Symbolism In Zora Neale Hurston's Sweat

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. You have to be able to see more than what the words give you, critical reading is needed because not everything can be seen by the naked eye. Delia and Sykes’ first argument in the short story ends by Sykes leaving for the night and Delia heading to bed, where she doesn’t sleep but instead she lays awake, lost in thought, or as the story says, “gazing upon the debris that cluttered their matrimonial trail,” (Paragraph 25). It is to my understanding that the debris is every argument, every fight that her and Sykes have gone through, also in a way comparing it to the aftermath of a natural disaster.

In an argument she had with her husband, he trampled over the clothes, the clothes that she cleans to provide for her and her husband. Delia then goes on to say, “Looka heah, Sykes, you done gone too fur. Ah been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin' in washin' for fifteen years. Sweat, sweat, sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat,” (Paragraph 18). Through the audience’s eyes, the clothes can symbolize her hard work, she provides for her family with those clothes and he just tramples all over them, showing he has no respect for how hard she works for him to have what he