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Character Analysis Of Delia Jones In Hurston's 'Sweat'

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"Snakes vs Delia” Hurston 's Delia Jones in "Sweat" is a woman who is trapped in her marriage with an abusive man. In the end Delia finally gets peace from the snake. She has been with Sykes for 15 years. The snake represents evil, fear, and is a symbol for Sykes himself. Sykes easily manipulates Delia because he knows she fears snakes and him. When Sykes brings home the snake, Delia tells Sykes to kill the snake when she says "now Syke, don’t keep dat thing 'roun ' heah tuh skeer me tuh death. Thass do biggest snake Ah evah did see kill im Syke please" (par.4 pg5 ). Sykes is representing evil because he knows that Delia is scared of snakes, but he still brings one home. The snake represents fear because as long as the snake …show more content…

She has the same anger and hurt for the snake as she does Skyes. Delia says, “Whut’s de mattah, ol’ satan, you aint kickin’ up yo’ racket?”
(par.8.pg.6 ). She addressed the snake’s box. When Skyes is home he constantly bickers at Delia. 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. Sykes takes his evilness and spreads it throughout the house. Delia is a Christian woman who tries to keep all evil away from her. The snake that Zora Hurston talks about in “sweat” is like the snake in “The garden of Eden Satan”. The snake represents a fierce and scary creature. Delia describes the snake in “sweat” to be scary. “There lay the snake in the basket! He moved sluggishly at first, but even as she turned round and round, jumped up and down in an insanity of fear, he began to stir vigorously” (par.2pg2). The narrator explains how Delia reacted when she notice the snake in the basket, this show how she was scared of the snake. The snake moving vigorously represents how fierce the snake

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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.

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Name: Lakisha Minnis Instructor: Mr. Compton English 2202-001 Date: April. 24, 2017 Sweat Zora Neale Hurston is a prolific writer famed for numerous award winning plays, novels and short stories. In this paper, I will be elaborating on a character from the novel Sweat. Her novel Sweat was first published in 1926. Sweat is a novel that tells a story about the good, evil, and domestic abusive husband.

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(Hurston 532). She believes in karma, that whatever Sykes does will come back around to him. She is good and believes that in time good things will come to her. Also it is clearly seen in the story how dynamic Delia’s character is. In the beginning, Delia is scared of Sykes and is too afraid to stand up to him.

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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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Initially, Sykes releases a rattlesnake, into the home of both him and Delia with the intentions of it killing her. Though, it does not. Sykes returns to the home, and Delia is nowhere to be found, so he assumed the job had been done and proceed into the house. This is where the irony comes into play, Sykes ends of being the victim of the rattler rather than Delia. Delia’s main conflict, with her abusive husband was solved when the trap he set for her failed, and he become the victim of the

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In "Sweat," the main character, Delia Jones, is portrayed as a strong-willed, hard-working washwoman who would wash clothes for white people. She worked tireless to provide for her family. Delia was married to Sykes, who would berate, beat and mentally abuse Delia, incessantly. For example, Sykes would walk into the room where Delia just folded clothing for the white people and find the whitest pile of clothes, stomp all over them and then kick them across the room, leaving her to clean up and restack them. Sykes was also openly living in infidelity with another woman, named Bertha.

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During this rough time period, segregation was common and prohibition was recently introduced. Along with this, many other social and political issues played a role in Hurston's "Sweat." Consequently, a historical background of the early twentieth century would be ideal in order for the reader to better comprehend and appreciate the work thoroughly. In this story, Hurston writes about Delia and Syke's work lives. In the early 1900's, approximately sixty percent of African American woman and about twenty percent of men were employed (Mclaughlin).During this time period, men felt that they were vastly superior over women.

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