can finally conclude that being kind and nice can in return be risky and “counter beneficial”.

Ultimately, the story “Sweat” expresses an unusual concept that helping others may not always be the best idea since there is a risk of being harmed; especially if the person is different from others. On the other hand, Webster might be hinting another theme that destiny cannot be changed through any action. This leads to believing that destiny is not something that humans can control totally; “Sweat” implies implicitly that nature controls many things such as appearances, abilities, behavior and many more. This proposition leaves most people questioning themselves again on their actions in to control their destinies.

Works Cited

Webster, Barry. "The Girl Who Sweats Honey." The Girl Who Sweats Honey. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

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