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“Sweat” — Zora Neale Hurston symbolism
Sweat by zora hurston analysis
Sweat by zora hurston analysis
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Recommended: “Sweat” — Zora Neale Hurston symbolism
Kojo Gordon
Composition and Literature 2
Paul Wray
March 30 2014
The short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is an interesting piece that utilizes literary techniques such as imagery, symbolism, and tone, which overall enhances the reading experience for the audience.
Zora’s use of imagery allows the audience to get a visual interpretation of the setting and climate in Florida. “The sun had burned July to August. The heat streamed down like a million hot arrows, smiting all things living upon the earth. Grass withered, leaves browned, snakes went blind in shedding and men and dogs went mad (Hurston 7).” This quote serves as an example of Hurston’s ability to create pictures with her words. This quote image reminds me of watching the movie Troy, the Athens soldiers from the fortress would ignite the arrows into the sky killing all of the Trojan soldiers that are trying to penetrate the walls .This quote is a simile
“It was a hot, hot day near the end of July. The village men on Joe Clarke's porch even chewed cane listlessly. They did not hurl the cane-knots as usual. They let them dribble over the edge of the porch. Even conversation had collapsed under the heat (Hurston4).”
This quote allows the reader to experience the heat characters are going through. I was able to relate to the characters because it brought me back to hot days in Jamaica where I enjoyed eating sugar cane before going to the beach with friends on a blazing hot day. You are able to further understand the intensity of the southern summer heat when Elijah tells Joe they should a get watermelon
“A grunt of approval went around the porch. But the heat was melting their civic virtue, and Elijah Moseley began to bait Joe Clarke. "Come on, Joe, git a melon out...
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...cause she wanted her readers to understand where the characters coming from.
The reason I responded to “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is because of the message of the short story goes back two biblical quotes
“Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31).” And “Live by the sword, die by the sword (Gospel of Matthew 26:52)”
The point I am trying to prove here is, Sykes would always want to scare Delia with a snake, the first time it was with the bull whip and the last night Sykes put the snake in the soap box to scared Delia to death. Little did Sykes know Delia had faced her fears and learned how to overcome of the snakes. Towards the end of the story when Sykes was supposed to be the master of catching Snakes, the rattle snake makes a transparent sound and bites Sykes. He wanted to scare Delia lifeless but his plan back fired on him.
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".
The Gift of Sweat” by Rebecca Brown, tells the story of a man with a mysterious disease. The story is told from what we presume is one of the man’s friends. We read about her routine with Rick, the man that is ill, and his happenings. This story is intriguing because it is very poignant and mysterious. This makes us wonder about this character's lives and why the outcome of the story is what it ended up to be.. What makes this story so pleasurable is the writing style. The way the author made us predict what Rick’s illness was, made the story that much more interesting. The way Brown played with context clues made the readers interested, it made the readers want more and figure out more about the characters, and the story itself.
Janie sets out on a quest to make sense of inner questions. She does not sit back and
From the beginning of society, men and women have always been looked at as having different positions in life. Even in the modern advanced world we live in today, there are still many people who believe men and women should be looked at differently. In the work field, on average women are paid amounts lower than men who may be doing the exact same thing. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston brings about controversy on a mans roles. Janie Crawford relationships with Logan, Joe and Tea Cake each bring out the mens feelings on masculine roles in marital life.
Delia, a flower in a rough of weeds. That is what I got from this story in one sentence, although knowing my grammar possibly not. Hurston’s tale of a shattered woman, gives us a glimpse into what was possibly the life of women at that time. There were many convictions against men in the story, although it may have been unintentional, not to say she was a hard-core feminist there were episodes of male remorse.
Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat" embodies some aspects that are found in Walker's and Marshall's essays. Delia, the main character, has an identity that is found through her hard work and spirituality. She also finds her freedom and independence in her home.
Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” is about a woman, Delia who is physically and emotionally abused by her husband, Sykes, whose actions she struggles to overcome towards her. Through all the abuse, Delia takes pride in her hard work and her religion. In this story, Hurston uses religions and moral symbolism that controls the character’s actions throughout the plot.
In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to the ‘tired old town’ of Maycomb through Scout, the narrator. Scout reminisces upon her early childhood memories, set in a time where social and racial prejudices were considered well within the social norm. Harper lee’s use of a lexical field of heat created by words such as ‘wilted’, ’sweltering’ and ‘suffered’ indicate to us the negative effect this class and social prejudice induced oppression is having on the citizens of the town.Additionally scouts description of the ,’courthouse sagged in the square’ is used to convey to the audience that justice; represented by the courthouse, ‘sagged’ under the weight of prejudice within the town.
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.
Zora Neale Hurston’s short story Sweat is a visceral reminder of the acute oppression and sexism women have always faced in American society. The protagonist of the story, Delia, is married to a cruel and angry man named Sykes. Through a depiction of their married life this short story shows that despite patriarchal oppression, women have exercised their agency and resisted in a myriad of ways.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the character of Janie Crawford experiences severe ideological conflicts with her grandmother, and the effects of these conflicts are far-reaching indeed. Hurston’s novel of manners, noted for its exploration of the black female experience, fully shows how a conflict with one’s elders can alter one’s self image. In the case of Janie and Nanny, it is Janie’s perception of men that is altered, as well as her perception of self. The conflict between the two women is largely generational in nature, and appears heart-breakingly inevitable.
"Zora Neale Hurston is Born." history.com. A&E Television Networks, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 12 Jan.
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.
Zora Neale Hurston’s writing embodies the modernism themes of alienation and the reaffirmation of racial and social identity. She has a subjective style of writing in which comes from the inside of the character’s mind and heart, rather than from an external point of view. Hurston addresses the themes of race relations, discrimination, and racial and social identity. At a time when it is not considered beneficial to be “colored,” Hurston steps out of the norm and embraces her racial identity.