What Is The Theme Of Delia In Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

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In Zora Neal Hurston’s short story “Sweat” I can notice how Sykes abused Delia but yet she couldn’t do anything about it since she was scared of Sykes. Eventually karma got it’s way to Sykes and the snake eventually killed him even though Delia could have done something about it. Since a man shouldn’t treat his wife like this, then that is why I support the fact that her behavior was right when she let Sykes die. Delia’s choice was right especially since Sykes never took her for granted and if it wasn’t for her then they wouldn’t have a place to stay at, plus she just wanted a good life but Sykes wouldn’t even attempt to help her. Delia was always the one bringing the money to their lives and she would earn this money by working hard and …show more content…

After all she wouldn’t divorce him since she was scared plus they got married so she wasn’t going to contradict her religion so that’s most likely why she didn’t divorce him. Therefore the only way she could get him away was to let him die because she was scared to stand up to him anyways since he would most likely abuse her. Towards the end Sykes actually got to the point of bringing a rattlesnake to the house so he could torture Delia but karma caught up to him and he got a taste of his own medicine since the snake ended up killing him. The story was very interesting since it had some action involved at the end since the outcome could have been that Delia would have saved Sykes or let Sykes die and of course she chose to let him die. So since Delia was religious we would have thought she would still forgive him and try to save him but instead she let him die. Her choice was correct since she had suffered enough and she needed someone better in her life who actually took her for granted. The story ended up being exciting towards the end since we didn’t know what the outcome was going to

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    Sykes had a mistress named Bertha who he spoiled all the time, but the people in town always wondered why he never paid attention to Delia. Walter Thomas, one of the men from the store, said, “Ah 'd uh married huh mahself if he hadnter beat me to it.” (Hurston) All the men in town were jealous of Sykes because of Delia. But Sykes, on the other hand, didn 't see what he had right in front of him. The plotting of Delia 's death was all done by Sykes. He went out of his way to get a rattlesnake and place it in the clothes hamper with the lid on, hoping it would strike her while washing clothes. When Delia saw the snake, she scurried outside and hid in the barn until Sykes arrived home. Delia calmly stated, “Ah done de bes ' ah could. If things aint right, Gawd knows it aint mah fault.” (Hurston) After the freak accident of Sykes being struck by the rattlesnake and suffering a long and painful death, Delia, hearing all the screaming and moaning coming from inside her “broken” home, sat under a Chinaberry tree that was in the front yard. She felt a sense of relief after she heard Sykes crying for her help and her knowing that she could not do anything to help. Her fear of their relationship and of him that went on for 15 years, was finally over and she felt as if she achieved her

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