What Is The Figurative Language In Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston is about a woman named Delia, a washerwoman who works long and back-breaking hours in Florida. Her husband Sykes does not work, yet he complains about Delia cleaning "white folks'" clothes in their home(603). Sykes constantly scares his wife of fifteen years by using her fear of snakes. The marriage is an abusive one; Sykes began beating Delia two months after marrying her. Observers in the town remark how the once Delia was once beautiful but now she has lost her shine because of Sykes. With that said, Delia comes to the conclusion that she does not need Sykes, particularly considering it is her wages that paid for their home. Sykes then brings home a rattlesnake to scare Delia and she runs away to hide from it. The rattlesnake ends up in Delia's bed and attacks Sykes. In response, Delia sits below a chinaberry tree waiting for her husband to die, and ignoring his pleas for aid. Imagery is described as the vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses and is used to refer to figurative language such as metaphors and similes. Hurston uses

She is a hardworking woman, who has joined a more demanding profession since there's no washers or dryers during this time. The clothes symbolize the struggles in her marriage and how she tries to fix the problem of them being dirty and disorganized. As Hurston describes in the story, "Sykes had kicked all of the clothes together again, and now stood in her way truculently, his whole manner hoping, praying, for an argument"(603). This represents how Sykes tries to make a mess of the marriage by provoking an argument with Delia, but she is calm and tries to fix it where it is neat and organized. Delia has come to feel the same way about her marriage as Sykes does, that the passion is gone and they are just going through the