Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

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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

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