ipl-logo

Summary Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

464 Words2 Pages

Three major themes within the story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, are intimidation, emotional abuse and strength. This story is about Delia Jones and her husband Sykes and how he has no love or respect for her. Sykes is very aware of the things that his wife is afraid of as well as the things - such as her work, are important to her and he could care less. He purposely scares her with his bull whip, which happens to resemble the look of a snake knowing that she is terrified of them and laughs at her response. Delia is full of terror but he easily dismisses her feelings. As Delia sorts the clothing that she will wash which is her job, Sykes kicks them around and even stomps on the white clothes with his dirty shoes. This lack of respect of Delia further crushes her spirit and makes her feel small.
Mr. Jones also touts his affair with another woman around the town in front of neighbors in hopes that Delia will see them together. He succeeds in belittling and shaming Delia by calling her names to her face. He dismisses her altogether and has spent the good part of their 15 year marriage physically and emotionally abusing her. A few of the town’s people commented on how Delia was once beautiful and how all of the beatings from her husband have changed her looks. …show more content…

The idea would be that she would start working on the laundry and would get bitten by the snake and die. But Delia was fortunate and caught on to what he was trying to do and was able to avoid the death bite. Sykes wasn’t so lucky. In the end, his plan backfired on his and he was the one that was bitten. Throughout all of the events, Delia remained strong. Yes she was crushed from the abuse, but she found strength and peace from her work as well as in prayer and her church. Where the love was lacking from her husband, she loved herself and that was

Show More
Related

How Successful Was The Delian League

394 Words | 2 Pages

The Delian

Read More

Pauline Cushman Character Analysis

1546 Words | 7 Pages

Instead of pitying herself, she decided to be courageous and do her duty- to almost any extent. For example, she was once caught by the Confederate army for spying, and was sentenced to death by hanging. Even so, she stayed calm, never gave up, and improvised her way out. She used her previous acting experience to pretend to be sick. The court allowed her to get better first, but after she had “healed”, she acted weak at court.

Read More

Roles Of Women In Sweat And Their Eyes Were Watching God By Hurston

679 Words | 3 Pages

When Syke begins disrespecting her by kicking her laundry with his dirty boots, she fights back , “seiz[ing] the iron skillet from the stove and [striking] a defensive pose, which act surprised him greatly, coming from her. It cowed him and he did not strike her as he usually did” (2). Her audacity defied the social standards of the time period: black women had no power over their husbands. Hurston challenges this social norm by creating a character that withstands gender roles and traditional power dynamics. By “[seizing] the iron skillet” and “[striking] a defensive pose” she proves to her abusive husband that she is not afraid of him or his threats.

Read More

Sweat Hurston Character Analysis

1101 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

Resilience In 'Sweat'

568 Words | 3 Pages

Sykes’ reaction reveals the rarity of her confidence and independence. Specifically, his “amazement” was so strong that his mouth released his dinner and it portrayed Delia’s assertiveness and how unusual it was for her to make her own decisions and demands. Additionally, Sykes asked a question during another meal that implied he was not a financial burden to her, even though he spends excessive amounts of her earned money. Afterward, Hurston forms a detailed scene of a heated argument between the characters. Furiously, Delia “seized the iron skillet from the stove and struck a defensive pose…

Read More

What Is The Central Idea Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

704 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Comparing Story Of An Hour And Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

1184 Words | 5 Pages

While trying to do her work Sykes is fussing at her but rather stand up to him, the story states that, “Delia never looked up from her work, and her thin, stooped shoulders sagged further” (Hurston 530). This shows that she is afraid of what he might do should she try to stand up for herself. As the story goes on, Delia begins to change and become braver when it comes to dealing with Sykes. Hurston writes, “Delia’s habitual meekness seemed to slip from her shoulders like a blown scarf” (531). She was no longer afraid of Sykes or what he might do to her.

Read More

Theme Of Faith In Zora Neale Hurston's Sweat

96 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

Sweat By Zora Neale Hurtson Summary

981 Words | 4 Pages

As Sykes Jones stated, “Ah done tole you time and again to keep the white folks’ clothes outa dis house,” (site) exemplifying Delia has grown accustomed to remaining silent in the face of abuse. It is on this day after a particularly bad scare and added abuse by being mocked for that fear that her character shifts. Delia’s remarkable transformation as a character from a meek abuse victim to a stronger, independent yet gentle woman occurs whenever Sykes mocks her for her fear of snakes or when there is a scene involving the rattlesnake. At the beginning of “Sweat” by Zora Neale

Read More

Symbolism In Sweat

882 Words | 4 Pages

Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston displays countless acts of symbolism through imagery, it partially requires deeper knowledge and understanding. Religion has clearly played a predominant role in Hurston 's life, this is exemplified by the references to a snake and Gethsemane. The symbolism presented throughout the story has a significant impact and in the wake of evaluating it; they give the story more clout while justifying the true meaning behind the title, Sweat. The most obvious symbol in the story is the title. In the narrative it states, “Looka heah, Sykes, you done gone too fur.

Read More

Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

820 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Zora Hurston Sweat Analysis

676 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Feminism In Zora Neale Hurston's Sweat

713 Words | 3 Pages

The short story Sweat written by Zora Neale Hurston takes places in Florida in the 1920s about the marriage of a black couple named Delia Jones and Sykes and how she is trapped in this marriage and is constantly being abused by her husband and uses her fears to his advantage to effect their relationship. There are many themes throughout this short story but the main one that stood out was the strong feminism. Feminism is portrayed in Sweat by the main character Delia Jones which is the breadwinner in the relationship and works as a washwoman and is stuck in a toxic marriage and has to provide for her insecure husband Sykes. Just like how Delia is not privileged due to her race and her gender in Sweat, African American women are also by the same reasons, since slavery they have struggled individually and in groups to overcome the multiple injustices that they and their communities face. The term Black feminism was not a widely used term until the Black women 's movement in the 1970s.

Read More

Character Analysis Of Delia Jones In Hurston's Sweat

387 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More

Critical Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

1187 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Summary Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

Related Topics

Open Document