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Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

669 Words3 Pages

”Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of Sykes Jones, and his wife, Delia, who never strays from her beliefs. Sykes’ character traits lead him directly to his death. His cruel treatment of his wife results in her stand by and do nothing as he walks into death’s arms. His arrogance leads him to believe that he has control over things that he does not. His infidelity is a catalyst for it all, as he wants Delia out of her own house, and he will stop at no measure to get her out. In a failed plot to remove Delia from his life forever, he ends up having his own taken. Conclusion- Sykes’ brings about his own early death, which can be attributed to his character traits. Sykes’ treatment of Delia ultimately comes back to haunt him, and he …show more content…

In paragraph 65, referring to the rattlesnake that he has brought home, Sykes says “He wouldn’t bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handle ‘im” (Hurston 8). This arrogance shows that Sykes does not fear the snake in the least, which will come back to haunt him. Sykes claims multiple times that he can charm the snake, and it is clear that he thinks very highly of his snake-handling skills. Upon entering the house for the last time, Sykes believes that the snake will have killed Delia, and will be slow to attack him. Sykes thinks far too much of his meager skills with handling the snake. This will lead to his downfall, as Delia escaped the house without being bit, and he walked into a house with a hungry snake …show more content…

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. Due to that, when he needs to see the snake, he cannot. Sykes’ infidelity is a catalyst for his actions in the story, and leads him to his

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