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Analysis of sweat by zora neale hurston
Analysis of sweat by zora neale hurston
Analysis of sweat by zora neale hurston
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The townspeople in “Sweat'' acknowledge the unstable dynamic of Delia and Sykes talking of how Sykes “ ‘done beat [Delia] nough tuh kill three women’ '', and how he outrightly disrespects Delia, focusing on other women; “ ‘him come slidin’ roun’ mah wife–... She tol’ him tuh take ‘em right straight back home, cause Delia works so hard’ ” ( “Sweat” 3). Their perception of the matter brings to light the one-sided love and work imbalance between Sykes and Delia. The imbalance overweighs onto Delia, carrying much of the emotional and physical work in the relationship. This parallels Their Eyes Were Watching God' in how the townspeople of Eatonville talk of the suppressing behavior
Delia slaves out at work to make money, but Sykes bullies her so that she can spend the money with the woman who happens to be new in town. “Bertha had been in town three months now. Sykes was paying her room rent at Della Lewis’—the only house in town that have taken her in" (Sweat
When someone is put into a situation of whether to save someone they love that have been treating them poorly or to ignore them, I think that some people would ignore it. In this short story “Sweat” written by Zora Neale Hurston, Delia and Sykes are married couple for fifteen years. Delia had the choice of helping her husband that was bitten by a rattlesnake, which he deliberately set it up to frighten and get rid of Delia, or to ignore his cry for help. Sykes would physically abuse Delia. For a married couple, Sykes went against his vows.
This theme shows the usage of self determination when looking at one’s fate, rather than a divine power. This short story outlines an abusive marriage between Delia, a dedicated washwoman, and Sykes, a lazy and aggressive husband. Hurston’s characters may be said to represent the conflict of good vs. evil, as Delia is shown as hardworking and kind, while conversely, Sykes is shown as malicious and abusive. These circumstances help set the stage for Hurston's comparison of their personalities as it connects to their marital roles. Feeling exasperated over her husband's unprovoked aggression, Delia expresses her feelings, saying: “Looka heah, Sykes, you done gone too fur….
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.
Sykes brings in a real snake and plans to poison Delia by planting a snake in her washing basket knowing that she has a fear of them. “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” (Hurston 8). She got away and fall asleep in the barn. Not knowing the snake’s whereabouts Sykes walks in and gets bitten.
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.
After moving to the Harlem neighborhood, Zora Neale Hurston became friends with the famous African-American writer, Langston Hughes, and she also made relationships with Countee Cullen. After to moving to this neighborhood her apartment became and was a popular spot for gatherings among friends. While living in this area, she acquired various literary successes. She was also able to go to and acquire a scholarship to Barnard College, where she pursued the subject of anthropology, which is the study of humanity, and she also studied Franz Boas, who was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of anthropology. Furthermore, she returned to Florida in order to collect African-American folk tales that will, later on, would be published as
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.
The venom of the snake becomes the metaphorical agent of freedom, and its actions brings Delia a moment of transformation. Sweat is also a big symbol in the story representing Delia’s loyalty and hard work. Delia uses the word “sweat” (922) to describe all her dedication by stating, “Looka here, Sykes, you done gone too fur. Ah been married to you for fifteen years, and Ah been takin’ and washin’ fur fifteen years. Sweat, sweat, sweat!
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurtson exemplifies the amount of disrespect and domestic abuse a woman can handle. It also demonstrated how some males view women in a distasteful and unsatisfied way. Gender and sexuality can initiate most of the specific tactics of domestic violence that can dehumanize an individual, especially women. Zora Neale Hurtson’s character, Delia Jones, demonstrates how women can transition from being inferior to becoming superior in a domestic relationship. The story opened with Delia washing clothes for white people on Sunday, and Sykes verbally abused her for dishonoring God because she was washing clothes that belong to white people on the Sabbath day.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. In Zora Neal Hurston’s short story “Sweat” their was a couple (Delia and Sykes) that their love grew week. Sykes abused Delia many times. Delia stands up to him one day to tell him that they can’t be doing this anymore. Sykes brings a snake to her house and when she found it she ran away to the barn.
They have been together for more than 15 years. The story immediately describes the kind of physical labor that Delia’s must put up as a washwoman, on Saturday she will return the clothes and Sunday after church, she would do her set of laundry. All sudden she found something strange in the pile clothes that Sykes was trying to frighten Delia’s with a snake and he just stared nearby the door. Delia had to deal with Sykes representation of cheating with other women, unemployed and an abusive relationship. Towards the end of the story, Delia stayed silence about the snakes being in the house and later strike on Sykes
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.
Historical criticism strives to cognize a literary work by examining the social, cultural, and intellectual context that essentially includes the artist’s biography and milieu. Historical critics are more concerned with guiding readers through the use of identical connotation rather than analyzing the work’s literary significance. (Brizee and Tompkins). The journey of a historical reading begins with the assessment of how the meaning of a text has altered over time. In many cases, when the historical context of a text is not fully comprehended, the work literature cannot be accurately interpreted.
