Zora Neale Hurston’s short story "Sweat" takes place in the 1920s in a small African American community in southern Florida. The story takes a look at a woman dominated by her husband, a common issue for many wives in the south during this time. Delia Jones, the protagonist in the story, is a hard-working woman who has bought her own home and supported her husband for fifteen years by taking in the laundry of white folks from the next town over. Delia’s husband Sykes does not value her or the work she does to support the both of them. Sykes has abused his wife for fifteen years and takes no shame in parading around his fat mistress for all to see. Sykes wants to get rid of Delia and take everything she’s ever worked for. Delia, though scared of Sykes, has been pushed far enough. At the end of the story Sykes gets exactly what he deserves when his nasty plan for Delia backfires on himself, ironically becoming the victim of his own terrible prank. Hurston’s short story “Sweat,” depends significantly on her brilliant use of four literary elements: tone/style, character development, Point of view, and symbolism to reveal the themes of empowerment, faith, and justice. The story begins in a normal tone that prepares you for anything. It then switches to a different dialect of old African American culture, which gets the wheel turning and draws you into the story. For example it is in this quote- “Sykes, what you throw dat whip on me like dat?”-that the vernacular switches and the story starts in its intended direction with the focus on the characters‘ dialogue. While the dialogue may be difficult to read, it reveals many important aspects of the story including the time period, the rural southern setting, the culture and race of ... ... middle of paper ... ...r his wife. Throughout the story the reader sees Delia slowly but surely take steps to reach total empowerment and incidentally freedom from her snake of a husband. After years of inflicting torture and pain, Sykes finally gets what’s coming to him, or does he? "Sweat" portrays realistic consequences and situations throughout the text which guide the reader towards self-reflection and determining if it was moral for Delia to leave Sykes for dead. Either way the story comes full circle and justice is served as Delia waits in the sunlight finally free from her oppressor. Works Cited "Sweat Study Guide | BookRags.com." BookRags.com | Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Book Summaries and More. 2005. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-sweat/. Gioia, Dana, and R.S. Gwynn. “Sweat” The Art of the Short Story. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. Print.
“Sweat” is a short story written by Zora Neale Hurston. It is a story where the husband, Syke, does terrible things to Delia, the wife. Such terrible things are being abusive, and having an affair with someone else. However, this does not hurt Delia any more than it could have. Delia possesses strong characteristics. She is a hard working person, who basically earns for both of their livelihoods, and also very courageous. In order to reveal Delia’s character, Hurston adds in symbols and allusions.
1 In Zora Hurston's short story, "Sweat," [Titles] Delia Jones is married to a very dominant and powerful man. Skye [Sp] Jones is his name, and he is an abusive man who has no respect for Delia. Being married for fifteen years seems to be a lot for Delia, considering that she has only loved Skyes [Sp] for a short time after they were married. Living a life of fear and helplessness allows the dominant figure of that person's life to continue to have total control until the fall of that dominant figure. The theme of the story [This theme] can be supported by characterization, symbols, and setting.
...lia Jones endured fifteen years of violence, disrespect, and infidelity, and only in those last few months was she able to muster some form of resistance. Until Sykes threatened all that she had, her home and her job, she was content enough just sweating it out. However, Sykes made that grave mistake on his own accord, and when leaving Delia with nothing to lose, he found that he had set himself up for a losing battle. Delia had surrendered to him in all those years, but Sykes had finally found a way to bring out the worst in his wife, and her aggression was finally realized by defending all that she had. After such pain and endurance, one can easily recognize how Delia Jones played the lead role in a short story called "Sweat."
the novel, the pear tree symbolizes Janie's idealized vision of love and marriage. The mule, on the other hand, represents the oppression and mistreatment of African Americans during the time period in which the novel is set. The storm symbolizes chaos and upheaval, both in nature and in Janie's personal life. Finally, Janie's journey itself is a symbol of self-discovery and empowerment. As she navigates through different relationships and experiences, she learns more about herself and what she wants out of life.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” the author not only focuses on portraying different gender roles but also focuses on the theme of good versus evil within the marriage of Sykes and Delia. Hurston portrays Delia as the good in the marriage and Sykes as the evil. The use of religious symbolism and imagery is the support that makes this theme so strong and influential. As the short story progresses you witness the transition of a clean, moral woman who overcomes evil.
Zora Neale Hurston grew up in Eatonville, Florida also known as “Negro Town” (Hurston, 1960, p.1). Not because of the town was full of blacks, but because the town charter, mayor, and council. Her home town was not the first Negro community, but the first to be incorporated. Around Zora becoming she experienced many hangings and riots. Not only did Zora experience t...
wonder what a few old cane-chewing men have to do with the plot of the story. However, these
Narrator, this was a third person account, thus leaving much to the imagination. The conversation’s language was left as if truly taken from an African American speaker in the south in such a time. The way Hurston made the scenery appear before me was like a white sheet gets stained with red wine, unable to wash out of my mind. The narration was very brut in a grammatical manner, giving a wash bucket effect of never being settled.
In Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author subjects the reader to a dystopian slave narrative based on a true story of a woman’s struggle for self-identity, self-preservation and freedom. This non-fictional personal account chronicles the journey of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) life of servitude and degradation in the state of North Carolina to the shackle-free promise land of liberty in the North. The reoccurring theme throughout that I strive to exploit is how the women’s sphere, known as the Cult of True Womanhood (Domesticity), is a corrupt concept that is full of white bias and privilege that has been compromised by the harsh oppression of slavery’s racial barrier. Women and the female race are falling for man’s
In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Sweat,” Hurston uses the characters Janie Crawford and Delia Jones to symbolize African-American women as the mules of the world and their only alternative were through their words, in order to illustrate the conditions women suffered and the actions they had to take to maintain or establish their self-esteem.
"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".
Shortly after in 1935 the second book of the collection “Mules and Men.” “In writing Mules and Men, Hurston not only found a way to make a crucial bridge between her anthropological and literary ambitions but also created a lasting treasure of stories that captured the authentic voices of southern black storytellers in the late 1920’s.” (Magill). The book is broken into two parts. The first part is...
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.
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.
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.