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Allusions In Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

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Biblical Allusions in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”
One prominent theme throughout the short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is that resiliency can carry us through dark times. Hurtson shows readers this idea through biblical allusions, specifically the Jordan River and Jesus’ death. Hurston pays homage to Jesus, an important figure in the Bible. Delia’s husband Sykes often boasts about his mistress to the other villagers in their community. In the months when Sykes flaunted his infidelities around town “Delia’s work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and up the rocks of Calvary many, many times…” (4). This references when Jesus openly wept and was arrested in the gardens of Gethsemane; he also carried a cross on his back on …show more content…

However, her resiliency pays off in the end when Sykes’ evil deeds come back to bite him and Delia was still standing. In the Bible, the Israelites were advised by God to cross the Jordan in order to reach the land he had promised them. In this case, the allusion of the river first appears when Delia comes home from church with a hymn stuck in her head. She affirms its message into her mind by singing, “An’ Ah wantah cross Jurden in uh calm time” (6). Biblically, the Jordan River symbolizes adversity to conquer in order to reach happiness. In the story Delia’s marriage with Sykes is seen as a huge hardship in her life, however if she overcomes this obstacle she will be free. Her resiliency will lead her to the promised land. At the end, the rattlesnake Sykes brought into the home to scare Delia earlier in the story had gotten loose and started attacking him. She stood and watched him die because “...she knew the cold river was creeping up and up to extinguish that eye which must know by now that she knew” (7). This calls back to the Jordan River allusion that was mentioned previously. The river represents the difficulties Delia has faced in her relationship with Sykes, and at the

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Zora Neale Hurston’s Sweat uses a plethora of imagery and symbolism to capture the anxiety, torment, and eventual relief the main character Delia experiences throughout the short story. It is mentioned numerous times that Delia has a petrifying fear of snakes, however, Hurston also uses the snake to symbolize Sykes, her abusive husband, and the venom he spits at Delia through the abuse. The bed Delia shares with her husband is anything but comforting for Delia; rather, it is where she is bullied by Sykes and where she has her epiphany of her failing marriage. At the end of the short story, Delia finds relief from the hot, Florida morning sun underneath her Chinaberry tree and waits for Sykes to die. The imagery of snakes, the marriage bed,

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Sykes is gone but the snake is still there. When Delia talks to the snake she talks to it as if it Sykes. This shows Sykes is a symbol of evil. Delia also says how the snake pours his awful beauty out of the basket unto the bed. I think she is referring to Skye as well.

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"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston and "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men" by Zora Neale Hurston are two distinct stories that display the author's writing style and literary devices. Both stories are written in the first-person narrative, which provides the reader with an intimate insight into the characters' thoughts and emotions. However, the language used in each story is different. "Sweat" is written in a dialect that reflects the language spoken by the African American characters in the story, while "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men" is written in a more standard English language, reflecting the author's education and training.

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Throughout the history of mankind, there has always been a battle between good and evil in one form or another. Whether it be light and dark, God and Devil, virtue and vice, peace and war, love love hate, the two sides are always be at odds. Zora Neale Hurston was no stranger to this age-old conflict. Growing up as a black woman in the south in the early 1900’s, and the daughter of a preacher, she was familiar with both the hate and wickedness or unfailing righteousness that a person could possess (Boyd). In her short story, “Sweat,” Zora Neale Hurston explores the theme of good versus evil, the relationship the two forces share, and the inevitable defeat of wickedness through her main characters, point of view, and symbolism.

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Zora Neale Hurston’s short story, Sweat, was written to empower women in abusive relationships. The story was written about a woman, Delia, who overcomes her abusive lifestyle with her husband, Sykes. In order to gain a full comprehension of the short story it is crucial that you have an understanding and are familiar with symbolism. Symbolism is a technique that Hurston used fluently in the writing of this short story. To understand the symbolism and the euphemisms helps you understand the true meaning of Sweat.

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In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” and her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” the African American social group is being represented in many ways. The texts have similar ways that African Americans are represented for the time period. The African Americans or “colored people” are represented in an aspect that comes from the author's point of view. The African Americans are represented as being unbothered, growing up in a closed community, playing the game with whites, and optimistic.

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Symbolism through "Sweat” Delia Jones is a hard working, Christian woman that has lived by two principles her entire life: work and sweat. Despite her husband, Skyes', cruelty, she keeps quiet in order to provide for them and keep a roof over their heads. The idea of good and evil in the characters is clear in the appalling story of Delia's abuse, the death of Skyes, and the struggle and survival of Delia at the end. In the short story “Sweat,” Zora Neale Hurtson uses symbols to represent how good wins over evil by using the title, Christian symbolism, and the concept of light versus dark. “Sweat”, referring to the hard work Delia displays, is important to the plot of good against evil because of the idea that she works to provide for her

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Louise and Delia What do most women want in a marriage? Is it hatred and an unfaithful husband? No! Women expect to have a husband who loves and cares for them.

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The amount of torment one human can endure is amazing, and Delia Jones in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” isn’t exempt. She manages to hold together a home, work full-time, clothe and feed her extremely abusive husband. The question lingers; how can one continue to live in this kind of situation. It seems that for Delia, God plays a big part in her life, and Zora has appropriately left behind contextual references, symbols and representations in “Sweat”. Faith is a major theme utilized in the short story, while Sykes’ timely end rewards Delia for her priest-like patience.

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Sykes wants to move his mistress, Bertha, into Delia’s house, but Delia will not give way to that. Sykes tries a number of things to remove Delia, including fear tactics and intimidation, but none will work. So he decides that he would have her die if she will not leave on her own. A large part of Sykes’ death is not being able to see the attacking rattlesnake in the dark. Prior to letting the snake loose, he took all but one of the matches from the house, for his mistress of course.

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In the short story Sweat written by Zora Neale Hurston, she tells the story of a hard-working woman named Delia Jones and her abusive, cheating husband Sykes. Delia and Sykes are drastically different characters. Delia is an honest, church going woman, who cleans white people 's laundry to make ends meet and Skyes is a low-down womanizer who uses his wife 's income to support not only himself but also Bertha the woman he is having an affair with. After years of putting up with her husband 's mistreatment, Delia finally holds her ground. She defends her job with a skillet.

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Before I began reading, I tried guessing what the story was about. Only knowing that the title was “Sweat”, I thought the story might be about sports or hard labor. Then I opened up the story and the first thing I noticed was that the author’s name was Zora Hurston. I only found out that the author was female once I saw “her” in the section below describing her life and writing career. I found out other important things such as she lived in Florida, she wrote during the Harlem Renaissance (1920s), she died impoverished, and her work was eventually found by the women’s movement.

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