Zora Neale Hurston’s Sweat uses a plethora of imagery and symbolism to capture the anxiety, torment, and eventual relief the main character Delia experiences throughout the short story. It is mentioned numerous times that Delia has a petrifying fear of snakes, however, Hurston also uses the snake to symbolize Sykes, her abusive husband, and the venom he spits at Delia through the abuse. The bed Delia shares with her husband is anything but comforting for Delia; rather, it is where she is bullied by Sykes and where she has her epiphany of her failing marriage. At the end of the short story, Delia finds relief from the hot, Florida morning sun underneath her Chinaberry tree and waits for Sykes to die. The imagery of snakes, the marriage bed,
In her story “Sweat'', through her use of symbolism, imagery, and irony Hurston underscores the idea that relationships can not flourish without equality among one another. One example of how she used symbolism to portray the theme is when the snake bites Sykes. In her story “Sweat '', Delia is married to a mentally and physically abusive man named Sykes. As Sykes is dying in their house, Hurston uses the Jordan River to give the reader an idea of what Delia is feeling: “She knew the cold river was creeping up and up to extinguish that eye which must know by now that she knew” (7). This is the final sentence in the story, and it leaves the reader with the symbol of the cold river, which represents the death of Sykes as well as Delia’s relationship
This departure is shown through the lines, “Delia never looked up from her worn, and her thin, stooped shoulders sagged further,” (line 11). This is seen as a departure because it goes against the belief of the confidence and optimism that is shown through the Harlem Renaissance. In the sentence you can clearly see how Hurston describes the main character as being defeated and not having confidence within herself to stand up to her mistreatment. The direct language reflects on the idea that there is no optimism nor hopefulness for new opportunities and better conditions for the main character Delia. To conclude, this statement in the fictional story shows the departure that Hurston takes from the beliefs of the Harlem Renaissance through the direct language having the main character feel hopeless turning away from the beliefs of the Harlem
Biblical Allusions in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” One prominent theme throughout the short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is that resiliency can carry us through dark times. Hurtson shows readers this idea through biblical allusions, specifically the Jordan River and Jesus’ death. Hurston pays homage to Jesus, an important figure in the Bible. Delia’s husband Sykes often boasts about his mistress to the other villagers in their community. In the months when Sykes flaunted his infidelities around town “Delia’s work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and up the rocks of Calvary many, many times…” (4).
"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston and "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men" by Zora Neale Hurston are two distinct stories that display the author's writing style and literary devices. Both stories are written in the first-person narrative, which provides the reader with an intimate insight into the characters' thoughts and emotions. However, the language used in each story is different. "Sweat" is written in a dialect that reflects the language spoken by the African American characters in the story, while "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men" is written in a more standard English language, reflecting the author's education and training.
Point 1: Sociolinguistics (8) 174w When it comes to reading, every student has different experiences in regards to what they are interested in reading. Working with students that are extremely diverse sociocultural theory addresses the importance of incorporate reading that students can relate to culturally. Implementing culturally diverse material, students begin to reflect with the story that they are reading and they are motivated to read because they are becoming part of the story. By implementing different cultures books, they are expanding their knowledge of other cultures that they are not familiar or were never aware. Adapting to students culture is important for a teacher to do, especially when teaching a diverse school because making those personal connections are crucial to building relationship with the students and their community.
Throughout the history of mankind, there has always been a battle between good and evil in one form or another. Whether it be light and dark, God and Devil, virtue and vice, peace and war, love love hate, the two sides are always be at odds. Zora Neale Hurston was no stranger to this age-old conflict. Growing up as a black woman in the south in the early 1900’s, and the daughter of a preacher, she was familiar with both the hate and wickedness or unfailing righteousness that a person could possess (Boyd). In her short story, “Sweat,” Zora Neale Hurston explores the theme of good versus evil, the relationship the two forces share, and the inevitable defeat of wickedness through her main characters, point of view, and symbolism.
In the story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, Sykes Jones, the antagonist, receives his justified consequence for the horrible actions that he executes on his wife, Delia. Sykes commits suicide as the snake that he brings to extract dismay from Delia, ironically turns on him and drives him towards his torturous anguish. Sykes gradually dies from the snake poison as the moon fades, “the gray in sky was spreading” (68), until the sun rises, which indicates that a lot of time passes. Where is Delia during all of this? Her legs “had gone flabby” (69) watching her victimizer die, right in front of her.
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.
The measure of who you are is what you do with what you have. So having freedom is measured by the number of things you can walk away from. A person can be forced to change in a way his/her life becomes more tolerable. In Zora Neale Hurston’s "Sweat", there are many conflicts exhibited in many of the moments between Delia and her antagonist husband Skyes. Having an internal dynamic transformation, she turns from a submissive person to an aggressive behavior then to a defiant, strong woman showing that she's not a victim anymore but a survivor.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
